Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at NewGeekGuide, 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 NewGeekGuide 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
Following its first over-ear headphones launching earlier this year, Nothing is now teasing “Headphone Pro” as a very colorful alternative from its sub-brand, CMF.
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Google TV’s homescreen has been largely unchanged since its debut in 2020, but Google is now testing a slight redesign that changes navigation.
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Google introduced its revamped Androidify app earlier this month, but it seems the company is going to follow that up with the ability to use characters created in the app as a Wear OS watch face.
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Samsung’s Galaxy “TriFold” device is clearly right around the corner, but where it will be available has been up for debate. According to a new report, though, Samsung is “considering” selling the Galaxy TriFold in the US and other markets, but nothing is set in stone.
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Over the past month or so, many YouTubers have been reporting major drops to their video view counts. Theories have run wild, but there’s one explanation involving ad blockers that makes the most sense, but YouTube isn’t confirming anything directly.
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Google’s kid-focused Fitbit Ace LTE is getting a band refresh, with a selection of four new bands including one that brings a Minecraft theme to the smartwatch.
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An apparent partial outage has hit some Google apps and services including Gmail, with the main cause seemingly being login problems.
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YouTube’s subscriptions are now eligible for the $25 monthly entertainment credit that comes with the American Express Platinum card, which just received a refresh.
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Following up on last year’s Nothing Ear, the Nothing Ear (3) is launching today at a higher $179 price point, but with a new “Super Mic” feature added on, as well as some tweaks to its sound profile.
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Meta is launching its first smart glasses with a built-in display, with the new “Meta Ray-Ban Display” glasses launching later this month for $799.
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Meta is launching a sequel to its Ray-Ban smart glasses – the ones without a display – to double battery life as well as improve video resolution with 3K video output, but with a higher price tag.
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Ahead of its open beta launch “coming soon,” Nothing is showing off its Android 16 update, Nothing OS 4.0, and its new features and designs.
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Ahead of its formal debut in the near future, Xiaomi is showing off the new Xiaomi 17 Pro, which has an iPhone-like camera bar on the back, but uses that real estate for a rear display.
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Alongside its latest funding round, Nothing’s Carl Pei is laying out a vision for the future of the company which, ambitiously, includes creating a new operating system for smartphones and beyond.
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According to a new report, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 has seen major success in Europe, but with other brands, including Google Pixel, “hot on Samsung’s heels.”
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Ahead of Meta Connect later this week, an early video has revealed Meta’s new Ray-Ban smart glasses that have a built-in display.
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As AI takes over search, Google is saying that users want summaries over the traditional “10 blue links,” all while a new lawsuit targets AI Overviews for their harm to the rest of the web.
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Google’s latest Android Auto update is causing a problem where the music player widget is unreadable, but you can fix it, at least temporarily.
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Find Hub trackers are pretty widely available at this point, but many of the credit card-sized wallet trackers are a bit on the thick side. That’s where UGreen’s new Find Hub wallet tracker steps in, with an ultra-thin design and 5-year battery life.
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Samsung has officially started the stable rollout of Android 16 this week and, at the same time, confirmed a list of Galaxy phones and tablets set to be updated, mostly starting in October.
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Ahead of its upcoming launch this month, Qualcomm has confirmed that its next flagship chip for Android will be called the “Snapdragon 8 Elie Gen 5,” and also offered a bit of insight into why it has that name.
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Following Google’s stable rollout of Android 16 in June and several betas, Samsung is finally releasing its first stable Android 16 update with One UI 8 now rolling out to Galaxy S25 owners.
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Samsung appears to be adopting Qi2 magnets in the Galaxy S26 series, but there’s a key problem with that, and it’s going to require Samsung to eventually redesign its Galaxy phones to fully embrace the standard.
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Sony is the latest brand taking notes from Google Pixel with its latest Xperia 10 VII adopting a camera bar, but that’s not all that’s notable about this new midrange release.
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