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
Ahead of and through the last of the Galaxy Watch 6 series, a typo in one of Samsung’s new watch faces misspelled “April” as “Arril” and, finally, that’s been fixed.
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Google’s first big-screen Android devices in ages arrived this year with the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet, but both devices forced many apps such as Instagram into annoying letterboxed windows. Soon, though, Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet users will be able to force apps to go fullscreen all of the time.
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Well, it’s happening already. With just a couple of weeks to go before the Pixel 8 makes its debut, an unexpectedly early leak of what’s claimed to be the Google Pixel 8a has already hit the web.
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Google just launched the first beta of Android 14 QPR1 today, and within it, there are some key changes and upgrades, including support for battery charge cycle counts on Pixel phones.
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Google’s Pixel Tablet is a fun mix between a smart display and a tablet, with a dock that gives the tablet power and better speakers. However, the included dock is limited in a handful of ways, including locking the Pixel Tablet into a single viewing angle. Thankfully, though, an official “Made for Google” accessory fixes that.
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Arlo has been a Google Nest alternative for quite some time, and in our experience, the hardware is generally quite good. Today, Arlo is launching a new series of cameras, as well as a clever little tag for disarming your security system that feels it’s trying to replace what Nest Secure tried to do.
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Android apps, for a while, were adopting their own custom sharing menus, but that’s slowly going back to the way it should be. Android 14 revamps the share menu, and Google Photos seems to be preparing to replace its custom option with the system default.
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Android smartphones have enjoyed the ability for years now to use a USB-C cable to charge other devices using the battery on their own phone, something that’s handy in a pinch. And, thanks to the iPhone 15 series finally adopting USB-C, Android phones and iPhones will finally be able to share their power with one another.
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The road to the first OnePlus foldable has been long, but the device is finally around the corner following a recent delay. According to a reliable tipster, the OnePlus Open will see a release date a few weeks after Google unveils its new Pixel phones.
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Google Play Movies & TV is dead, but the libraries of purchases that users have made still exist throughout other Google products. However, in a frustrating twist of fate, the Google TV experience that’s partially so appealing for its deep integration with content you own, is much worse at showing that library compared to the latest Android TV updates, which have a simple tweak we’ve been asking Google to make for years.
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As a part of Google’s attempts to salvage Stadia before its shutdown earlier this year, the company pivoted the service to offer game developers a way to provide demos of their games based on Stadia tech. That white-label service caught the attention of Microsoft, which has been working on the ability to stream PC games through the cloud in the same fashion Stadia was trying to do.
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Baldur’s Gate 3 graduated from early access recently and became essentially an overnight hit, but when Microsoft was looking at the title for Xbox Game Pass at one point, but the company didn’t seem all that thrilled with it, with execs calling the game a “second-run Stadia PC RPG.”
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An absolutely massive leak has revealed unredacted details of Microsoft’s plans for Xbox, including new consoles and a dedicated cloud gaming device.
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Most Google TV and Android TV devices are powered by the same series of chips from Amlogic, and now there’s a new option incoming – the Amlogic S905X5.
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Samsung is planning a new pair of earbuds under the name “Galaxy Buds FE,” and apparently, they’ll compete with Pixel Buds A-Series on price.
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While our phones have more storage available than ever before, a big library of apps can still lead to eating up a lot of storage on your device. Android recently added an option to automatically “archive” apps that aren’t being used very often, and now that functionality has been made easily available to all users.
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Google Stadia died a few months ago and, while it’s pretty obvious what killed it, newly revealed comments from former product lead Dov Zimring helps shine a spotlight on what ultimately kept the platform from continuing on.
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The Galaxy Z Flip 5 lacks the “Bespoke” customization that’s been popular on past Flip devices, but there is still some customization to be had. The “FlipSuit” case for Galaxy Z Flip 5 allows users to use cards to change the look of their case, and now there are a lot more options available.
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The OnePlus Pad Go is no secret, but the OnePlus hype machine is now in full swing as we’re now getting an official teaser, some specs, and an alleged release date.
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Apple this week launched the iPhone 15 Pro, its first smartphone made with a titanium frame. That launch will bring the material to the masses, but it also reminds us of 2017’s Essential Phone, the short-lived Android phone that had a premium build that was so far ahead of its time.
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While we know Google is working on a big fully custom Tensor chip for 2025, a new report sheds a bit of light on the stopgap that is Tensor G4, the chipset to show up in 2024’s Pixel 9 series.
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Earlier this year, Google abruptly announced it would shutter Google Domains after nearly a decade, selling the business to popular site builder Squarespace. Now, as the transition goes on, Google has ceased the sale of new domains.
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USB-C in smartphones is nothing new, with Android devices having used the port for the better part of a decade now. But, despite all of that time on Android, it’s the iPhone 15’s switch to USB-C that might finally fix the biggest problem with Android accessories, and Android users will be able to enjoy those benefits while some existing iPhone owners take issue with the change.
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Samsung has been rumored for quite some time to be working on a smart ring, and it seems that the product is quickly approaching its launch as a new update to Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app confirms the “Galaxy Ring” name and a release date window for the device.
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