{"id":"AIBD-1129","title":"Which? finds that Apple's Live Translation on AirPods Pro 3 was generally accurate in Italian, Spanish, German and French conversations","summary":"In tests published on 28 July 2026, Which? found that Apple's Live Translation on AirPods Pro 3 was generally accurate in Italian, Spanish, German and French conversations.","date_observed":"2026-07-28","date_basis":"source publication","date_precision":"day","benefit_status":"reported","source_collection":null,"source_entry":null,"account":"Which?, the UK consumer organization, published a test of Apple's Live Translation on 28 July 2026. The feature translates speech from another language through AirPods in real time and shows the translation in Apple's Translate app. Which? asked four bilingual speakers to chat in Italian, Spanish, German and French. It judged the translation through AirPods Pro 3 and in the app, with background noise in half of the tests. Which? found that the translation was generally accurate in all four languages. A few words were lost and some sentences were ungrammatical, but the testers could still understand what was meant. The French translation was excellent. The Spanish one translated word for word and slowed down with background noise. The Which? scientific advisor who led the tests said that the delay made natural conversation difficult. The article gives no error counts. Testaankoop of Belgium had tested the feature for an article published on 8 March 2026. It found that bugs in iOS 26.1 made the feature unstable and that it lagged by 4 to 6 seconds when it worked.","category":"aggregate result","unexpected":false,"purpose":"Apple built Live Translation to translate face-to-face conversations through AirPods, and messages and calls on the iPhone, for people who do not speak the same language.","system":"Live Translation, as tested on AirPods Pro 3 with an iPhone","model_version":null,"developer":"Apple","deployer":"Apple (feature of iOS 26 for AirPods and iPhone)","location":"United Kingdom (Which? tests)","domain":"Consumer technology","segment":null,"benefit_type":"Improved Task Accuracy","work_activities":["4.A.4.a.1"],"taxonomy_note":null,"registry_ids":{},"ratings":[{"group":"personal","depth":1,"reason":"The testers could understand what speakers of four languages meant through their AirPods, a convenience for travel and everyday conversation."}],"ai_role":{"status":"unassessed","statement":"Which? judged the translations themselves and ran no comparison with and without the feature, so the results describe Live Translation's own output. Which? notes that the feature needs Apple Intelligence but does not describe the models behind it. Apple states in its iPhone User Guide that Live Translation uses Apple-built models that run entirely on the device. In a footnote on the same page, Apple states that Apple Intelligence uses generative models. Generative models are trained on data. Apple does not name the translation models or say how it trained them."},"evidence":[{"kind":"assessment report","citation":"Which? (Humairaa Habib). We tested Apple's Live Translation feature: does it really work? 28 July 2026. Which? tested the feature on AirPods Pro 3 with four bilingual speakers, in quiet conditions and with background noise. 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It concludes that the feature may be stronger in the future but is still too unstable for daily use. Cited as a contrary finding from an earlier test.","title":"Beste vertaal oortjes: onze test van translator earbuds en hun werkelijke prestaties","url":"https://www.test-aankoop.be/hightech/koptelefoons-en-oortjes/nieuws/earbuds-vertaal-oortjes","date":"2026-03-08","written_by":"independent","quote":"Nadelen: instabiel, onnatuurlijk stemgeluid, niet altijd beschikbaar. Conclusie: Mogelijk sterker in de toekomst, nu nog te onstabiel voor dagelijks gebruik.","supports_benefit":false},{"kind":"other","citation":"Apple. Translate messages, calls, and conversations on iPhone. iPhone User Guide for iOS 26, read on 1 November 2026. Cited for the models behind Live Translation. 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