Shadowing Practice: The Sony Xperia 1 Deserves Your Attention - Learn English Speaking with Video
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203 sentences
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So here's an exciting one.
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For me, I mean, I haven't looked at a smartphone from Sony in a very long time.
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I couldn't even remember when Will asked me.
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And it's kind of unfortunate because they've been in the game for a long time.
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Not just a smartphone game, but the technology game, the gaming games, PlayStation, TV everybody wanted.
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Once upon a time was the Trinitron.
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I had the Minidisc player.
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The Walkman changed the game for me and others.
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It's like, I love to see Sony still doing it.
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And especially when they've got a product like this one
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which has been requested a lot by you guys I'm excited for it
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because it's a different take unlike the other manufacturers
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that are just going You know all in on this idea
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of screen to body ratio They're like let's go with a
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different aspect ratio Let's try to put as many pixels as possible into a six
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and a half inch screen that anyone's ever done before Let's just have a different approach
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so that's why I'm excited for this and oh I'm also excited
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because they're doing a promo these are my favorite headphones in the world right now The WH -1000XM3, they're doing a deal where you get these for free when you order this.
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That's an important thing to know about because this is not a cheap smartphone.
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This is going to retail for $950 USD, so it puts it in that premium price tier, but if you want to lower the sting of that MSRP,
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those are $350 noise -canceling headphones, and in my opinion, they're worth it.
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I've used them for a while, and I love them, so if you were in the market for both of these things, you can imagine your price point on the smartphone having a
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significant subtraction from a value perspective instead of having to spend $950
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and another $350 you can look at the effective price of the phone going all the way down to $600 bucks.
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I'll link Amazon down in the description if you want to check it out
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but it should work at a number of different retailers on the pre -order currently.
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Okay some specs on the back.
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12 plus 12 plus 12 megapixel triple camera setup you got to have it this day
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and age 2019 especially if you I want 900 bucks for a smartphone, 8 megapixel selfie camera, 4K HDR OLED display, 6 .5 inches.
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That's got to be the highest pixel density I've ever looked at in a smartphone, I would say.
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3330 milliamp hours.
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Of course, we've seen devices 4 ,000 plus, so I'm not too excited about that.
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Snapdragon 855 IP65 slash 68.
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Okay, this could be the next smartphone that I switch to.
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This could be my next experiment.
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Might very well.
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Which one did I get?
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Oh, I got the purple one.
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It's the Toronto Raptors purple one.
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You see that, Jack?
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Flip it over to the front, 21 by nine cinema wide.
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So this brings us to the next hot topic, maybe the hottest topic with this particular smartphone.
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You do not see 21 by nine smartphones.
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That said, if you look at a service like Netflix, for example, they claim a significant portion of their content is in that aspect ratio.
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For the time being, it's mostly cinema content in which you'll be able to watch the way it was originally intended.
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Now, why would you want to go with this aspect ratio?
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Well, what it allows you to do is have a 6 .5 -inch display, but in a form factor that you can hold super easy.
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As you can see, it's not a reach for me.
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It's just a confident grip.
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It's a really interesting aspect ratio.
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Could it be the future?
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Quite possibly, but for now, it's one of the rare devices available as far as a smartphone is concerned.
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We've seen it in monitors and things like that in the past.
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Now, they also claim there's some Dolby Atmos going on in here.
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I'll test the sound.
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That's what I do.
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USB Type -C connector on the bottom capable of fast charge, that's a must.
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You have the speaker unit also in that location right there.
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Over on this side of the device gets a bit fancy.
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Actually, there's a few buttons here.
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This is the interesting one.
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It is a side -mounted fingerprint scanner, so nothing in display.
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It's gonna be your more typical touch -based scanner.
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You would be used to seeing this on the rear of the device on other smartphones.
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A few of them have tried it on the side.
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Sony's doing the same.
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We'll see how that operates, see how that works in a moment.
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Volume rocker above that.
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That power switch below there, kind of weird that they're not both integrated into one, but I'm sure there's a good reason for it.
