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
Following one last restock earlier this month, Samsung now says that the “limited-run” Galaxy Z TriFold is “completely sold out” both online and in stores.
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YouTube is changing how you share specific moments in videos, ditching its “Clips” feature and more prominently showing on phones.
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Amazon this week launched its newest Fire TV Stick and, along with it, its second device powered by Vega OS. And that appears to be the pattern going forward, as a report claims that all future Amazon Fire TV Stick devices will ditch Android.
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As earbuds have become commonplace, over-ear headphones have been a lot less popular and, really, they don’t get much love as they should. Nothing, popular for its earbuds, stepped into the category last year with Nothing Headphone (1) which, for $299, was already a great deal. Now, Nothing Headphone (a) has arrived and, somehow, manages to be an even better value.
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Google is porting over a tidbit from its Pixel Watch to the notification shade on Pixel phones with its Android 17 update, now live in the latest beta.
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Google has released Android 17 Beta 4, the last beta update ahead of the full release, and it introduces a fun new Easter egg that has a little connect-the-dots puzzle to start up a new animation.
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Google has released Android 17 in beta for Pixel devices, skipping the usual Developer Preview given the arrival of new Canary builds, and you can install it now. Here’s how.
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Ahead of its launch next week, Oppo is teasing some of the new AI-powered software features coming to Find X9 Ultra, while also hinting at wider AirDrop over Quick Share support.
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Roku has hit a major milestone, with its platform now being used in 100 million households around the globe.
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Meta has just announced that, like seemingly every other tech product under the sun, Meta Quest 3 series headsets are seeing price hikes across all models.
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The popular and unique third-party Android homescreen replacement, Niagara Launcher, is today introducing “Theme Studio” as a new way to not only create, but sharing your custom-built themes.
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Anthropic has today announced its latest Claude model, Opus 4.7, which makes major improvements to software engineering and coding tasks, but it’s not quite as powerful as Mythos.
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Spotify has today announced a redesigned app for tablet users which, thankfully, also works on Android foldables – just not all of them.
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The display crease has plagued foldables from the beginning and, while it’s gotten better over the years, it’s still very much there on every new device. The Oppo Find N6, though, is the device that claims to defeat the crease and, while that’s not quite accurate, this is a major step forward, and that’s only one tiny part of what is easily the best foldable on the market – shame that hardly anyone can actually buy it.
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Ahead of its formal launch, Walmart’s new Onn 4K Pro Google TV box is starting to show up in stores and online, revealing all of the key details.
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Google is working on a new Fitbit tracking band in the same vein as the popular Whoop band, and it’s been hiding in plain sight for some time now.
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Back in October, YouTube announced a new timer that would let you limit how often you use Shorts and for how long and, now, that’s being expanded to let you effectively turn off Shorts.
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Earlier today, Nothing announced a new AirDrop-esque app called Warp that sent files between devices through your Google Drive account. Hours later, it has vanished.
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For the past five years, a tap-to-pay vulnerability on iPhone has been known and has now been highlighted in an in-depth video, but your Android phone is not at risk for this.
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YouTube is testing out a new way to show Posts from creators to subscribers, with these posts now appearing alongside Shorts.
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Amazon has today announced a new Fire TV Stick HD which starts at $35 and can be powered by the USB port on your TV.
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Samsung has finally released its base Galaxy Book 6 in the US while also delivering a price hike across the entire lineup.
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Motorola is preparing to launch its first book-style foldable, the Razr Fold, in the UK and Europe with early bird discounts and some freebies too.
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In lieu of AirDrop over Quick Share support, Nothing is today launching “Nothing Warp,” a new app + browser extension that replicates the functionality, but leverages Google Drive to do it.
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