These cool earbuds bring crazy translation smarts for your travels

Timekettle has made a name for itself thanks to its translation earbuds. Its recent W4 Pro earbuds automatically translate dozens of languages during speech and calls. Now, the company has announced a new pair of buds.

The Timekettle W4 AI Interpreter Earbuds are effectively a less premium version of the W4 Pro buds. However, the standard W4 also differs by offering a conventional earbud design versus the Pro model’s open-ear form factor.

The company says these new earbuds also have bone voiceprint sensors to deliver “high-precision speech recognition by detecting vibrations directly from the wearer’s bones.” Timekettle adds that these sensors reduce background noise and prevent sound leakage.

Otherwise, these buds still offer some powerful translation features. Expect support for real-time translation of 42 languages, as well as the ability to automatically switch between speaking and listening modes for less stilted conversations. Timekettle also claims 98% accuracy and the ability to “intelligently” correct confusing homophones (e.g., “two” and “to”). Much like the W4 Pro, the W4 also lets you give an earbud to someone so you can both get discreet translations.

Furthermore, the company claims that it’ll offer an AI voice cloning feature in 2026. This sounds similar to Google’s crazy call translation feature, which translates your call while mimicking your voice.

As for battery life, the Timekettle W4 buds are rated for four hours of continuous translation or eight hours of music playback. The charging case doesn’t dramatically boost things, as the company says you can expect 10 hours of continuous translation or 18 hours of music.

Interested in the Timekettle W4 buds? They’re available today (September 5) for $349 or €349. Expect to find them in Sandy Gold and Navy Blue color schemes.