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
Samsung is expanding its Android 17 / One UI 9 beta program to several new Galaxy smartphones this month, signaling that the stable release isn’t too far away.
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A bizarre issue has left many Samsung Galaxy owners locked out of their Samsung accounts which were “deactivated for security reasons.”
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Google has some interesting tests going on behind the scenes of Android Auto right now, but only one of them is likely to actually be released – a new quick settings menu.
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Razer has just launched its new Prio game controller, a USB-C controller for your smartphone that folds down to the footprint of a credit card.
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Google continues to improve on video quality with each new Pixel release, but a bug on the Pixel 11 Pro series causes static audio issues when using the Video Boost feature.
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Oppo is reportedly preparing top-tier flagship specs for its upcoming Find X10 release, with a new report detailing an 8,000 mAh battery and more.
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Google is giving Android Auto a very slight refresh in its 17.6 update, with the app’s logo getting a new look that you’ll only see in a couple of locations.
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Sony has announced new additions to its ULT Tower party speaker lineup, now offering options that are much more affordable.
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Roku is expanding its first-party TV lineup with new OLED models that start at $999.
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Samsung has a hit on its hands with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, to the point where the company is taking parts production from its 2027 smartphones just to meet demand for the foldable.
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Alongside a price hike on the Google TV Streamer, the Nest lineup is also seeing prices go up effective immediately on nearly every camera and doorbell that’s currently available.
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Nothing’s Ear (3a) wireless earbuds are already an incredible deal at $99, but they’re currently an even-better offer at $79.
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TCL has launched a new tablet using its NXTPAPER display tech, with the TCL Tab A1 NXTPAPER now available for a reasonable price, but with a questionable chipset choice.
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As AI continues to be a bigger and bigger part of Google Search, the company is making AI Overviews bigger on some searches.
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As AI slop continues to dominate the web, Instagram is cracking down on accounts that leverage AI-generated influencers by threatening to restrict their reach.
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As the impact of RAMageddon continues, a couple of this week’s key stories have had me thinking – is the somewhat-boring nature of Samsung’s year-over-year Galaxy flagship refreshes the exact thing making these devices a hit?
9to5Google Weekender by Ben Schoon is a part of our free newsletter that also includes ‘Inbox,’ a twice-weekly roundup of key stories from around the web by Daniel Bader. Sign up here to get Weekender delivered to your inbox every Sunday along with ‘Inbox’ on Tuesday and Thursday. You can find past issues here.
Following an executive order late last week, Google Maps has updated its label for “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America.”
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Robot lawnmowers have long intrigued me, but I never really wanted one. After a few weeks with the Mammotion Luba 3, though, I’m sold, because this fixed my biggest issue with other models.
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I’ve always been a bit skeptical of smart glasses and mixed reality headsets. It’s not hard to find the utility of something like a Meta Quest in gaming, but Apple’s Vision Pro, for example, has never appealed to me in the slightest. Ahead of its first pair of Android XR glasses, though, I’ve spent some time with the XREAL One Pro and two things have become immediately clear – this is the hardware that could make Android XR shine, and XREAL will benefit greatly from Android XR.
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The Fitbit Air might be one of Google’s most versatile products in a while not just because it’s so simple, but because buyers are finding very unique ways of using it. That includes quite literally sticking the Fitbit Air to your body with tape which, apparently, actually works quite well.
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Oppo Find X10 isn’t too far away and, according to a new leak, a “Pro Max” model is going to ship with three 200MP cameras.
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Meta continues to crack down on malicious users disabling the privacy LED on its Ray-Ban smart glasses, this time focusing on the most obvious loophole out there.
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Updated data shows that, yep, Android is still the dominant force in the global smartphone market, but country-by-country breakdowns would hint otherwise – and Google’s Pixel series really only breaks into the conversation in one country, too.
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Despite their increasingly-thin designs, Samsung’s foldables have held up well to torture tests that include more bending than you’d ever see in real life. But it seems the Galaxy Z Fold 8 UItra might finally be too thin, as it’s the first mainstream Samsung foldable that’s died in a bend test.
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