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
We know pretty much everything there is to know about the upcoming Motorola Razr foldable, but a new video is showing it all off in one neat package, along with a new name for the device.
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Carl Pei’s Nothing is preparing to launch its second smartphone, and now we’ve got a window. The Nothing Phone (2) will see a release date in July 2023.
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Abode has offered DIY home security for a while, but the company’s latest system is a super affordable option that arrives just in time to replace Google’s abandoned Nest Secure.
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If you’ve noticed some problems with recordings on YouTube TV lately, you’re not alone, as a partial DVR outage is causing some confusion, but Google is working on it.
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The Google Pixel Tablet is set to launch in a few weeks with a focus on being used as a smart home hub. To make that a bit more useful, a Made for Google partner has just launched a new Pixel Tablet stand to let users adjust the dock’s angle.
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For years now, cheap Android phones have been capable enough to get stuff done on a budget, and that remains true. With its latest cheap devices, the Moto G Stylus (2023) and Moto G 5G (2023), Motorola is delivering on that promise yet again.
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The latest Wear OS 3 smartwatch, the TicWatch Pro 5 from Mobvoi, is now available, but it comes with a bigger 24mm band that’s abnormal on other smartwatches.
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Wear OS 3 has brought a lot of positive changes to the smartwatch platform but also some frustrating problems. Like other smartwatches, Mobvoi’s new TicWatch Pro 5 will lack support for Google Assistant on the new update.
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For quite some time, HBO Max allowed users to bill their subscription via YouTube TV, but that functionality appears to be broken following the recent rebrand to “Max.”
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Mobvoi is today launching the TicWatch Pro 5, its first Wear OS 3 smartwatch and also the first to run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1. Here’s what you need to know.
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The new Motorola Razr foldable is coming, and according to a new rumor, the Motorola Razr+/Razr 40 Ultra will be packing a 165Hz display.
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YouTube’s big podcasts push has most certainly arrived, with podcasts now in the YouTube Music app. But it seems the platform isn’t done, with YouTube currently testing uploading podcasts via RSS, but only with select shows.
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Yesterday saw the arrival of Warner-Bros Discovery’s rebrand of HBO Max to Max, which also saw a new app for some odd reason. But as a result of the rebrand, the HBO Max shortcut button on some Android TV remotes has hilariously broken.
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After dropping the feature with the Galaxy Watch 5 series, Samsung has been rumored to revive the rotating bezel on its upcoming Galaxy Watch 6, and now a set of leaked renders of the “Classic” model show it off.
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Infinix is today launching a handful of new midrange Android phones that bring flagship-level charging and camera specs for under $300.
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While most Chromebooks today either ship with Intel or MediaTek chipsets, AMD has been offering its Ryzen and Athlon chips for a couple of years now. Today, AMD is launching a new batch of Ryzen and Athlon 7020 chips for Chromebooks with boosts all around.
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Amazon has just debuted its biggest Fire Tablet to date, with the new Fire Max 11 taking a focus on productivity with a keyboard and stylus.
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With an influx of Discovery content, the HBO Max we’ve come to know and maybe sort of love is set to become “Max” tomorrow, with a new app in some cases.
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Google released its first battery-powered Nest Cam in 2021, but using the camera solely on battery power tends to take away from the experience. With the addition of a solar panel, however, the Nest Cam gets not only a steady source of power, but also better overall functionality.
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Android 14 seems to be bringing a bunch of quality-of-life tweaks to the platform, and that apparently includes screen recording which will gain the ability to record just an app of your choice.
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The OnePlus Pad is a pretty good Android tablet, and now it’s coming to more markets as it has launched in the UK and Europe with a solid deal attached, too.
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We’re a little over a week away from the debut of Motorola’s next generation of foldable Razr phones, and a new retail leak has confirmed the core specs and several camera details of the Motorola Razr+, also known as Razr 40 Ultra.
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The Galaxy S23 series packs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but an upgraded version that’s faster than the chip found in other phones today. However, that exclusive deal may end soon, with a similar offering rumored to come to other brands in the near future.
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It was announced back in March that Microsoft had reached a deal with the smaller cloud gaming service Boosteroid to bring Xbox titles to the service, and starting on June 1, four new titles will be made available.
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