Samsung AI-powered Live Translate is coming to these Galaxy Buds — what we know
AI-translated phone calls are coming directly into your ears
AI translation is one of the big features in the Galaxy AI suite, which debuted on the Galaxy S24. But it sounds like you won’t be restricted to translating foreign languages through your phone, because Galaxy AI's Live Translation will be coming to various Galaxy Buds as well.
Gizmochina spotted that a firmware update is currently rolling out to Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2, Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and Galaxy Buds FE. Once installed, and paired with a Galaxy S24 handset, you’ll be able to use Samsung’s Live Translate feature through the Galaxy Buds.
The main thing to remember here is that the Live Translation feature is only available during phone calls. The idea behind the feature is that you speak in your native language, while the person on the other end of the line speaks their own. Galaxy AI translates everything in the middle, speaking to each caller in their chosen language and offering a transcription of the call on screen.
If you’re looking to translate conversations you’re having in person, with a living human being, Live Translation is going to be no help. Instead you’ll need to use the Galaxy S24’s Interpreter app, which can help you go back and forth with someone standing in front of you.
That’s not something that the Galaxy Buds can do right now, though it is something we’d be interested in seeing in the future.
Currently the Galaxy S24 series are the only Samsung phones that offer Live Translate. However we do know that some Galaxy AI features will be coming to 2023 Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 — and Live Translate is rumored to be among those features. Hopefully that means Live Translate will work via Galaxy Buds on those devices too.
But there’s no telling when older phones will gain access to Galaxy AI features. So for now everything is firmly restricted to the Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra.
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Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.