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
Fitness is a key focus of Google’s Pixel Watch series, and now a new leak reveals new Fitbit features for Pixel Watch 3, including a heavy focus on running metrics and tracking.
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Following a metric ton of leaks and rumors, Samsung’s first Android 15 beta missed its first scheduled release date, with the debut of One UI 7 now being thought to be as far as almost a month away from launch.
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Starting back in 2020, Google Maps and Search gained the ability to show the boundaries of nearby wildfires. Now, support for wildfire info in Google Maps and Search is expanding to more countries through Europe and Africa.
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Following the transition to Google Home in recent years, Google has seemingly forgotten about the wonderful Nest x Yale smart door lock, and now that lock is being forgotten yet again with the debut of ADT’s new security system and integrations.
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Robot vacuums and mops have come a long way in a relatively short time, but there are still some problems that face most of them. Two that have been particularly frustrating to me have been mops that simply do not get the job done, and hair getting wrapped around the vacuum brush. With the Narwal Freo X Ultra, both of those problems are completely solved, and now it also finally has Google Home integration.
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Google’s Pixel 8 Pro is a solid smartphone with a great display, but for users sensitive to the PWM refresh rate used on many modern displays, it’s been bordering on unusable. Thanks to a new modification, though, this can be changed.
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One of the biggest changes to Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 6 is that it’s considerably thinner, but the company is still worker on a “Slim” model that’s meant to be even thinner, but reports claim it’s not going quite as far as expected.
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Leaks have been detailing a ton of new details about Samsung’s One UI 7 update, based on Android 15, but the first beta release may be a little further away according to new information.
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Ahead of Google’s August 13 launch event, we’ve learned basically everything there is to know about the Pixel 9 series, but the Pixel Watch 3 hasn’t leaked to the same extent. A new report this week, though, claims that Pixel Watch 3 will get a new type of band, and that the 45mm size won’t work with all bands.
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Ahead of One UI 7’s probably debut this week, Samsung’s new Clock app has appeared with a preview of the company’s updated design language.
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Ahead of a seemingly fast-approaching launch, new promo materials offer a detailed look at the new 4th-Generation Nest Learning Thermostat from Google, an updated Home app UI, and alleged pricing for the device.
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Following a flood of leaks, Samsung is expected to launch its big One UI 7 update in beta this coming week. Based on what we’ve seen so far, how do you feel about the changes?
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We’re still about two weeks out from Google’s next Pixel launch event, but a ton of big leaks this week told us basically every detail about the Pixel 9 series.
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Running out of storage on a smartphone is never fun, but even the cheapest devices nowadays (unless they’re an Apple iPad) ship with pretty plentiful amounts of storage. Slowly, Android devices have been moving to 256GB of storage as the default amount, but Google’s Pixel 9 is likely coming with 128GB. Is that still enough for you?
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Android’s Find My Device network is off to a bit of a rocky start, but that’s not because trackers are hard to get. In fact, Pebblebee just confirmed that its Find My Device trackers for Android are now shipping immediately and no longer on backorder.
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Leaked images have revealed the full design of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, including its inner display which is no longer surrounded by thick bezels.
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Just yesterday a leaked set of images offered a closer look at the Pixel 9 Pro series in four different colors, and now images of the base Pixel 9 have leaked, showing off more vibrant hues.
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AI features are probably going to be the main focus of new Google Pixel phones for the foreseeable future, and this morning a new leak has revealed “Add Me,” an impressive new photo feature coming with Pixel 9 that can add you to a group shot after it’s been taken.
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2020’s Galaxy S20 Ultra was a huge leap forward for Samsung’s flagship lineup and while each generation since has improved, Samsung hasn’t changed the battery or charging specs since, and it seems that will be the case yet again on next year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra.
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Samsung’s Android 15 update is just around the corner and, from the looks of it, it’s going to be a big one. According to leaked details, one of the most significant changes Samsung will make with its take on Android 15 is splitting the notifications and quick settings, a change that’s becoming increasing common in Android skins.
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Google has a new set of requirements in place for running Android Auto, with users now required to be using smartphones running Android 9.0 or higher.
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OpenAI has today, as a prototype, launched its long-rumored AI-powered search engine competitor to Google, “SearchGPT.”
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Disney and Warner Bros Discovery have launched a bundle deal that gives users Disney+, Hulu, and Max (still better known as HBO Max) from $16.99/month, a massive discount from the usual rates.
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Reddit can be a valuable source for information from real people, which is why Google is spending millions on a deal with the platform. But, now, Reddit has started to block many of its results from showing in other search engines properly.
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