What happened
Testaankoop, the Belgian consumer organization, published a test of translator earbuds on 8 March 2026. Besides dedicated translator earbuds, it tested ordinary earbuds with built-in translation from Samsung, Apple and Soundcore. Samsung Live Translate is available on the Galaxy S24 and other premium Samsung phones and works with several Galaxy Buds models. It can also translate phone calls live. Testaankoop found that the translation was generally good, especially in administrative conversations. It found that errors occurred with ambiguous sentences or punctuation and sometimes with complex constructions or long sentences. It listed understandable translation and integration with phone calls among the feature's strengths. It concluded that the feature is an innovative translation function for conversations that still needs some work on accuracy. The article does not name the phone or earbuds used, the languages or the number of conversations. It gives no error counts. Testaankoop concluded that translator earbuds do not yet replace a human interpreter. Samsung wrote in April 2024 that the translation model behind Live Translate learns from its own data through deep learning.
Sources
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Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Testaankoop (expertise Richard Motte, editing Evelien De Bal). Beste vertaal oortjes: onze test van translator earbuds en hun werkelijke prestaties. 8 March 2026. Section on ordinary earbuds with built-in translation from Samsung, Apple and Soundcore, on Samsung. In English, the quoted passage says that the translation is generally good, especially in administrative conversations, but that errors occur with ambiguous sentences or punctuation.
De vertaling is in het algemeen goed, zeker bij administratieve gesprekken, maar fouten komen voor bij dubbelzinnige zinnen of interpunctie.
Voordelen: integreert met telefoongesprekken, werkt met veel buds, begrijpelijke vertaling. Nadelen: soms fouten met complexe constructies of lange zinnen. Conclusie: Innovatieve vertaalfunctie voor gesprekken, met nog wat werk aan de accuraatheid.
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Other, by the makers. Context or contrary evidence.
Samsung Newsroom. [Interview] Fast, Lightweight and On-Device AI: How Samsung Research Built AI Features That Translate in Real Time. 26 April 2024. Interview with researchers of Samsung Research's Global AI Center, section How Samsung Research Trained Its AI Model. Cited for the trained translation model behind Live Translate and Interpreter.
The Samsung Research team's AI translation model is based on deep learning technology that learns from its own data.
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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Testaankoop tested Samsung Live Translate among ordinary earbuds with built-in translation. The feature runs on the Galaxy S24 and other premium Samsung phones and works with several Galaxy Buds models. It can translate phone calls live.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The user has a Samsung phone that supports Live Translate, such as the Galaxy S24. Speakers avoid ambiguous, complex or long sentences, where Testaankoop found errors.
Entry details
- Sector
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Consumer technology.
- Purpose
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Samsung built Live Translate to translate phone calls and conversations between languages in real time on its Galaxy phones and earbuds.
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model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, AI contribution, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, every money question, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.
Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Samsung Live Translate translates generally well in Testaankoop's test (AIBD-1130). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-1130.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)