Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at 9to5Google, working for the publication as one of its primary news writers since 2016.
In 2013, Ben helped start an independent tech publication where he learned the skills used at 9to5Google including writing, product photography, and videography. He is located in the city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina where he lives with his wife Melissa. Ben is an avid disc golf player.
He primarily covers Android products, including Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, as well as devices from OnePlus, Oppo, Motorola, and more. Beyond just covering news about these products, Ben also spends time using these products himself, speaking from experience with the articles he writes. Some of Ben’s most recent hands-on reviews include; Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Motorola Razr+, HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, and more.
Ben is also a leading source for information about Google’s Android TV, diving deeply into important parts of the platform including its powerful Operator Tier, explaining future changes to the platform, and reviewing its products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield TV, and more.
In 2019, Ben leaked one of the first in-person photos of the Pixel 4 before later revealing the Recorder and Pixel Themes apps months ahead of launch. In 2020, Ben also reported on multiple upcoming Pixel devices including Pixel 5a and the first report of Google working on a foldable Pixel smartphone. That same month, he was also the first to correctly report the $49 price point of what became the Chromecast with Google TV.
Ben Schoon is active on Twitter, @nexusben, but can also be found on Instagram and LinkedIn. For questions or tips, you can email him directly, and his portfolio is also available online.
Email: schoon@9to5mac.com | Encrypted Email: benschoon@protonmail.com
Samsung’s brand new Galaxy Z TriFold form factor has arrived and, of course, one of the big questions around it is whether or not it’s actually durable. One YouTube channel put that to the test, finding that the device sort of gave up quite a bit shy of Samsung’s promise.
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Nvidia is implementing a somewhat tight limit on cloud gaming via its GeForce Now service starting on January 1, 2026, where almost all of its users will be restricted to playing 100 hours per month before additional fees kick in.
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As Google Assistant was crumbling, the arrival of Gemini in Android Auto felt like a needed step forward. But, as the feature rolls out, it seems a bit divisive. What do you think of it?
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Verizon has a nice discount available for its customers who are looking to try out Google’s YouTube TV, with a $20 discount on each of the first six months of service.
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Years after its debut in other parts of the globe, Google has today announced that Android’s Emergency Location Service (ELS) is finally available in India.
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Face grouping and search is perhaps one of the best parts of Google Photos, but the pivot to focus more heavily on AI-powered search did take away one of the easy shortcuts that could help you find images of a person or a pet. Now, though, Google is bringing it back.
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Google just released a really cool new Android figure on its merch store that has a built-in 3D maze game.
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The popular PayPal-owned extension Honey has been under fire for the past year regarding sketchy tactics against online creators as well as its customers, and as millions have already ditched the app, a new video breaks down how Honey has probably done some sketchy things with your user data while also harming businesses.
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Samsung has released a second beta update for its upcoming One UI 8.5 release, but there’s not much added this time around.
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Google appears to be working on more Android Auto updates, including potential support for Cast and a redesign of the music player to go with Material 3 Expressive.
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Quite literally at the last minute as far as the Christmas holiday is concerned, Google’s Pixel 10 series is starting at $450 right now thanks to a discount that cuts $100 off of even Black Friday pricing.
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After Google pivoted away from its stout book-like foldable form factor found in the original Pixel Fold, Apple’s coming iPhone Fold and a future Samsung foldable may just end up copying the same idea.
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As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve been looking back on some of my favorite products of the year, with two standouts in particular. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Pixel Watch 4 are far and away my favorite products of the year. What were yours?
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There are literally countless Qi2 charging docks available for the Pixel 10 series, each one with a different type of use case. One that I’ve been testing out lately is from UGreen, with the company’s Qi2 25W 3-in-1 “Magflow” dock being a perfect portable Qi2 dock for Pixel 10.
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In a post, Google is reminding Photos users how the act of deleting a photo or video works across your various devices.
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As promised by Google earlier this year, a GPU driver update has arrived for the Pixel 10 series in Android 16 QPR3.
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As a part of the Android 16 QPR3 beta update that rolled out to Google Pixel phones yesterday, Google has also updated its emoji set to include a few refreshed designs ahead of a larger update to come.
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Meta has confirmed that its plans to bring Horizon OS, the software on Quest headsets, to third-party devices have been paused, which is probably great news for Android XR.
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The Google Home app is adding support for transferring all of your old Nest gear to the new app with a single tap, instead of repeating the process over and over again.
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Google is adding a new notifying dot in Android 16 QPR3 which tells you when an app is accessing your location.
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Google Pixel phones are adding support for the three-button layout used in navigation by Samsung Galaxy smartphones, but only in the latest beta for now.
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Android 16 is widely available on Pixel devices, but Google continues to run beta programs for the latest updates. Here’s the newest Android 16 Beta available for Google Pixel, and how you can install it.
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Hisense has launched its new “DécoTV” series with the S5, a 32-inch TV that gives off some artsy vibes in a versatile form factor – it’s just running the wrong software.
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Nothing introduced “Lock Glimpse” earlier this year on its new budget-focused Phone (3a) Lite, and the sort of lockscreen “ads” appear to drain your battery from beyond the grave.
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