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
Google appears to be working on a couple of new Android Auto features, with further support for “local media” from your car continuing to be developed alongside hints that Gemini Live may be supported in the car.
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The Nest app has a long history, but it’s slowly on its way out. As the next major product moves fully to the Google Home app, the Nest app is nearly done for good.
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It still surprises me that Google managed to get in on the foldable game as early as it did, but the original Pixel Fold was only ever better than it should have been, far from perfect. As its sequel is just over the horizon, the Fold’s distance from greatness feels as though it has only grown, but the foundation Google has built opened the door for a sequel that can actually close the gap.
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Google Translate is picking up support for using the outer display on select foldables for “Conversation Mode,” with Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 6 being among the first.
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After running into stock issues before its full release next week, Google has fully restocked the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, with all orders once again up for pre-order, but not shipping for a while.
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The Chromebook market has shrunk in the past couple of years, especially with high-end options starting to vanish. Recently, it looks like HP has thrown in the towel on its highest-end Chromebooks from the Dragonfly lineup.
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The Pixel 9 series has way better battery life, but it also delivers improvements to charging. One of those improvements is that the Pixel 9 has higher requirements for fast charging, helping you better know if your charger is truly up to speed.
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With the launch of Pixel Watch 3, Google is also shuffling its Pixel Watch band lineup, with some of the best color options going away. However, you can still buy them, for now, elsewhere.
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The new Nest Learning Thermostat (4th Gen) is a long-awaited sequel to one of the best smart home products of all time, but the new generation has a key complaint for many early buyers – a dim display.
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Through a new joint initiative, Google and Apple are making it possible to transfer playlists between Apple Music and YouTube Music in either direction using the “Data Transfer Project.”
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Foldable smartphones are still a relatively small part of the market, but it seems even by that standard Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is struggling, as the first two weeks of availability saw less than 300,000 sales on the global market.
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Yelp has filed a lawsuit against Google over the company’s dominance in local search results, calling it the “largest information gatekeeper in existence.”
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According to new reports, Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Fold “Special Edition” will bring the long-awaited camera upgrade that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 lacked.
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Satellite connectivity is starting to show up on more smartphones, and now Verizon is stepping into the ring with its own satellite messaging for smartphones that uses the same tech as Google’s latest Pixel phones.
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You can now effortlessly move from Apple Music over to YouTube Music, as Apple has launched a new tool to export playlists to Google’s service.
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In a strange turn of events, one of the best wireless Android Auto adapters have vanished from Amazon, with the Motorola MA1 no longer being available to purchase from its main retailer.
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Some buyers of Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 6 have noticed flecks of paint chipping off of their devices, a problem that Samsung is assigning blame to third-party chargers and other accessories.
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Google’s new Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL are now available at Mint Mobile with big discounts and free cellular service too.
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Samsung is gearing up to launch a new version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that was expected to be called the “Slim,” but it will apparently instead by a “Special Edition” – a fitting name seeing as it’s not all that much thinner.
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Samsung is probably a few months away from the launch of the Galaxy S25 series, but the Ultra model this year is rumored to bring some rather big changes in design. Now, we’re getting a better idea of what the Galaxy S25 Ultra will look like.
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Following adding the functionality for new app installs earlier this year, the Google Play Store is once rolling out support for downloading multiple Android app updates at the same time.
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The second generation of the first wireless Android Auto adapter, AAWireless, is right around the corner as a new firmware update prepares for its arrival and makes some improvements to the existing model.
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Gmail’s automatic categories are a super useful way to clean up your inbox, but a new tweak in the Android app makes it just a bit harder to see how many emails are hiding in those sections.
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The main focus of Google’s new Pixel 9 series is on AI, with several new features taking advantage of the rapidly growing tech. However, if you unlock your bootloader, many of the Pixel 9’s new AI apps will stop working.
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