SonaBuds app setup for two people, do both need it?

I’d double check that before ordering, because the “just talk normally” version is usually the one that trips people up. If the whole point is two-way conversation, both people being able to hear the translated audio is kind of the main thing, and that tends to mean both sides need something on their end. Not always the same app setup, but it’s rarely as simple as one person handling it all while the other just chats away.

I think you’ve got it backwards. The person you’re talking to doesn’t need the app, but that doesn’t mean they just talk normally either. Someone still has to hold a bud or pass it back and forth, so it’s not exactly a hands free chat.

Probably just you, they can talk normally.

The other person does not need the app, and I’d argue the two-way mode is actually worse with two people fiddling with their own phones. That’s where I’d push back on the idea that both need it. I’ve watched people try to set it up like a walkie talkie system, each person paired to their own buds, and it just turns into a mess of passing phones around and waiting for one side to finish.

When I’ve used it, the whole point is that the other person just talks and I’m the one running the show. They don’t install anything, they don’t pair anything, they just speak and I deal with whatever comes out on my end. That part actually works fine for quick stuff like asking directions or ordering food.

Where it falls apart is group situations. If there are three people at a table all talking at once, one person holding the phone becomes a bottleneck and you’re basically playing interpreter for everyone. So for a one on one chat, yeah, only you need it. For anything more than that, it gets clunky fast and you’ll wish everyone had their own setup even though that’s a hassle too.

I will say I have no idea how well it handles a really noisy market or a train station. Only used it in quieter spots.

I’ve used mine in a taxi in Mexico and the driver just talked normally while I held my phone, no app on his end at all. He didn’t even know what the earbuds were doing. The only thing is you’re basically passing your phone back and forth if the chat gets long, which felt a bit awkward.

I actually found the two-way mode kinda annoying for random chats, but not for the reason people usually mention. When I tried it with my brother on a trip, he didn’t have the app and it still worked fine, but the bigger issue was just passing the phone back and forth. That part gets old fast. So for quick stuff like ordering food or asking directions, having the other person not need the app is genuinely useful, but for longer back and forth conversations it feels clunky either way. I ended up just using one earbud and letting the other person talk normally most of the time. If you’re mainly doing travel stuff with strangers, the no-app thing is the whole point. If it’s someone you’ll talk to a lot, might be worth just getting them set up too.

I’d actually push back a little on the idea that one-sided mode is always the way to go. I borrowed a pair for a week long trip through Italy and Japan, and I tried both setups depending on who I was talking to. For quick stuff like ordering food or asking directions, sure, one phone is fine. But the moment you sit down for an actual back and forth chat, like with a host or someone you just met, doing it all one-sided gets clunky fast. You end up passing your phone back and forth or holding it up like a microphone while they wait awkwardly. When the other person had the app on their own phone, the flow felt way more natural, almost like a normal conversation where we each glance at our screens. So it’s not that they need it, more that for anything longer than a quick exchange, having them install it made the whole thing less stiff.