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
Google’s launch of Gemini on Android Auto has been oddly messy, with the “gradual” rollout having started around four months ago at this point and, still, a bunch of users saying they’re missing the feature. So, do you have it?
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A few days into the rollout, Samsung is expanding AirDrop support over Quick Share to Galaxy S26 series devices in the US market.
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Walmart is preparing new Google TV products including a set top box, likely a sequel to Onn 4K Pro, as well as TV sets powered by Google’s platform.
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Samsung just announced its new mid-range Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57 phones and they’re coming to the US, but with a starting price of $449, the Pixel 10a, or even the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, might be more worthwhile.
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Google first started rolling out a redesigned media player on Android Auto earlier this year with a squiggly Material 3 Expressive look, but it’s been slow to reach everyone. As of this week, though, it appears to have been launched a bit more widely.
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The new OnePlus 15T packs a huge battery into a phone the size of Google’s Pixel 10, but it’s sadly only launching in China – something we’ll probably be saying about most OnePlus devices going forward.
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Samsung has another book-style foldable in the works this year, with the “Wide” Galaxy Z Fold model now leaking with its shorter and wider design in tow.
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Some Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy users have been running into problems with Android Auto as of late, but fixes are now rolling out, Google says.
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OpenAI has announced that its AI video generation app, Sora, is shutting down, and there’s no explanation as to why.
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Samsung will officially start rolling out AirDrop support over Quick Share on Galaxy S26 devices throughout this week and, as it turns out, it will be enabled by default.
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Anthropic’s Claude is launching a wild new tool that lets you ask AI on your phone to remotely control your computer to execute tasks.
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Following a few days where Pixel Watch owners would run into wonky step counts and other stats, Google says the issue behind the scenes is now fixed in the Fitbit app.
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A new app is arriving on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, giving drivers the ability to easily lock and unlock their home’s doors through their car’s touchscreen.
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As shutdown rumors are swirling around, OnePlus has lost its CEO in India — the same person who recently denied there was anything wrong.
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In an announcement today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned the import of Wi-Fi routers made outside of the United States, but with a pretty big exception.
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Google has confirmed that a fix is rolling out for an error affecting Fitbit calorie goals, while it also seems that stat-counting errors for step counts and other metrics on Pixel Watch appear to be fixed – but there is a workaround if you’re still having trouble.
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2026 and the ongoing RAM/storage crisis continues to put out a rough outlook for the year ahead, and Android brands are bearing the brunt of that with a new forecast revealing that Android shipments could drop as much as 15% this year to the iPhone’s 2%, but there is a bit of hope for Google Pixel.
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Samsung announced last night that AirDrop support, via Quick Share, is now rolling out to the Galaxy S26 series, and you’ll apparently need this update to get it.
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YouTube TV is offering a discount on its already-cheaper dedicated Sports plan, with $120 off for the first year in the form of a $10 monthly discount.
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Philips, a major TV brand in markets such as the UK and Europe, is ditching Google TV for “Titan OS.”
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After several generations using the same wired charging speeds, it sounds like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 will finally usher in quicker speeds via new 45W fast charging.
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Oppo is busy teasing its global launch of the Find X9 Ultra but, meanwhile, a new rumor suggests that OnePlus might be shutting down its global operations.
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Samsung has officially confirmed plans to start rolling out AirDrop support over Quick Share starting with the Galaxy S26 series this week.
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Sideloading has been a key part of Android since the beginning, not only delivering a lot of flexibility to Android, but also a sense of openness and freedom. After Google announced it would make major changes to sideloading, the community (somewhat understandably) panicked, but as Google has now shown exactly how its new sideloading flow on Android will work, I’m not only happy to see that sideloading isn’t going away at all, but that Google’s compromise is as close to perfect as I think we can reasonably get.
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