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 TV is has needed a “flagship” piece of hardware since its debut in 2020 and, this whole time, that’s been the Chromecast with Google TV. But, still with its focus on affordable prices, Walmart is challenging for the role of the best of Google TV with the new Onn Pro streaming box, and I think it’s a better choice than the Chromecast for a whole lot of people.
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Outdoor cameras can be a huge hassle to set up and use because you either need to run power to them or, even if they’re battery-powered, recharge them. That’s part of the appeal of the Arlo Essential XL, an outdoor camera that touts extremely good battery life.
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Samsung has just officially announced the Galaxy Watch FE, its new affordable smartwatch which is effectively a slightly upgraded Galaxy Watch 4.
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As we first reported earlier this year, Google is working on a larger Pixel Watch 3, and now the first renders have leaked its display size and dimensions.
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After launching the Magic 6 Pro earlier this year, Honor has just revealed its mid-range Honor 200 and 200 Pro globally with a focus on a portrait camera alongside an eye-friendly display.
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Plus are helping to usher in a new wave of Arm-powered Windows laptops and, apparently, MediaTek will join the fun next year.
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HTC has just launched its latest mid-range Android phone, as everyone continues to forget the company is still making smartphones.
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Samsung is reportedly gearing up for a higher price on its book-style foldable, with Galaxy Z Fold 6 reportedly set to raise its price.
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YouTube is preparing to roll out a new thumbnail testing feature to creators, which means you’ll probably notice thumbnails on videos changing more often.
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Jabra has announced, somewhat unexpectedly, that it will largely exit the earbud market, but not before offering a final refresh to the Elite 10 and Elite 8 Active.
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Google started rolling out AI Overviews in May and, quickly, wild mistakes may be the AI went viral, particularly including an example where Google suggested that users put glue on their pizza. Now, AI Overviews have started using articles about that viral situation to… keep telling people to put glue on pizza.
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Customization was a big focus of Apple’s reveal of iOS 18 this week, and that includes updating the homescreen to be truly customizable. That includes Apple bringing a version of Android’s themed icons to iOS, but despite Apple’s being more customizable, it feels like Android made the better choices here.
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Spotify is rolling out an update on Android that ditches the border on its app icon, bringing back a “normal” icon five years after it was changed before quickly reverting the change.
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The OnePlus Watch 2 launched earlier this year as a huge redemption for the company’s smartwatch ambitions and, now, another one has appeared.
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Through its Phone Link app, Microsoft has been making it easier to have a connected experience between Android and Windows and, soon, that might include accessing your phone’s file directly from File Explorer.
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Ahead of its likely debut later this year, a new leak of the Google Pixel Watch 3 suggests that the upcoming smartwatch will be considerably thicker this year, but with thinner bezels and some other tweaks.
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We’ve been hearing about Samsung’s more affordable Galaxy Watch FE for a while, with recent leaks offering more and more details about the upcoming smartwatch. Now, the Galaxy Watch FE has popped up on Amazon, confirming both its price and its release date.
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Late last year Amazon added fullscreen, autoplay video ads on Fire TV devices and, now, the company is toning those down just a little bit.
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Item trackers for your smartphone are not a new concept, but Apple changed the game with its AirTag by making all of its devices work as a network for finding the tracker. Android finally has that same functionality and the hardware to use with it, but I can’t help but feel that the Find My Device network is being held back.
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Over the past month or so, YouTube has been testing a new desktop design that most users don’t seem to like. Now, YouTube is giving its Premium subscribers a chance to test the redesign themselves.
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With its new “Copilot+ PCs” powered by Snapdragon processors, Microsoft also debuted a clever new feature called “Recall” which is able to let users search anything they’ve done on their machine. But following privacy concerns, Microsoft has announced that “Recall” in Windows 11 will be an opt-in feature.
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Ever since Spotify announced that it would kill Car Thing, there’s been a push for the company to open the product to allow users to tweak it to keep it useful. But, as it turns out, Spotify has already done most of that legwork, but the Car Thing is already so underpowered that, not only could it barely handle an OS like Android, but it could have already been called e-waste from the start.
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As we suspected, the Galaxy Watch FE is likely launching sooner rather than later, with a leaker claiming the budget-oriented smartwatch could see a release date before the end of June.
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The Android market has lost a lot of big names over the past few years, with one of those being HTC. However, the company continues to put out a phone or two every once in a while, and it’s currently gearing up for another new release this month.
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