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
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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One of the biggest problems that Google’s Pixel 6 series suffered from over time was an unreliable modem. Compared to other Android devices, the Samsung modem used with Google Tensor just wasn’t up to the task. How does Google Tensor G2 compare in the modem department? We put the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 head to head to see how they compare with signal strength and speed to find out.
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Destiny 2 was one of the most appealing games on Stadia at launch, and it remains one of the best titles on the service as we approach its end. But if you were hoping to play Destiny 2 on Stadia’s last days, you’ll be out of luck.
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Samsung’s latest crop of foldable smartphones are solid, but the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 didn’t change that much from their predecessors largely because they lack any comparable competition. But it seems Oppo is ready to take on that challenge, as the Find N2 and Find N2 Flip may see a global release.
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Google Stadia is set to shut down for good just a month from now, but a developer kit has now surfaced showing off what was used to get games ready for the now-defunct cloud gaming platform.
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Oppo just set the official dates for Inno Day 2022, the yearly event where it shows off new ideas and where it’s set to launch its Find N2 foldables as well as a new custom chip if the teasers give anything anyway.
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While Samsung has been pushing Android 13 to dozens of devices lately, Asus is now getting around to its stable rollout as the update lands on the compact Zenfone 9.
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As the holidays approach, Samsung is offering up some last-minute discounts and free storage upgrades if you’re looking to pick up a Galaxy S22, Galaxy Z Fold 4, or Galaxy Z Flip 4. Here’s the breakdown.
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After months of hearing about it, Disney+ has today launched its “Basic with ads” tier that lets customers save some money in exchange for sitting through a few ads. It launches with support for both of Google’s big-screen platforms, but won’t work on Roku for the time being.
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After debuting its flagship Dimensity 9200 last month, MediaTek has this week announced the Dimensity 8200 with a more affordable, but still strong, offering for Android phones.
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For the past few years, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch lineup has included the hardware for blood pressure readings, but the functionality is blocked in some countries. Now, it seems the feature is expanding to at least one new region.
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Samsung is bringing Android 13 to the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite this week as the latest Android tablet to support the latest update.
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Wear OS 3 is a reinvention of Android’s take on smartwatches, and a big part of the update is changing how you pair to your phone. For Fossil smartwatches using Wear OS 3, users will pair the hardware with the “Fossil Smartwatches” app, but it seems that’s causing battery drain for some folks.
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Google TV is showing off the favorite films and TV shows of Zooey Deschanel this week with a homescreen widget.
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