“Get a translator, duh?”

That’s probably what you’ll think of as a solution when it comes to overcoming language barriers while traveling in foreign countries.

In particular, traveling in Asia is challenging since the languages spoken are entirely different per country.

As much as any folks from the West would say that English is the universal language, it simply isn’t. If they believe that, they probably need to touch some grass and broaden their horizons.

Kidding aside, your smartphone might be handy. That is if you’re connected to the Internet or it still has a battery.

But when all else fails, you’re probably not keen on using a language dictionary as if it were the early 2000s. Having a portable translator that you can bring with you can be a game-changer.

Sometime in July, I brought the Fluentalk T1 translator device when I went to China. Thank heavens, I wasn’t like Emily Cooper from Emily in Paris — struggling with talking to locals due to her inability to speak French while in Paris.

Caution: Don’t fly out ill-prepared

Most of my friends believed in the power of their smartphones and Google Translate when entering a foreign country. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for me.

I wasn’t able to connect to the Airport WiFi. Also, I didn’t get to buy a SIM card right away so I didn’t have any data plan. There were no offline packages within the app, and it just won’t work. Simply put, I was ill-prepared for my trip. It was as if Mercury was retrograding. (But it’s not.)

My iPhone was basically useless when I traveled, except for having the important details of my connecting flights from Chengdu to Shenzhen.

Having the Fluentalk T1 as the last bastion of hope in a foreign country, the device surprisingly served me well.

When I was so confused with the airport signages and the airport staff at Chengdu International Airport didn’t know how to speak English let alone understand hand gestures, the Fluentalk T1 helped me not miss my flight.

One-click is all it takes

The Fluentalk T1 looks like an actual translator device, reminiscent of an old, fat iPod. It wasn’t intimidating at first sight, knowing that there were only three main buttons on its side. Plus, it’s a touchscreen running on Android and with WiFi and LTE connectivity.

With three main buttons that are color-coded, the device is easy to use, especially for the one-click translation feature. The yellow button serves as the power button, while the blue and red buttons are for translation.

The Blue button is for the language you’re speaking, English in my case, which gets translated into the language I need to speak. Meanwhile, the Red Button is used when the person you’re talking to needs to respond to your conversation.

There were a lot of times that I struggled using this one-click translation feature. The ill-prepared traveler in me forgot to download Chinese language packs so I could use the device offline.

By the power vested in me by the Internet, I can do it all

I had to rely on using the data and signal coming from my hotspot that was lent to me, in order to get my point across. Most days, the poor signal proved challenging to have a conversation with the locals. But when I was able to download the language packs, the experience was sweet.

Occasionally, the device picks up the wrong word through its microphone. When I was with my friend and freelance Japanese journalist Ayano Tominaga, it took a while for us to have a back-and-forth using the device since the Fluentalk T1 hears and translates a different word.

What I wish I had known earlier is that the Fluentalk T1 provides a free 2-year International unlimited data plan with its built-in e-sim. Just imagine: I had to carry three devices in my denim jacket. My iPhone, a dedicated Internet hotspot, and the Fluentalk T1.

I mean, the T1 could’ve done the job by becoming my hotspot. It has a 1500mAh battery that lasts more than a day since you don’t really use it to translate all the time. Had I known this sooner, I would’ve had a better experience at Chengdu Airport. Especially when I got lost and confused switching terminals.

Nevertheless, when you set it up right, the Fluentalk T1 can make your foreign trips smooth.

Scan, read, and have a conversation

But it’s not just the one-click translation that the Fluentalk T1 has. I mean, why buy a translator device if you have Google Translate to do it for you, right?

Of course, the device came with other handy features. One of which is the ability to scan the characters and translate them right away. It sort of works like Google Lens, except I didn’t need to connect to the Internet to have some words translated.

I practically used it when reading the labels of the food being served on the plane and the products I could find inside convenience stores. As someone with lots of dietary restrictions, I needed to be careful with what I eat especially when abroad. It helped me see the ingredients to realize which products I need to avoid.

Another feature is having pre-made messages that help in asking for directions and common expressions that cover different scenarios you’d probably encounter when traveling.

I didn’t get to use them, though it was a nice add-on just in case.

How many languages can you speak?

Currently, the T1 can translate over 40 languages and understand 93 accents when connected to the Internet. Some of these are Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Greek, Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovenian, Slovak, Croatian, Czech, and Ukrainian.

It also understands Filipino, Malay, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Thai. It’s a pretty helpful device if you decide to backpack across Southeast Asia.

Offline translation, on the other hand, can be only stored for 13 pairs. For instance, you can download language packs of English and get it translated to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, and Russian.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

The Fluentalk T1 portable translator retails for US$ 300 (buy here). It’s outright expensive that you can actually use the money to have a quick, budget-friendly trip somewhere in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, that is already enough to visit and enjoy one of its beautiful islands for a weekend.

But if you’re a frequent flyer and you have a lot of money to shell out to make your experience worthwhile, the T1 is a traveler’s GadgetMatch. There’s value in its software features, and sometimes, it’s handy to not rely on your smartphone for everything — especially when traveling.

Soak in the sights and experience, folks. Go offline, be in the moment, and make new memories.