Introduction (Does It Do What It Should)

I first encountered Vasco at CES 2025, and I was pretty amazed at what kind of products that they had. It is good that we have companies that make translation devices, because I’ve heard there are thousands of languages spoken on this planet. We had the chance to review the V4 and E1 translators, which are very effective products that work in different ways.

Our Review of the Vasco V4 Translator

I said earlier that these two translators work in two different ways, and the V4 is actually a separate device from your smartphone or tablet. I don’t remember having to create an account for it, but all I did was charge it up and turn it on, and it worked right out of the box.

I am told that this AI translator has “10 powerful translation engines, helping you speak, read, and have interactive conversations”. I will have to say that it was very easy to use, as I just selected the input language, and then selected the output language. It was so very easy to do, and I have demonstrations of it in the video.

Before I go any further, let me say that I don’t speak any other language other than English. I did take about five years of French in high school (because I took a year of it in middle school 8th grade), but there is something in my mind that just couldn’t really adapt to the second nature of it. I’d love to blame being on the autism spectrum for that, but honestly, I might just be lazy and undisciplined when it comes to stuff like that.

Fortunately, if I had the V4 translator, I wouldn’t have to worry about stuff like this. Let’s say I was in a situation where I was in a foreign country and I didn’t know the language. I could pull out the V4, which has a pre-installed SIM card with no additional costs or data limits, and it works in 200 countries.

From there, I could simply speak what I wanted to say, and then have the V4 translator say it in the other language. Not only that, and I might just be imagining this, but the translator does a good job of imitating my voice in that other language. The reason why I’m saying “I imagine”, is because I remember when Vasco demonstrated products, the representative told me it would respond back in my own voice. Do I have any verification of that?

I’ve heard there are over 112 languages here. There is a learning app with 28 languages (to help learn vocabulary), a voice translator with 107 languages, a text translator with 107 languages, and a photo translator for 112 languages.

You can see in the video that I tested out that photo translator, and it worked quite well. Well, I mean, I think it translated “Star Wars” to “Big Star”, but in the V4’s defense, I think that was a good translation.

You can get the Vasco Translator V4 in various colors for about $389 on the Vasco website.

Oh, before I get to the review of the E1 Translator, I will say that the V4 came with a protective case, and it was a clear one. I’m not certain if they come in clear for every color. Now, let’s get right to the next one.

Our Review of the Vasco E1 Translator

Now, the E1 is a very interesting translator in how it works. Unlike the V4, which is essentially a separate device entirely, the E1 is two earpiece device and they are designed to work with your smartphone/tablet.

As you can see, the E1 is made to look like two earbuds, and this is essentially what it is and critical to how it works. The E1 will do 51 languages straight to the ear.

I do a better demonstration of this in the video, but it has a simple setup. Speaking of setup, I should probably talk about the ingenious design of this, how the different earpieces come in charging cradles, and these charging cables link together so they can charge with the included USB-C cable.

The setup of these earpieces is quite simple, as it is a matter of telling the Vasco app which earpiece will translate which language. In my video demonstration, I made one English with the other being Spanish, and these earpieces have color-coded lights on them. So when I spoke English into one earpiece, it translated it in Spanish on the other earpiece, and vice versa. Best of all, the app also did a speech-to-text version of this, so the entire conversation is recorded, in a way.

All in all, I liked how it worked. I did have some issues with times where I would speak into the English, and even though the app gave a translation, I wouldn’t hear it from the Spanish side. There were also times in which one of the earpieces would just wirelessly disconnect without any explanation. Sometimes, the earpieces didn’t pick up, so it is important to speak clearly, without interruption.

I mentioned in the video how that the E1 has some kind of “machine learning curve”, and how I believe that the E1 was learning how to do its translation job better with every usage.

I mentioned in the video that the E1 has three modes, and the third mode is the more conversational type. There are others that will translate at the touch of a button, like the Loudspeaker mode. There is one mode that I didn’t test. Just to let you know, the E1 and V4 can be used together, which I also didn’t test. Whoops.

If you want to get the E1 translator, it can be purchased for about $389 on the Vasco website.

Facts About The Company

Vasco was started as recently as 2008 by a man named Maciej Goralski, who saw a need for translators. The company prides itself in “breaking language barriers”, and it is in many countries.

What Does This Company Make?

I see on the Vasco Shop that the company makes three different types of translators, and we reviewed two-thirds of them. Will we review the last one with the M3? I’ll see if I can make that happen.

Just the Specs, Man

If you’re the type that needs this info, this section is for you!

Specs of the Vasco V4 Translator

Display 5” 576×1440
Processor Quad-core Mediatek
RAM 2 GB
ROM 32 GB
Modem 4G
WiFi 2.4 GHz
Battery 2400 mAh
Size 5.87 x 2.17 x 0.39 in
Weight 0,3 lb
Earphone input USB Type-C
Charging port USB Type-C
Interface languages Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK), English (USA), Finnish, French (France), German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Spain), Swedish, Ukrainian
User manual download the manual

Specs of the Vasco E1 Translator

Size 1.8 x 2.2 x 1 in
* in the charging case
Weight 0.44 oz
Bluetooth 5.2
Microphones 2 in each earbud
Speaker Speakers Dynamic Neodymium Iron Boron 117dBA
Processor Dual-Core with two Arm®Cortex®-M33 processors
Battery 70 mAh (earbud), 400 mAh (charging case)
Charging port USB TYPE-C*
* The rating of the charging output should be DC 5V, at least 0.5A.
Interface languages Arabic, Albanian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Turkish
User manual download the manual

If there is something on this that I didn’t cover, please let me know.

Okay, Get To The Unboxing Already!

Maybe I Want It, But Is There Anything Else Like It? Maybe For A Lower Price? Please?

This is really the first time that I reviewed any of the Vasco translators, but I did review one translator from TimeKettle about five years ago.