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
A couple of months after its launch, the Google TV Streamer is finally a quick and easy purchase as the device is now readily in stock and shipping immediately.
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The OnePlus Open is, even a year after its launch, one of the best book-style foldables on the market today, but the brand has yet to attempt the flip-style form factor. According to a new rumor, though, OnePlus may be looking to put out a “Flip” foldable device as soon as next year.
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips have brought significantly better battery life to Windows laptops, but at a cost. Apparently, though, Qualcomm has plans for an even cheaper “entry-level” Snapdragon X chip that could be in “$600+” machines.
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RCS has been a long journey, but with Apple finally adopting the standard in its latest iOS update, messaging is genuinely improving for users. In a new campaign, Samsung and Google tout support for RCS on Galaxy devices and Android following Samsung’s full embrace of Google Messages.
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Ahead of the global launch of the Oppo Find X8 series, it’s been revealed that Oppo will be gaining support for Google’s Circle to Search feature.
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite looks like a killer chipset, but one of its biggest benefits for future Android phones might end up being in battery life, with some major improvements showing up in early tests.
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Following the arrival of new Snapdragon-powered laptops based on ARM, the Google Drive app for Windows is gaining support for these machines via a new beta release.
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Samsung is reportedly planning to launch even more foldables in 2025, with a more affordable Galaxy Z Flip, but also a more expensive Galaxy Z Fold.
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The OnePlus Open, based on the Oppo Find N3, is perhaps one of the best foldables in recent memory even though it’s over a year old at this point. However, a rumor is circulating that Oppo and OnePlus will abandon high-end foldables, but let’s not panic just yet.
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A new update to Google Photos is making it significantly easier to share Memories by simply turning them into a video file.
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After months in beta, Samsung has officially announced the rollout of One UI 6 Watch with Wear OS 5 to its entire Galaxy Watch lineup.
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Samsung has a solid Black Friday deal going with the Galaxy Watch 7 up to 50% off with the trade-in of older Wear OS smartwatches.
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Following the OnePlus 12, the OnePlus Pad 2 is now getting its stable Android 15 update.
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A new dbrand skin has just launched in “Circuit Board,” a design that glows in the dark.
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In a survey that surfaces from time to time, Google TV asks what you think of its homescreen ads, and if there are too many.
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The OnePlus 13 has already been unveiled in China, but a global release isn’t too far away. Now, a new leak reveals the OnePlus 13 color and storage configurations that will hit the global market, and there’s good news.
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Google has quietly rolled out a new feature as part of its Digital Wellbeing suite on Pixel and other Android phones, with “Screen time reminders.”
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Motorola isn’t quick to release major Android updates, but the gears are spinning behind the scenes as the company has just confirmed Android 15 updates for a few more devices.
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An ongoing patent dispute between Samsung Display and BOE could lead to bans in the US for devices using BOE displays, if Samsung gets its way, that is.
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The improvements Google made in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold over what came before continue to astound me a couple of months into using the device, but there are two design quirks I want Google to address.
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According to a new report, Samsung’s upcoming XR glasses that are being developed in collaboration with Google won’t arrive until the second half of 2025, but they’ll share some specs with the popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
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While it’s heavily delayed, Samsung is working on its first beta release for One UI 7, its Android 15 update, but the word on the street is that the first release could be quite buggy.
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Google is running a “small” test in portions of Europe which will see content from EU-based news publishers being removed from Google products including Search and News for a period of time.
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The Google TV Streamer is getting its first update, and one of the new features allows users to manually pick audio output formats such as Dolby formats.
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