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And then another switch down here on the bottom.
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What is that?
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Is that a dedicated camera switch?
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That would be a nice location for it.
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I'm not sure.
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We're gonna have to wait a moment to find out on that one as well.
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Look at that.
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You remove the SIM card slash micro SD expansion tray without a tool.
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What a bonus that is.
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All right, before I boot up the device, Let's take a look at the rest of the contents of the package.
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We have a little bit of paperwork, a headset with interchangeable ear tips, a microphone.
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Here is your power brick.
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What is this baby capable of?
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18 watts of quick charge power.
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That should be sufficient for most individuals.
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Ooh, okay.
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Little vibration.
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It's so slim.
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It's so comfy.
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It's the ergonomics of a small size phone with the screen of a big size phone.
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This feels like a Pixel 3 that just keeps going.
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The screen looks incredible.
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It's way more pixels than my eyes could ever possibly discern.
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Will, can we get the pixel density on this?
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643 ppi according to WillDo.
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Alright, here we go.
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We're gonna test the fingerprint.
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It's on the side.
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It's kind of a weird, it's a different location.
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So, how's it gonna do?
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How's it gonna fare?
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So, fingerprint unlock on the side.
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It's definitely not the fastest.
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It feels a bit faster when you first press the power switch.
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If you don't press the power switch, it takes a second.
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I don't mind having it on the side.
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I just wish it was a bit snappier.
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Maybe I can turn off the animation.
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Go into the settings.
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I mean, it's so, it's very stock -ish.
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They didn't get out of hand.
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They didn't get wild.
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They're like, alright, Android, it's pretty good.
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We don't want to do too much, so it's almost pixel -esque.
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They just didn't, they just didn't mess with it that much.
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I mean, I see a couple things
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that seem extra cinema pro wow it is an advanced 21 by 9 video capture
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which is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever seen
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on a smartphone i mean it's got a real pro vibe
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to it audio levels you have hdr options codec you're shooting
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in h265 battery level it's a focal length iso shutter speed
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white balance daylight selection manual focus i mean it's not unwanted it's cool it's exclusive It's in line with their DNA.
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I can live with that.
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You can launch the camera quickly, swiftly, lift your device in landscape mode, aim the camera, and it'll be launched automatically.
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Okay, that's cool.
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Side sense.
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You can take a photo or video by simply double tapping the sensor on the side of the screen.
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I guess they mean the fingerprint sensor.
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Okay, cool, got it.
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Oh, this is a shutter button.
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That's way cooler.
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This, holding it like this, they thought about the ergonomics.
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You hold it as a human would hold a camera, and it has the half shutter press for focus.
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Half down, get the green.
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Boom, pop the shutter. So simple.
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It's a bit ridiculous.
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Like, you could just tap the screen, Lou.
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Relax.
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Or you could use some other button.
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A lot of phones use the volume down.
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But I don't want a double function button.
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You know, you see everybody?
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Ah!
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Like this?
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The claws?
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No, no, no. Humans.
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Boom.
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So here we go.
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wide zoom standard zoom wide I mean it's pretty much what
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you want let's watch a little video 16 by 9 content you're gonna get black bars it's YouTube
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so you can zoom in actually not so bad the crop works completely fine
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and let's get a sense for the audio performance here real
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quick now there's another weird icon over there dynamic vibration it's like a boost of some kind but now
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if i click on adobe atmos there's a few modes in
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there by default dynamic attempts to identify the type of content
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and then make the adjustment
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but you also have movie music custom i'll leave it on
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dynamic i think that's how most people will use it whoa
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that is so weird it was like a harmony i think
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that might be better for music to be honest it's a it's an odd experience it's harmonized
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so it's like slightly the enhancement is slightly off you can
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you can pick it up now as far as the speaker
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is concerned it's your typical implementation most of the sound comes out of the bottom unit the main speaker grill
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and a little bit of high end out of the earpiece generation flexible oled
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which requires a very specific samsung goes
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and creates this facility capable of other brands smartphones probably none more
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so than apple's smartphones apple using a hundred million in OLED iPhone screens each year.
