Read Smartling Review to Know Their Worth

Our readers dictate what companies we should research, and writing a Smartling review was our newest target. We are always eager to find the best legal translation services for you, so we started our work right away. This agency was founded in 2009, which means that its experience has reached 13 years. It has two offices in New York and Dublin — their address along with email are provided on the website. We liked this fact a lot. Plenty of agencies exist in purely online format, but physical presence gives them bonus points because it enhances their credibility.

Smartling focuses on translations of different kinds. This is its specialty, and while it offers assistance from human translators, it also provides cloud-based software. We found quite a lot of Smartling reviews online, but we had questions about their authenticity. They all look too similar to one another: same size, same language, same information expressed in different words. This didn’t stop us from launching further research, though! We wanted to find out how trustworthy this company is.

What Kind of Services You Can Expect as a Client

Whenever we’re looking for technical or gaming localization companies online, we analyze how many services they provide. There is no right or wrong answer here: some companies focus on unique clients while others try to be more mainstream. This is what we intended to discover in our review of Smartling. Its website is pretty confusing. Colors don’t coexist well, content often sounds too heavy-handed or downright confusing, and it’s difficult to understand what translation options are available. We made a list with major options for you:

• Human translation. With a pass rate of 5%, Smartling can be seen as an exclusive company. Its translators work with 125 language pairs — this isn’t much, but it’s diverse enough to meet the interests of most clients. There is direct communication available, so you could discuss your project with your translator and ask any questions you need.
• Machine translation. Smartling.com supports machine translation. It offers integration of your website with its unique technologies, guaranteeing good quality for cheap prices. Based on reviews, its CAT tools are average in quality, but they work well enough.
• Transcreation. This interesting service implies a big amount of creativity. Smartling is ready to adapt your complex message into a target language, making it just as funny, interesting, or profound as your original intent. It’s an advanced form of localization.
• Transcription & subtitles. The company works with videos and audio in different formats. It also translates content before incorporating it into subtitles.
• Editing. No Smartling.com reviews mention editing, but we located this option on its website. If you don’t like your project in its current form or doubt its fluency, hire a professional editor and let them handle your task.

We were interested in Arabic translation services, in this case, so we placed an order for this language in the sphere of marketing. It’s impossible to see how many industries these translators cover because the website is incomplete, so you need to discuss this with managers. They accepted our order and we agreed that Smartling will deliver it in fifteen days.

Central Part of Smartling Review: Translation Prices

Prices are a big deal to every client. No one wants to overpay, not even if their project is complex. Unfortunately, you won’t see how much your order is going to cost before you get in touch with managers. This is a serious drawback. We don’t believe that any company should hide how much they charge — clients should see these things from the start. If they find prices affordable, they can consider sharing details of their project to receive a unique price quote.

Our translation was worth $0.16 per word. This is too much, and several Smartling reviews complained about it, too. Our project wasn’t particularly difficult and we ordered simple human translation. From better news, there are discounts, but they apply only if you order many pages. Machine work is also cheaper, but it has worse quality.

Translation Quality: Client Reviews vs. Our Experience

Quality is another vital aspect. Some people may tolerate high prices, but no one is going to stand for terrible content. Customers expect perfection, and our Smartling.com review team was curious if these translators were going to meet our demands. We read the comments of other customers first to form the first impressions. As we’ve mentioned, we were skeptical about their genuineness, but we couldn’t ignore them anyway. Most people seemed happy with their results. They liked the quality and appreciated the work of their translators.

When our translation project arrived, it was on time. We appreciate punctuality, so this earned the company some extra marks. But as we began to read it, we noticed mistakes. Some sentences were mistranslated; a couple of them were missing altogether. Grammar errors made us think that contrary to promises, a non-native speaker worked on it. We issued a complaint, and to their credit, managers reacted quickly. They promised to remove all mistakes, and five days later, we got a revised project. It looked good this time, but we didn’t forget about the first outcome.

Strengths vs. Weaknesses: Determining the Winning Side

Smartling.com: is it reliable? We give you a chance to decide. Look at the pros and cons of this service and make your own decision.

Pros

• Lengthy translating experience. The company has been working since 2009 and it gained great experience.
• Professional translators present. Based on the results of the revision, Smartling has good translators who know what they are doing.
• Good management. Managers are responsive and helpful. They care about customers and make an effort to help.

Cons

• Not all translators are good. Our first expert did a poor job and we didn’t find the results satisfying.
• High prices. Smartling overcharges its customers to a significant extent, though it has discounts.
• Imperfect website. The website is overwhelming, confusing, and while it has lots of information, it is difficult to find it.
• Dubious reviews. Reviews we found across the Internet all sound strange. It feels like they were written by the same person — only some of them differed.

Final Part of Smart Ling Review

We can give Smartling 3.5 stars for its performance. Its work is far from ideal — while its revisions are effective, there should be no need for them in the first place. Translators cover different services, but it might take you a while to see your options, and you’ll have to pay too much for them. We think Smartling should improve its work and quality standards. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for Spanish translation services from real experts, check our website for more reviews. Find a provider that you can trust — once you do, share your thoughts with us and give us your ideas for which agencies we should visit next!