[Mike Casio]

Saw it claims offline translation for some remote scenarios but that’s vague. I’m not buying if it’s useless without a signal. Anyone know if the offline part is real or just marketing fluff?

[LiamW]

Offline mode usually means a small set of downloaded languages, not the full 100+. I’d want to see exactly which ones before paying.

[Gina Vale]

Offline mode is real, works fine on airplane mode.

[Chris Patrick]

Mine only reliably did offline stuff right after a fresh language download. After a few weeks it kept nagging for a connection, even on a route I’d used before. So I’d call it real but fussy, not something I’d trust blind.

[DonnaD]

I don’t buy the offline thing either, at least not the way it’s advertised. Mine needed the app to even start up and that pretty much killed the idea of using it somewhere with no signal.

[RonWeek]

The offline part is the main reason I even bothered with these. I don’t need it to handle every language, just the two I actually use, and it’s been fine for that. Not going to pretend I’ve stress tested it, but it does what I need when I’m out of range.

[Jordan Hayes]

Offline worked fine for me once the languages were saved.

[Chris Reed]

I don’t think it’s outright fake, but the way it’s worded is doing a lot of heavy lifting. My guess is it covers a couple of languages you preload, not the whole 100+ list, and that’s probably it. So real, just way narrower than the page makes it sound.

[Tina M]

Mine did work on a flight with no signal, but only for the languages I had downloaded ahead of time and only for short back and forth stuff. Anything longer or more complicated and it got shaky, so I would not count on it as your only option.

[Sarh_Kompress]

Mine stopped translating entirely once I lost signal, so whatever offline mode exists didn’t kick in for me. Maybe I missed a setting somewhere, but I’m not going to dig around for it every trip.

[Gary Scott]

Their “remote scenarios” phrasing is doing a lot of work for something they won’t actually spell out. If they can’t say which languages work without a signal, that’s not a feature, that’s a footnote. I’d want that in writing before handing over money.

[Jessie Travels]

I mostly care about it for music and calls anyway, so the translation thing is kind of a bonus for me. If the offline bit only covers a few languages, that’s fine for my trips since I stick to the same two or three places. I’d still rather have it work sometimes than not at all.

[Carla M.]

If I were in your spot, I’d just skip it unless you can find a straight answer from the company about which languages actually work offline. That’s the thing that would bug me. I use mine mostly for music and calls, and the translation part is more of a fun extra when I’m around people who don’t speak English. I’ve messed with the app settings a bit and there are language packs you can grab, so the offline capability isn’t totally made up, but the wording in the marketing is so fuzzy that you genuinely can’t tell what you’re getting until you try it yourself. For me it’s not a dealbreaker because I never bought them expecting them to work like a standalone gadget with zero connection. If offline is your main reason for buying though, I’d wait until they publish something concrete, or find someone who’s tested your specific language pair. Otherwise you’re kind of gambling on vague marketing.

[Sam West]

Offline mode is real but narrow. I tested it in a rental with no service and only a couple of the languages I’d preloaded actually worked. Everyone keeps asking which ones, and the app never gives a straight list, which is my main gripe.

[Cora Finch]

The offline bit needs the language pack downloaded in the app first, and it’s buried in settings. I only figured that out because a friend showed me. Once it’s there it does work without a signal, just keep expectations low for longer sentences.

[Old Dave]

The offline thing works but only if you set it up before you actually need it. I found that out the hard way on a trip to a place where data was spotty. I had downloaded a couple of languages in the app ahead of time, and those did fine. Anything I hadn’t preloaded just sat there doing nothing until I got wifi again.

What annoyed me is there’s no clear warning. You just assume it’ll fall back to offline automatically, and it doesn’t. At least not in my case. I don’t remember the exact wording on the box, but it definitely gave me the impression it was more capable than it turned out to be.

So is it real? Sort of. It’s not fake, but it’s limited and you have to babysit it. For basic stuff like ordering food or asking directions it was okay. For anything longer or with accents it got rough fast.

I still use it for music more than translation honestly. The offline bit isn’t the reason I’d buy it. If that’s your main thing you’ll probably be disappointed like I was at first.

[Mike Harry]

No idea, still feels like a coin flip to me.

[techguy22]

It’s real, but the way they market it makes it sound way bigger than it is. I tested it on a flight with airplane mode on and got basic phrases to come through fine in Spanish and French, which is all I really needed. It’s not going to replace a live connection for full conversations though.

[Luna Bee]

Mine only worked for Spanish after I downloaded it first.

[Marcus Weaver]

I actually don’t think the offline thing is as sketchy as this thread makes it sound. I used mine at my parents’ place out in the sticks where cell service is basically nonexistent, and it handled a whole dinner conversation with my aunt who only speaks Portuguese. No dropouts, no “please connect to the internet” nonsense. I had downloaded the pack weeks earlier, forgot I even did it, and it just worked.

Maybe I got lucky, or maybe the languages people are trying are the problem. I only needed one, so I can’t say how it holds up across a bunch of them. But the idea that it’s pure marketing fluff doesn’t match what I saw. It’s not some tiny gimmick that dies the second you lose bars.

I’d just try one language you actually need before writing the whole feature off. If that one works, you’re probably fine. If it doesn’t, then yeah, return it.

[Tom_Craig]

Works fine for me, just don’t expect miracles.

[Mike Casio]

Fair enough, I’ll just download it and see.

[Chris Lee]

Probably doesn’t work unless you preload the language first.

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