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
According to the latest analyst forecasts, higher smartphone prices won’t be changing anytime soon amid a record-setting drop in shipments.
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Nothing Headphone (a) launched earlier this year as a more affordable over-ear set of headphones, and now they’re even cheaper, down by nearly 50% of their usual $199 price tag. You should absolutely get a pair.
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Motorola is bad at updates, but at least they arrive eventually. This week, Motorola is detailing its Android 17 update and what’s new, including the overdue adoption of themed icons.
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Nothing Phone (3) is far from perfect but, at $499, it’s an absolute steal in an ever-more expensive Android smartphone market.
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The Xiaomi 18 Fold is officially launching next month and, ahead of its formal debut, a hands-on leak is showing off the wider Galaxy Z Fold 8-like form factor.
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Ahead of a wider stable rollout expected to come later this year, Samsung is finally bringing Wear OS 7 to the Galaxy Watch 8 series in beta.
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Android phones are never the top-selling smartphones globally, but the ones that get closest are almost always budget models. In Q2 2026, though, Samsung achieved a major win with the Galaxy
S26 Ultra topping the charts as the best-selling Android phone globally.
If there’s one part of using the Pixel 11 that I’ve really come to enjoy, it’s Gboard’s new voice-to-text tool, “Rambler.” But there is one big flaw, and that’s the lack of a live preview, and Nothing has just shown exactly what Google should do to fix that.
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Pebblebee has launched “LÔC8,” a unique new Android Find Hub / Apple Find My tracker that’s designed to hide within your bike handles, golf clubs, and other places to help you keep tabs on your gear.
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Nothing has somewhat quietly launched its new CMF Buds Neo, a pair of wireless earbuds that are somehow only $25.
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Nothing has announced Nothing OS 5.0, its Android 17 update, which will start rolling out in October with some redesigned UI elements, more AI features, new apps, and support for Google’s 3D emoji too.
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Samsung’s new Galaxy S27 Ultra is getting a massive redesign and, thanks to the latest leak, we’ve got a better look at what to expect, but we’re also now bracing for a major price hike.
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WhatsApp is making some security upgrades, including turning two-step verification codes into full passwords instead of the traditional six-digit numerical PIN.
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Wyze is refreshing its 360-degree Indoor Cam Pan with an improved design and better night vision, and a price of just $40.
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“HiLight” on the Pixel 11 Pro doesn’t provide much utility, but making matters worse, it also worsens a common use case of every other phone’s rear LED – the ability to use it as a flashlight.
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The Philips Hue Sync Box lets you match up your smart home lighting to what’s on your TV, but it’s not cheap. A new “Lite” version is coming, though, which cuts the price drastically by only having a single HDMI input, while a “Sync Camera” simplifies the setup for TVs without additional inputs.
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The Moto Tag 2 is one of the few Android Find Hub trackers with UWB, soon to be joined by the Pixel Tag, but the tracker is available right now and, despite the price having supposed to be temporary, it’s still just $20.
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GrapheneOS is set to arrive in a new Motorola smartphone next year, but it won’t just be a single slab, as the privacy-focused version of Android will also support future versions of the Razr Fold and Razr Ultra, with Pixel 11 support also coming.
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When it’s working fully, Google Maps is a powerful navigation app, but bugs are a bit more common than anyone wants. Over the past month, issues with traffic data have been popping up, more recently affecting users on Android Auto specifically.
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According to new leaks, Samsung is planning to revive a lost redesign with its Galaxy S27 series, but details are light.
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It feels rather inevitable that Google will give in to the whole “Ultra” smartwatch fad, and when something along the lines of a “Pixel Watch Ultra” does arrive, I really hope it pulls influence from Fitbit Air.
9to5Google Weekender by Ben Schoon is a part of our free newsletter that also includes ‘Inbox,’ a twice-weekly roundup of key stories from around the web by Daniel Bader. Sign up here to get Weekender delivered to your inbox every Sunday along with ‘Inbox’ on Tuesday and Thursday. You can find past issues here.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold has gone through the typical torture test of JerryRigEverything and, while it faired better than last year, Google still has work to do.
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Previewed in a recent Canary build, Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold ships with the “App Handles” multitasking feature that’s a welcome addition to the experience.
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The Google Pixel camera app is adding new “Quick access” controls on the Pixel 11 series, but it’s a little annoying that not only are they disabled by default, but the way you use them isn’t the most intuitive thing either.
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