Product review subtitles. Keep every claim in context.

Prepare the review you are authorized to publish

Polyglot can transcribe a recorded product review locally on an Apple Silicon Mac, help you review or translate the text, and export SRT or WebVTT. Use macOS 14.4 or later. Start with your own final recording or material you have permission to process and distribute, including any translated publication.

Confirm permission for included footage, voices, music and third-party clips. Remove private order details or identifiers from the video before preparing public text. Keep the reviewer’s spoken explanation of a loaned sample, sponsorship or affiliate relationship in the captions. Subtitle editing is not a substitute for checking the publication’s disclosure obligations or clearing rights.

Attach the result to the sample and conditions

Write a short review sheet before checking the transcript: final-cut filename, exact model and variant, sample status, relevant firmware or software version, selected mode, accessories and comparison baseline. Include only conditions relevant to the claim. A model family name is not enough when two variants behave differently.

RTINGS publishes versioned test benches and changelogs describing changes to tests and scoring. That is a useful reminder that a comparison depends on its method and version. Your captions should preserve the conditions actually spoken in your review; they should not present an old result as a fresh retest.

For each important claim, mark whether the speaker is reporting a measurement, describing an impression or attributing a specification to the manufacturer. “The maker says” and “in this test” carry different meanings. Keep that distinction when correcting recognition errors or approving a translation.

Resolve the chart and narration before shortening text

Listen to quantities, units, mode names and short qualifiers such as “up to”, “about” and “only with”. Check whether “faster” refers to the previous model, another product or a different setting on the same unit. Do not turn a personal impression into a measured result because the shorter wording reads neatly.

Compare the spoken result with the visible chart or product label. If the transcription is wrong, correct the text. If the recording and chart disagree, return the conflict to the reviewer. Correct or clarify the video and repeat the timing review; do not silently change the caption to match whichever number looks more plausible.

The fictional example below illustrates a review decision. It is not a real product measurement or a Polyglot accuracy test.

Fictional claim sheet
Cut: desk-light-v04
Unit: sample A
Mode: Eco
Firmware: 2.1

Heard: “About six hours
in Eco mode on this unit.”
Chart: “Standard: 6 h”

Keep the spoken qualifier.
Ask the reviewer to resolve
the mode mismatch.
Hold the delivery until
audio and chart agree.

Keep translation faithful to the evidence

Have a competent language reviewer check model suffixes, units, comparison direction and conditions alongside playback. Preserve the difference between a manufacturer’s specification and the reviewer’s observation. Do not convert units or strengthen a tentative conclusion without an explicit reviewed decision.

If the original is ambiguous about which unit “this one” refers to, fix that ambiguity in the recording or an approved clarification before translating. A confident translation cannot supply missing evidence. Keep an unresolved claim on the review sheet instead of making the translated track sound more certain.

W3C guidance includes meaningful non-speech audio in caption review. A fan-noise comparison, button click or warning tone can carry part of a product review’s point. Have a person decide which sounds need descriptions and check them against the recording. Polyglot does not measure performance, read charts or automatically verify product claims.

Accept the final video and every language together

Export a separate reviewed SRT or WebVTT for the exact final cut. Keep the cut identifier, language, review-sheet version and any outstanding decisions in the handoff. For an owned YouTube upload, its help documentation explains adding a supported file with timing. Other destinations need their own format and player check.

Watch the opening sample explanation, each comparison and the closing recommendation with captions on. At phone size, check that captions do not hide the model label, setting or chart needed to understand a result. Placement is controlled by the destination; a plain timed file does not guarantee that every player leaves the same area visible.

Check the exported file’s cue order, text and timing against playback, including the last cue. Compare each translated claim with the approved original. A correctly formatted file is not proof that a measurement or conclusion is true. Hold delivery while any material sample, mode or comparison conflict remains unresolved.

For a correction or later retest, identify which recording and subtitle versions are affected. A firmware update does not make an older video a new test. If the video is recut, review timing again and replace the matching tracks deliberately in the receiving platform. Keep the earlier reviewed files locally for reference. Polyglot prepares subtitle files; it does not publish corrections, burn captions into the video or enforce version withdrawal.

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