Welcome to Oxford Online English.

In this lesson, you can learn how to talk about smartphones in English.

You'll see the process of buying a new smartphone.

You'll also learn how to describe the features of a smartphone.

Say what's most important to you and ask questions about what smartphones can do before we start.

Don't forget to check out our website Oxford Online english.com.

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But now let's see some useful language for buying a new smartphone.

Hello, can I help you with anything?

Hi.

Yes, I'm looking for a new phone.

I have some ideas but maybe you can make some recommendations.

Of course.

What are you looking for in your new phone?

Well, for me, the number one priority is good battery life.

I travel a lot for work and I need a phone which can last at least a full day without problems.

I see.

Is anything else important?

I take a lot of pictures.

So I want something with a decent camera.

It doesn't have to be amazing.

But I'd like a phone which can take good quality pictures.

It would be a bonus if it could take photos in low lights because a lot of phone cameras don't do well in darker conditions.

I found that's true.

But camera technology is getting better all the time.

Even midrange, modern phones can take excellent photos in a wide range of conditions.

If I may ask, what's your budget?

I guess I'll aim for something in the midrange.

I don't need something top of the lines.

So maybe around 2 €300.

That's fine.

I have a few ideas for you.

Follow me please.

If you were shopping for a new phone, what would you look for?

What's your top priority?

Do you always buy the same brand or do you look for something different like good battery life or the lowest possible price?

The number one is good.

Of course, you can use this phrase with different features as in the number one priority is a good front camera for selfies.

You could say the same thing in different ways like this.

The most important thing for me is good battery life.

You also heard I take a lot of pictures so I want something with a decent camera, decent means quite good.

If something is decent, it's above average but not the best.

If you say this you mean that you don't need the best, most expensive camera there is but you want something that's good enough.

If something is less important, you can use the phrase, it would be a bonus.

If in the dialogue you heard it would be a bonus.

If it could take good photos in low light, a bonus is something which is nice to have but not absolutely necessary.

So you might say it'd be a bonus if it had a brighter screen finally to set your budget, you could say something like this.

I'm aiming for something in the midrange.

I want to spend as little as possible.

I'd like something cheap.

But without compromising what I need, if you put these phrases together, you should be able to say 2 to 3 sentences about what you need in a smartphone, what you'd like to have and how much you'd be willing to spend.

For example, the most important thing for me is that it's fast and has good performance.

It would be a bonus if it had over 100 gigabytes of storage.

I'm aiming for the upper midrange.

So I'd like to spend maybe 4, 500 maximum.

Could you make an answer like this?

Pause the video and make an answer if you need, you can review this section to get the language you need, say your answer out loud.

Ready.

Let's take a look at our next section.

I think this would be a good choice.

Based on what you told me, it has 48 megapixel dual camera and great camera software, which makes it easy to take good pictures in low light conditions.

Like you said, the battery should last 2 to 3 days with normal usage.

And currently it's discounted to €250.

That sounds good.

How do you mean ra M or internal storage storage?

I guess, you know, for music photos and so on.

It has 64 gigabytes of internal storage and you can also add a micro SD card if you need more.

Oh, yeah, one more thing.

Does it have a headphone jack?

I listen to music on my headphones and I saw a lot of new phones don't have the new connector for wired headphones.

Yes, it has a 3.5 millimeter jack for headphones or an aux cable or whatever.

Last thing I should have mentioned this earlier.

Can it take two SIM cards?

Yes, it's dual sim.

Although the second SIM card goes in the microsd slot, so you have to choose between two SIM cards or extra storage.

You can't have them both.

That's a little annoying.

Yes, I have one idea.

Let me show you in the dialogue.

I ask three questions about the phone's features.

Can you remember what you heard?

You heard?

How much storage does it have?

Does it have headphone jack?

Can it take two SIM cards?

Think about these basic question forms.

Can you think of three more questions you could ask about a smartphone using these question forms, pause the video and think about your answers.

If you want extra practice, write them down.

Of course, there are many possibilities.

Here are three suggestions.

How much ra M does it have?

Does it have a fingerprint scanner?

