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
Earlier this year YouTube TV started rolling out a new “1080p Enhanced” tier with better picture quality, but the option to turn that on disappeared for users quickly after it was introduced. Now, the option appears to be coming back for some users.
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Samsung debuted Galaxy AI with its latest smartphones and a big focus of the whole suite is translation and, now, Samsung is adding support for Canadian French.
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Roku has plans to put video ads on the home screen, the company confirmed in a recent earnings call.
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The latest Google Contacts update is preparing a change for adding a new contact, which simplifies the design considerably to make the process faster and easier.
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The Nothing Phone (2a) just launched a couple of months ago and it’s now getting it’s first special release in a new blue colorway.
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The Find My Device network is currently rolling out to Android devices and, next month, it will support a handful of AirTag-like trackers. Here’s what the setup process for one of those Find My Device trackers will look like.
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A new Chromecast is coming. If you look around at what folks want from it, it’s all about performance and speed. Basically, a lot of folks want a high-end Chromecast, but it doesn’t seem like Google is planning for that, and it seems unlikely they ever will.
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The Pixel Tablet is finally getting an official keyboard and, while that’s potentially exciting, Google set a high bar for tablet keyboards nearly a decade ago, and one that Pixel Tablet likely won’t reach.
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The Android Find My Device network is now rolling out, and AirTag-like trackers are on their way too. Anker’s Eufy is among those coming to the Find My Device network, and Eufy has confirmed that its SmartTrack lineup will add Android trackers in June.
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A loophole in Android TV OS left a backdoor open for users to access a TV owner’s Gmail inbox among other things, but Google is rolling out a fix, and the company has now confirmed what that fix is.
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The idea of AR glasses has been tried time and time again with minimal success. In a new interview, though, Meta is teasing that its upcoming “full” AR glasses will be super impressive, invoking a reaction similar to the original Oculus Rift.
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The iPhone is the best-selling smartphone on the planet and, in the US especially, it’s clearly a dominant force. I’m an Android person by choice, but once in a while, I spend time with the latest iPhone to take a peek inside of Apple’s garden, trying not to get trapped within its walls. Over the past several months, I’ve been using the iPhone 15 Pro off and on and, well, I’ve got thoughts.
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Dark mode finally solidified itself a few years back, but there are a bunch of apps – looking at you Fitbit – that still ignore the feature. With Android 15, though, it seems like there will be a better option for forcing dark mode on apps.
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The Nothing Ear and Ear (a) are already among the best earbuds you can buy today, and now they’re confirmed to be getting a boost to transparency mode.
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Google launched the Android Find My Device network earlier this month and finally released the hold Apple had on AirTag-like trackers for Android. But if you’re eagerly awaiting one of those Find My Device trackers for your Android phone, keep in mind you’ll probably be waiting a while.
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As we quickly approach the launch of Pixel 8a, another set of new leaks have revealed that the mid-range smartphone will be getting the same long update lifespan as its siblings, as well as many of the same AI features.
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The Nvidia Shield TV is way overdue for a refresh and while we don’t know anything about one coming, what would you even want from it?
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Glance has been working to add additional features to the Android lockscreen for a long time and, now, it’s officially coming to the US. However, while Glance splashes ads, games, and more on phones internationally, its US “pilot” is a much more tame intrusion on the Android lockscreen.
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An account security loophole in Android TV OS can allow an unsupervised user to be able to access your Gmail inbox if given access to the television, but Google is working to fix it.
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Google brought its AI experience Gemini to Android devices earlier this year, but it only launched with support for Android 12 and higher. Now, Google has quietly expanded Gemini to support Android 10 and Android 11 as well.
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Samsung is gearing up for a pretty big Summer launch event, with a new report pinpointing the next Galaxy Unpacked event for July 10.
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Google is preparing to “relaunch” the Pixel Tablet without a dock and add an official keyboard and stylus to the mix, and now a new leak is revealing prices too.
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While Samsung’s latest Galaxy S24 series has fantastic battery life, no smartphone owner can avoid the occasional situation where they’re running out of juice on the go. For that, Samsung has just launched a pair of new official battery banks which pack USB-C and speedy charging into a nice design.
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Earlier this month, YouTube started testing out a new redesign for its desktop website which was met with overwhelming backlash from those who saw it. Now, YouTube has apparently reverted that new design.
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