Marques Brownlee

Marques Brownlee
Marques Brownlee
Personal information
Born	Marques Keith Brownlee; December 3, 1993 (age 32); Maplewood, New Jersey, United States
Nationality	American
Education	Stevens Institute of Technology (2015)
Occupation(s)	YouTuber, tech reviewer, podcaster
YouTube information
Channel	Marques Brownlee;
Also known as	MKBHD
Years active	2008–present
Genre(s)	Technology, reviews
Subscribers	20 million+ (September 2026)
Creator Awards

Marques Keith Brownlee, known online as MKBHD, is an American technology reviewer and YouTuber whose in-depth gadget reviews and interviews with the biggest names in tech have made him one of the most influential voices in consumer electronics.^[1]

Born 3 December 1993 in Maplewood, New Jersey, he started his channel as a teenager in 2008 and has grown it to more than 20 million subscribers.^[2]^[3]

Early life and education

Brownlee was born on 3 December 1993 and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, where he attended Columbia High School, graduating in 2011.^[4]

He went on to study business and information technology at the Stevens Institute of Technology, graduating in 2015, all while his YouTube channel was growing into a full-time operation.^[5]

He uploaded his first videos in January 2009 at age 15, tech explainers recorded on a laptop in his bedroom with no grand plan beyond sharing what he knew.^[6]

After graduating from Stevens in 2015, he chose YouTube over a conventional career, going full-time as a creator just as his audience was exploding.^[7]

Career

Rise as a reviewer

Brownlee's breakout came in 2013, when his video demonstrating the self-healing back of the LG G Flex went viral and Google executive Vic Gundotra called him "the best technology reviewer on the planet right now".^[8]^[9]

His review style, calm, methodical and visually polished, became the template for the modern tech review, and manufacturers began treating his verdicts as make-or-break moments for new products.^[10]

He has interviewed an extraordinary roster of figures on camera: Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside (2013), Kobe Bryant (2015), Elon Musk (2018), Bill Gates (2020), Mark Zuckerberg (2020) and former US president Barack Obama (2020).^[11]

The Obama interview, part of a YouTube Originals special, was a landmark moment: a former president sitting down with a tech reviewer on his own terms.^[12]

Alongside the main channel he runs the Waveform podcast (launched 2019), the Retro Tech series for YouTube Originals, and Auto Focus, his automotive channel, building a small media company around his name.^[13]^[14]^[15]

He has also stayed connected to his alma mater, returning to Stevens for the Duck2Duck interview series, a full-circle moment for the student who filmed his first reviews in a dorm room.^[16]

Awards and influence

Brownlee was named Creator of the Decade at the 2018 Shorty Awards, made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2020, and was included in the TIME100 AI list in 2024 for his influence on how the public understands artificial intelligence.^[17]^[18]^[19]

His influence was on full display in 2024 when his review of the Humane AI Pin, which he called "the worst product I've ever reviewed," sparked an industry-wide debate about whether reviewers were being too harsh on AI hardware startups.^[20]

The fallout, including pushback from founders and fellow creators, only underlined how much weight a single MKBHD verdict now carries in Silicon Valley.^[21]

Business ventures and sport

Beyond reviews, Brownlee has launched the Atoms Model 251 sneaker with the footwear brand Atoms, joined Ridge as a board member and chief creative partner, and released Panels, a wallpaper app for creators.^[22]

He is also a professional ultimate frisbee player, competing for New York Empire in the UFA and winning the 2022 WFDF World Ultimate Club Championship with New York PoNY.^[23]

He remains widely cited as the reviewer other reviewers watch, the rare creator whose opinion can move markets.^[24]

What keeps him relevant after more than fifteen years is consistency: the same measured tone, the same refusal to hype, and a production quality that has only improved with time.^[25]

From a teenager's screencasts in Maplewood to the most trusted voice in consumer tech, Brownlee's career is the long game done right.^[26]

He has said he has no plans to slow down. The reviews keep coming, and so do the viewers.^[27]

References

External links

[1] ttps://www.theringer.com/2016/08/22/tech/the-kid-who-revolutionized-youtubes-tech-reviews-a5b9a2a03a04

[2] ttps://mingooland.com/2024/08/who-is-marques-brownlee-aka-mkbhd-youtuber-tiktoker-tech-reviewer-who-rates-video-games-drones-and-smartphones/

[3] ttps://www.news18.com/explainers/why-marques-brownlee-of-mkbhd-youtube-channel-is-shutting-down-wallpaper-app-panels-9743978.html

[4] ttps://mingooland.com/2024/08/who-is-marques-brownlee-aka-mkbhd-youtuber-tiktoker-tech-reviewer-who-rates-video-games-drones-and-smartphones/

[5] ttps://www.babynamespedia.com/famousname/marques-brownlee

[6] ttps://www.babynamespedia.com/famousname/marques-brownlee

[7] ttps://www.fastcompany.com/90979902/marques-brownlee-youtube-videos-timeline-greatest-hits?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=issue-260&position=3&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=11282023

[8] ttps://goodblacknews.org/2014/08/07/20-year-old-youtube-sensation-marques-brownlee-considered-best-technology-reviewer-on-the-planet/

[9] ttps://iwealthyfox.com/marques-brownlee-net-worth/

[10] ttp://urbangeekz.com/2025/03/meet-marques-brownlee-the-tech-reviewer-whos-turned-passion-into-a-business-empire/

[11] ttps://thestute.com/2022/10/07/marques-brownlee-15-kicks-off-duck2duck-series/

[12] ttps://thepowerplayermag.com/barack-obama-joins-youtube-originals-booktube-to-discuss-a-promised-land/

[13] ttps://www.tubefilter.com/2019/08/09/marques-brownlee-waveform-podcast-studio71/

[14] ttps://iwealthyfox.com/marques-brownlee-net-worth/

[15] ttps://www.tubefilter.com/2021/03/03/marques-brownlee-bbc-top-gear-content-partnership/

[16] ttps://thestute.com/2022/10/07/marques-brownlee-15-kicks-off-duck2duck-series/

[17] ttps://www.fastcompany.com/90979902/marques-brownlee-youtube-videos-timeline-greatest-hits?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=issue-260&position=3&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=11282023

[18] ttps://www.forbesafrica.com/video/2020/12/07/how-marques-brownlee-turned-mkbhd-into-a-successful-brand-on-youtube-forbes

[19] ttps://www.stevens.edu/news/stevens-graduate-marques-brownlee-15-makes-time100-ai-cover

[20] ttps://www.dexerto.com/tech/marques-brownlee-slams-humane-ai-pin-as-the-worst-product-hes-ever-reviewed-2646829/

[21] ttps://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mkbhd-says-this-new-gadget-is-the-worst-hes-ever-reviewed/

[22] ttps://bandwidthblog.co.za/2024/09/25/mkbhd-panels-app-backlash/

[23] ttps://yespress.io/marques-brownlee

[24] ttps://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Marques+Brownlee/393527

[25] ttp://urbangeekz.com/2025/03/meet-marques-brownlee-the-tech-reviewer-whos-turned-passion-into-a-business-empire/

[26] ttps://www.theringer.com/2016/08/22/tech/the-kid-who-revolutionized-youtubes-tech-reviews-a5b9a2a03a04

[27] ttps://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Marques+Brownlee/393527

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