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I would say volume is kind of comparable between the two.
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This is the OnePlus 7 Pro, by the way, but I feel like there's a little bit more low end presence on the OnePlus
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when it comes to dialogue.
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Let's do a quick music test.
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Do you want to see that comparison real quick?
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Look at this.
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So that's the OnePlus.
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And look at how much skinnier.
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I mean, maybe it doesn't seem substantial to you looking at that, but this is the extra, this is the tough part to reach with your hand when you're trying to reach the far end of the screen.
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I'd say the OnePlus has the most bass.
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The iPhone has the most clarity.
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This one is the most high.
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I will put these two closer together.
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This one is a little, this one's below that.
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I don't find it to be particularly offensive.
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The thing is it does change quite a bit when you go in there and tweak the Dolby settings I mean, this is with Dolby off now,
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but out of the box I'd say it's not quite as pleasing as these two other models Let's see
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if we can find a 4k 21 by 9 video.
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Whoa
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I don't know
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if it's gonna come through on camera I feel like I
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have to bring it closer to you jack for you to
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really get the right amount of detail This is gonna be
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one of the best video watching experiences on a phone for a lot of people
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that are on the go you end up consuming a lot
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of content on your smartphone natively it's just hard to imagine a better experience than this
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so there it is Xperia 1 from Sony finally a Sony device in the studio
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and let alone like the most requested good on Sony for
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creating the device that's captured the attention of you guys there's some things
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that for me are promising right out of the box I
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mean the display is obviously beautiful OLED lead all those pixels
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unusual aspect ratio i like the dedicated switch for the cameras
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which i'm gonna try out more i'm a little skeptical of the battery life though i will look into
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that also i like the purple color somehow i didn't expect
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that i'm gonna pop my sim card in here very shortly get to the bottom of it
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but good on sony for sticking around
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and at least capturing your guys attention up until now we'll see how pans out
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 203 sentences and 2046 words to shadow. The speech runs for 10:16. The speaker talks fast, about 199 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| smartphone noun | /ˈsmɑɹtfoʊn/ | A mobile phone with more advanced features and greater computing capacity than a feature phone. |
| pixel noun | /ˈpɪk.səl/ | One of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's memory. |
| ratio noun | /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/ | A number representing a comparison between two named things. |
| aspect noun | /ˈæspɛkt/ | Any specific feature, part, or element of something. |
| capture verb | /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/ | To take control of; to seize by force or stratagem. |
| purple noun | /ˈpɝ.pl̩/ | A colour between red and blue; violet, though often closer to magenta. |
| dynamic adjective | /daɪˈnæm.ɪk/ | Changing; active; in motion. |
| cinema noun | /ˈsɪn.ə.mə/ | A movie theatre, a movie house. |
| zoom verb | /zuːm/ | To move fast with a humming noise. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| audio adjective | /ˈɔ.di.oʊ/ | Focused on audible sound, as opposed to sight. |
| atmosphere noun | /ˈætməsˌfɪɹ/ | The gases surrounding the Earth or any astronomical body. |
| ridiculous adjective | /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/ | Deserving of ridicule; foolish, absurd. |
| boom verb | /bum/ | To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound. |
| density noun | /ˈdɛn.sə.ti/ | A measure of the mass of matter contained by a unit volume. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| stick around verb | To stay; to linger; to remain. |
| try out verb | To test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable. |
| turn off verb | To power down, to switch off, to put out of operation, to deactivate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.). |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 60 contractions and reduced forms, such as gonna, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: ratio /ˈɹeɪ.ʃoʊ/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/, vibration /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/, shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/
- Long words — get the stress right: ridiculous /ɹɪˈdɪk.jə.ləs/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, implementation /ˌɪmplɪmənˈteɪʃən/, manufacturer /ˌmænjʊˈfæktʃəɹə/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like smartphone, pixel, ratio.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't looked · they've been · has been requested |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been requested · be launched |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.