LISTEN UP REAL-TIME IN-EAR TRANSLATION

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy featured the Babel Fish, a bright yellow animal that Arthur Dent popped into his ear in order to understand alien languages. Right now, Google’s Pixel Buds 2 (£179, store.google.com) are the closest your lugholes are going to get to experiencing this sci-fi-style cross-communication. That’s thanks to a voice-driven feature that promises to translate multilingual conversations in real time.

To make it work, you need to have the Google Translate app open on your phone. Once you utter the words ‘OK Google, help me speak Spanish’, for example, you just press the ear bud to speak and it’ll translate to the other person aloud via your phone. To respond, they then tap the mic icon in the app to send the translation directly into your ear. It’s mostly spot on with accuracy and can be quick depending on your connection but the rate at which it translates full sentences is not adequate for a natural two-way conversation. Saying that, if you’re happy to slow down the pace of conversation and can get over the awkwardness of your blatant lack of language knowledge while it acts as your translator, it’s a fun way to talk someone else’s language and a big step in the right direction.