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
Xbox Game Pass and its PC version, PC Game Pass, remains easily one of the best deals in gaming. Later this year, Microsoft with offer Xbox’s PC Game Pass on Nvidia’s GeForce Now service in a major expansion.
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Google is preparing for the next round of its Tensor chipset, with some leaks pointing to big changes but also performance on Tensor G3 that won’t really put the Pixel 8 series outshining other Android phones. But really, does it even need to?
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The camera has always been the best feature of Google’s Pixel smartphones, and according to a detailed new leak, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are set to adopt some big new upgrades, including a new main sensor, some Pro-exclusive upgrades, and much more.
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Free live TV has become especially popular in recent months, with a huge number of free channels built into Google TV. Now, TCL is adding even more free channels to its Google TV (and Roku TV) sets through new partnerships.
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An annoying quirk of Wear OS – and many other smartwatches – has long been that moving to a new smartphone also meant resetting your watch. With Wear OS 4, that’s done away with, and the new Galaxy Watch beta offers a first look at this functionality.
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Google’s Pixel Tablet is riding a wave of renewed interest in Android tablets, and, in Android 14, Google appears to be working on better stylus support.
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Spotify has confirmed it is testing a new “Offline Mix” that gathers together all of your downloaded tracks into one playlist.
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As the result of a court case ruling, Vivo will be barred from selling smartphones in Germany, joining its BBK colleagues OnePlus and Oppo.
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The famous Street View feature of Google Maps has not been operating with up-to-date imagery in Germany due to decade-old privacy concerns. Today, Street View is finally coming back to the country.
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While it’s not a major player, Asus makes some solid Android smartphones and, this week, the company has confirmed that the Zenfone 10 is right around the corner.
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Update: This functionality is actually not new, with Nvidia’s recent post simply highlighting the functionality. We regret the error and have adjusted our headline appropriately, but our original coverage remains intact.
NFL Sunday Ticket is coming to YouTube and YouTube TV later this year, and while the best pre-purchase deal may be over, another offer will be in place for a while longer.
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Android 14 is on its way to Android TV and Google TV, and we’ve already rounded up a lot of the new features that are already live. But, alongside that, it seems Google TV is also preparing support for a few other features, including a customizable remote button.
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Android 13 brought the arrival of a built-in QR code scanner for Pixel phones, a convenient little tool that removed the “need” to download an app. But, for some users, the Pixel’s QR code scanner is currently broken.
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The OnePlus Pad made its debut last month as a solid Android tablet, and apparently, that’s might be enough for the Pad to grab a slice of the tablet market.
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Google Photos is a very impressive app and useful service for a number of reasons, not least of which is its excellent facial recognition for grouping photos. Suddenly, though, Google Photos is somehow able to recognize people from the back, which is super useful, but also super confusing.
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Android TV updates rarely bring major changes to the user experience, but Android 14 does actually bring some important tweaks to Google TV. With the first beta now available, here’s everything we’ve found that’s new.
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If you’re looking to update to Android 14’s latest beta release, you may want to be cautious, as the update has broken the fingerprint sensor for some Pixel owners.
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Starting with Android 14 Beta 3, Google is adding a new charging indicator for Pixel phones, appearing in the top corner.
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In the third beta release of Android 14, Google added tweaks to the lockscreen on Pixel devices which includes new shortcuts, but you’ll also now have to long-press the shortcuts to use them, just like on an iPhone.
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Themed icons are a fun addition to Android’s Material You, and, finally, they’re being adopted by more and more Android apps. In Android 14 Beta 3, themed icons get a rework, though whether or not it’s an upgrade is up in the air.
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Samsung’s foldable flip phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, is approaching its launch with more details coming out, while Xiaomi is also baking its own competition.
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Microsoft has some good products, but the company has, time and time again, been too aggressive in pushing those products on customers. In the latest example, Microsoft was caught red-handed tweaking its AI experience to effectively ignore searches for Google Chrome and instead just list out Bing features.
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At WWDC earlier this week, Apple quickly went through a new update coming up for Apple TV, which revamps Control Center with smart home integration and more. Google TV needs to copy it immediately.
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