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 updates aren’t all that frequent or major anymore, but there are new tweaks here and there, including a homescreen fixes and a couple of settings changes rolling out now.
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For the first time since the original’s release in 2021, Apple finally has new AirTag hardware, with the “new AirTag,” aka AirTag 2, delivering some hardware improvements that make me a little jealous as an Android user.
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A major ice and snow storm is hitting huge parts of the United States this week, and in preparing for the storm, I was watching the forecasts closely across a slew of different weather apps for Android. And, sadly, Pixel Weather was perhaps one of the least accurate I was using.
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The Google Pixel 10a is expected to launch pretty soon and, as that approaches, there’s something super weird about the leaked images we’ve seen.
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Google’s Gemini upgrade for Android Auto is a long-awaited and sorely needed one, but it’s taking a while. Do you have it yet?
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Google has confirmed that, starting with a release scheduled for July 2026, Chrome will end support for macOS 12 – “Monterey.”
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Following prior testing, Google Discover is keeping AI headlines around as they “perform well” with users.
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As revealed in the ongoing court saga, Google and Epic Games have apparently struck a new deal that involves Android, Unreal Engine, and some sort of “product development,” and it’s going to remain a secret for the time being.
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1Password is launching new phishing protection tools in its browser extension to help users avoid scams that, as the company puts it, are being “supercharged” by AI.
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TCL’s Google TV lineup is about to get a fresh Android 14 update, with a couple of new features in tow.
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In a teaser sent out to its users, Waze has confirmed a handful of new features that are rolling out soon including speed bump warnings and more.
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Ahead of its full debut, Samsung is letting potential buyers try out the Galaxy Z TriFold in select US stores starting on January 23 – here’s the full list.
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If you’ve opened the Google Home app in the past few weeks, you’ve probably been greeted with an “offline” status for your lights. Google is finally acknowledging the problem, with a fix coming eventually.
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Following a limited rollout last year, Spotify is bringing its AI-powered “Prompted Playlists” to listeners in the US and Canada.
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Meta has announced that, starting “next week,” its Twitter/X competitor Threads will begin showing ads to all users.
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Samsung recently took to its website to share a huge set of new updates to its Good Lock suite of features coming in One UI 8.5, but inadvertently, confirmed one of the biggest Galaxy S26 Ultra features in the process.
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Nothing just announced another new tweak to its Essential Space feature, with the AI app now able to automatically connect related items to make everything just a little easier to find.
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Over the past several months we’ve seen a trend in trackers for Android Find Hub, where more and more options are adding dual-network support with the iPhone, and another name in the game, Rolling Square, has also made the switch.
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Following a previous appearance, a new leak again shows off Samsung’s upcoming Qi2 battery bank for the Galaxy S26 series and how it’s been designed to work around the phone’s camera bump.
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OnePlus has come out to confirm that it is not shutting down following an “unverified” and “unsubstantiated” article that claimed the company was on a fast path to shutting down. However, that was obvious given that the article itself had absolutely no new information to share.
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New leaks have revealed the likely lineup for Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra colors, and it sounds pretty tame.
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Google is rolling out a redesign to the media player on Android Auto alongside the latest widely available updates.
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OnePlus has implemented new anti-rollback methods in OxygenOS, forcing users to stay on the latest software versions with no way to go back.
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A few months after it landed on other platforms, “Gemini in Chrome” is finally starting to appear on ChromeOS.
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