Can it last all day on a single charge?

What about you?

Were your questions similar or did you get something completely different?

There are many other questions you could ask.

But next, let's see how to describe other features of a smartphone in more detail.

So this one is a little more expensive, but I think you do get a lot more for your money.

It has dual SIM capability 128 gigs of storage, which can be expanded with a memory card if you need and a much better screen.

The screen is very high res so everything looks sharp and it also has extremely accurate colors which might be of interest if you're into photography accuracy.

Just that the colors you see on the screen are exactly how they look in real life.

Some screens, especially on cheaper phones don't have accurate color reproduction.

So everything looks too blue or too orange or whatever.

I don't think that's so important.

It also has an eight core CPU and eight gigabytes of ra M.

So everything runs fast and you can multitask have several apps open at once on the back.

It's the fingerprint scanner.

This phone also has face recognition so you can unlock it just by looking into the camera.

And how much is it?

It's €750 but I could take €50 off the price.

So 700 that's too much.

I think I'll take the first phone you showed me.

Of course, here are some things you heard in the dialogue.

Could you explain what they mean in English?

It has dual sim capability.

The screen is very high res it has an eight core CPU.

So you can multitask.

Imagine you're an English teacher and you want to explain these words to someone who doesn't know them.

How would you do it?

Dual sim means that the phone can use two SIM cards at the same time.

So you can have two phone numbers on one device.

High res is short for high resolution.

This means that the screen has more pixels.

So text and images will look clearer.

An eight core CPU is a processor which can run many different calculations at the same time.

So you can multitask, you can have several apps open and you can use your phone to do several things at once without it slowing down.

Do you remember any other smartphone features which were mentioned in the dialogue?

You heard the screen has extremely accurate colors.

It also has face recognition, it has eight gigabytes of ra M.

What about your phone at this point in the lesson.

You should have enough language to describe the features of your phone in detail.

Your job is to make a longer answer, talking about your phone.

Remember that you can review earlier sections if you need to aim to make at least five sentences, pause the video and do it now.

Ok.

How was that?

Could you make a clear fluent answer?

Let's look at one more point.

So will you be needing any accessories?

Well, for sure, you should get a screen protector.

It will stop the glass from getting scratched or damaged.

How much is it?

€10 and we can put it on for you right now.

You can, but it's fiddly.

Ok.

I'll take one of those.

Is it worth getting a cage to protect it?

Perhaps.

Although phones are a lot tougher than they used to be.

Of course, I don't recommend it, but you can drop it and it'll be fine nine times out of 10.

I think I'll take a case too.

I broke my last phone by dropping it and I'll be so angry if it happened again.

Sure.

Take a look over here.

Any of these cases will fit and they'll keep your phone safe.

This one's nice.

It's 15.

That's right.

Also, one more thing, if you're worried about breaking your phone, you could buy an extended warranty.

It covers you for three years and it includes insurance against accidental damage.

So if you drop your phone or it falls in water or anything like that.

You can bring it back and we will repair it at no extra cost.

How much is it?

It costs €65.

No, thanks.

No problem.

Is that everything?

Yes, thanks so much.

Where do I paint come with me?

And I'll show you when you buy a smartphone, you might also buy some accessories, accessories mean small extra things which go with something larger you bought, accessories can be cosmetic like a case or functional like a screen protector.

Can you think of other examples of smartphone accessories?

You could also buy a spare charger, a Bluetooth headset or a mount so that you can see your phone while you're driving during the dialogue.

The salesperson also offered me an extended warranty.

Do you know what this means?

A warranty and a guarantee have the same meaning here, the manufacturer or the retailer are responsible if anything goes wrong with the product.

Normally a warranty lasts one year.

Some retailers and manufacturers offer extended warranties which are a kind of insurance.

At this point, you should be able to buy a new smartphone in English.

Describe exactly what you need and buy any accessories which you want.

Here's a question.

What kind of phone do you have?

Would you recommend it to others?

Why or why not?

Please share your ideas in the comments and practice your English.

Try to use the language which you've learned in this lesson.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time.