AirPods Live Translation Tested in Japan Falls Short on Replies
A week-long test of Apple's Live Translation on AirPods in Japan found it reliable for understanding speech in cafes, stations and airports. Replying to people was the weak point. The feature works on several AirPods models paired with an iPhone 15 Pro or later.
A week-long test of Apple's Live Translation feature on AirPods in Japan found that it translated incoming speech reliably in coffee shops, train stations and airports, but struggled when the wearer needed to reply. The tester, who used the feature daily on the trip, said the technology worked every time.
Language is one of the biggest barriers for travelers. Earbuds and other live translation devices have tried to close that gap over the past couple of years.
What worked
With AirPods in his ears, the tester could follow what people said to him. Accuracy was good enough that he never ordered the wrong thing or embarrassed himself, he wrote, "too much."
Live Translation is an Apple Intelligence feature. It listens to the person speaking and plays a translation into the AirPods a few seconds later. It is not quite real time, but close.
The iPhone can stay in a pocket. If it is out, translated text also appears in Apple's Translate app.
Where it runs out of road
Replying is the harder half of translating. The tester said the feature runs out of road there, and that he has no good fix for Apple short of technology that does not yet exist.
Setup also took longer than he expected. He had to download language files for both the other person's language and his own, and he recommended using Wi-Fi rather than cellular, especially when roaming.
Once set up, he started translation mostly by pressing and holding the stems on both AirPods. Other options are the Translate app, a Siri request, or the iPhone's Action button.
Which devices and languages
The feature first launched in 2025 alongside the AirPods Pro 3. It now covers AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, AirPods 5, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Max 2.
Users need an iPhone 15 Pro or later running iOS 26 or newer. Apple Intelligence must be switched on, the latest AirPods firmware installed and the Translate app downloaded. Google Translate cannot substitute for it.
Supported languages include English in US and UK variants, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese in simplified and traditional forms. Japanese was not available at launch.
More than a year after release, Apple still labels the feature "beta." All processing happens on the iPhone.
