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
Back in Android 13’s earlier days, Google announced a new system-wide photo picker that could improve security and work across any app, but it’s only been adopted by one major app so far. Recently, though, Google has been pushing the photo picker on more Android apps, including Google Keep.
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YouTube comments have turned into a cesspool of spam for many, with scams being rampant on many channels. YouTube is now addressing this problem with a number of new actions, including 24-hour bans for accounts that leave abusive comments.
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After years in the works, Matter is the next big hope for improving the smart home. Here’s what Google and Nest devices are compatible with Matter.
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Matter is finally happening. After launching the standard earlier this year and some manufacturers making their updates available, Google is today launching Matter support on Nest devices and Android.
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Foldable smartphones are finally starting to hit their stride, but what the market really needs is a proper competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip. That’s exactly what Oppo plans to bring to the table with the Oppo Find N2 series.
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Google is currently testing the next generation of Android Auto, and many people are able to try out the new update through the beta program. However, the Android Auto redesign, known to many as “Coolwalk,” wasn’t available on cars with rotary input until just this week.
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The move over to the Google Home app has been messy for Nest Cam owners for a variety of reasons, but things are finally coming together. If you use a Wear OS watch, though, the Google Home app is still missing the useful previews from Nest Cam, even on Google’s own Pixel Watch.
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Oppo just announced a new custom Bluetooth chip, the MariSilicon Y, which the company claims can handle audio quality comparable to that of a wired connection.
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As brands such as Samsung have been moving quickly through Android 13 updates, Motorola is laying out a clear picture of its plans.
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Google Lens is a useful tool for extracting information from the world around you, but the latest updates to Pixel phones have removed one of the easiest ways to access it. Here are the other ways you can use Lens.
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YouTube is making a change to its upload process that’s sure to be great for creators. Starting today, YouTube will show how long it takes for a video to process its full quality.
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Did you know you can launch cloud games straight from Google Search? It’s a feature that’s been around for a while – and one that Google has been improving on over time. This week, the company has prominently highlighted the feature on social media while ignoring the elephant in the room of the imminent death of Stadia.
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Sony has just released Android 13 for several of its Xperia smartphones. Here’s what devices are eligible to upgrade.
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If you have a Nest x Yale lock in your home, you might have noticed something different about Google Home routines and Assistant interacting with the lock.
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One of the best things about Android is how much you can tweak to suit your style, and Samsung’s Good Lock takes this to a new level with different modules that can make deep changes to the software experience on Galaxy devices. Now, Good Lock is finally expanding to more countries.
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Google’s Pixel 6 Pro is about to pull a feature from the Pixel 7 Pro, as the ability to run the operating system at 1080p is incoming with the next big Android 13 update.
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In their next major Android update, Google will be updating the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro with better support for T-Mobile’s latest network improvement, 3CA.
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If you buy your smartphone in person, especially from a carrier, one of the case options you’ll find right off the bat comes from Zagg, and there’s some good news there – Zagg’s Pixel 7 cases are pretty great, and heavily discounted right now.
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Android 13 started rolling out to Pixel phones months ago, and the OnePlus 10 Pro wasn’t too far behind. The brand’s latest smartphone, the OnePlus 10T, has still lacked an update to Android 13, though – until now.
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While it won’t be launching globally for a bit, the Xiaomi 13 series has just been announced as one of the first devices with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
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Samsung is gearing up for a February launch for the Galaxy S23 series, and this week a regulatory listing is giving us a look at the core specs for the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
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Following several promotions since the launch of the Google Pixel 7 series over the past two months, the Google Store has just drastically lowered the value of trading in your old phone, especially if it’s a Pixel device.
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An increasingly widespread issue with the Google Home app is causing many users to be unable to add new devices with a “could not reach” error preventing the process from finishing.
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Google debuted the ability to have themed icons on the homescreen in Android 12, designed to help go all-in on Material You theming. Now, in Android 13, third-party apps can get in on the fun of themed icons; here’s an ongoing list of apps that support the functionality.
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