Best Language Translation Apps for China Travelers and Expats in 2023 (2023)

What are the best voice translation apps for China travelers?Perhaps you are not an omniglot who speaks several languages ​​fluently. Perhaps you are a little worried about traveling in China without speaking Chinese. Many of us have these feelings when traveling abroad and these are the best translation apps I recommend for anyone traveling to China.

It is important to note that I will focus here specificallyvoice translation apps.

There are a number of great Chinese dictionary apps or apps that can help you translate Chinese menus or signs using your phone's camera.

But that's not what it's about.

The purpose of these apps is to let you speak English (or your native language) on your phone and have it right away.translate and speakthe Chinese phrase.

On the other hand, a Chinese person can talk to you over the phone and the app will automatically translate English for you.

For tourists and business travelers, these voice translation apps can be lifesavers. As I've written before,Is it possible to travel to China without speaking Chinese?, and this use of technology is the main way to do that.

I could flood you with a list of 10-20 apps. Instead, let's focus on these five popular apps I've used:

Hope you find one that works best for you. Enjoy!

To use:Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means that, at no additional cost to you, I may receive compensation if you choose to use one of the listed services. I only recommend what I have personally used and appreciate your support!

Baidu Translate | Free and recommended

HeBaidu translation app(Available for iOS and Android devices) Honestly, it's not my favorite voice translation app, but I'm listing it here first for a reason...

…is a China-approved app.

This means you won't have any problems using the app in China. It's not blocked by Chinese censorship and (probably) never will be.

The interface is very easy to understand, although most of it is in Chinese. Most people shouldn't have any problems. Take a look at some of the sample screenshots below:

In my experience, translations through Baidu Translate are fast and surprisingly accurate. In conversation mode (which you can see above right), I like how it takes a text message-style approach to chat history.

There are several features (or "applets", as they call them) in the app, but since the app is designed for Chinese use, most of them won't help you.

For example, there is a Phrasebook applet, but it only translates from Chinese to English/Japanese/Korean. There are no English to Chinese sentences.

Google translator | The best (but blocked)

By far one of the best and most accurate voice translation apps on the market today is Google Translate (available foriOS devicesyAndroid).

There's only one problem: it's one of themany google apps blocked in China.

This means that if you want to use Google Translate in China, you will need to use a VPN. I personally useExpressVPN, which allows me to access not only Google Translate, but also Instagram, Facebook and many other apps blocked in China.

Google offers voice and conversation translation, as well as the ability to highlight certain phrases you want to save for later. Take a look at the Google Translate screenshots here:

In addition to voice translation features, Google Translate offers a great handwriting feature (to write in Chinese characters for translation) as well as a camera feature.

Unfortunately, in my personal testing, the camera feature in this and most other apps didn't work well.

There are a few apps on this list, including Google Translate, that offer an "offline mode" where you download a Chinese language pack. The only downside of this offline mode is thatonly works with text, not voice. For voice translations, you will still need a network connection.

iTranslate | beautiful but expensive

I translateit is the voice translation app that offers the best user experience among all the others listed here. The only drawback is thatit's not free.

As you can see in the screenshots below, the app offers conversational voice translation and a handy phrase guide with audio pronunciation.

iTranslate works like many of the other apps on this list, meaning you can type, speak, or point your camera at text to get a translation.

For a true voice-first experience, I recommend you check out theConverse iTranslate app. This app takes the ease of voice translation to a new level.

The idea is for you to hold the phone upside down like a microphone and simply press the screen to speak. Automatically detects which language is being spoken and translates.

If I had to give an award for design and ease of use on this list, Converse would definitely win. It's also one of the only apps to have an Apple Watch app.

If you don't consider yourself tech-savvy, you might want to invest in this app as a good Chinese voice translation.

Microsoft Translator | free and unlocked

Although it is similar to Google Translate,microsoft translatorit has a clear advantage: it is not (currently) blocked in China. That's part of what makes it such a great voice translator for China.

The app itself is pretty straightforward, but I like how it gives you the option to not only hear the translation, but also see it in both Chinese and pinyin characters.

Another feature that makes Microsoft Translator unique is its web chat mode.

This means that if multiple phones have Microsoft Translator, you can connect them with one code and have them all participate in the same conversation.

(Video) TOP Translation App | Best Phone Call & Video Translator ( Whatsapp / Messenger / Wechat )

I can see how this could be useful for a multilingual team that needs to communicate easily. You can see the homepage of the online and face-to-face chat views in the screenshots above.

Speak and Translate | The best design but expensive

Honestly, I hesitate to mentionspeak and translate, an additional option as a voice translator for China. It is highly rated in the app store, however, it is no better than all other voice translation apps listed above.

You can see below that the UI is colorful but a little clunky.

The app is only available forApple's iOS Devices(sorry Android users). It's a freemium app, which means you can use it for free (10 translations a day) with tons of ads and annoying popups.

Or you can pay for the full version without plugins.

Final Considerations | Best Chinese voice translation apps

In the end, my recommendations boil down to this:

• Are you comfortable downloading a Chinese app?See with Baidu Translate.
• Already have a VPN?(asExpressVPN)? Go with Google Translate.
• Are you willing to pay for a quality user experience?View with iTranslate Converse.
• Do you need to have a team translation option?Go with Microsoft Translator.

Most of these apps work in a similar way, so I don't think you'll be disappointed with any particular app here.

The key is to make sure you canUse your phone in Chinaon the network to use speech-to-speech translation features.

Once you have that installed, these apps make getting around China very easy, even if you don't speak a word of Chinese!