Marques Brownlee

Marques Keith Brownlee (/mɑːrˈkɛz ˈbraʊnliː/ mar-KEZ BROWN-lee; born December 3, 1993),[4][5] also known professionally as MKBHD, is an American YouTuber and professional ultimate frisbee player, best known for his technology-focused videos as well as his podcast Waveform.[6] As of August 2023, he has more than 20 million subscribers across all channels and 3.83 billion total video views. Vic Gundotra, a former senior vice president of Google,[7] called Brownlee "the best technology reviewer on the planet right now".[8][9] At the 10th Shorty Awards in 2019, he was named "Creator of the Decade"[10] The former name of his YouTube channel is a concatenation of MKB (Brownlee's initials) and HD (for high definition).[8] With New York PoNY, he is the 2022 WFDF World Champion in the Open Category for ultimate Frisbee.[11]

Marques Brownlee
Brownlee in 2021
Personal information
Born
Marques Keith Brownlee

(1993-12-03) December 3, 1993
Maplewood, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationStevens Institute of Technology (BS)
Occupations
Websitemkbhd.com
YouTube information
Also known asMKBHD
Channel
Years active2008–present
Genres
Subscribers17.3 million (main channel)
20.09 million (combined)[lower-alpha 1][1]
Total views3.6726 billion (main channel)
3.83 billion (combined)[lower-alpha 2][1]
100,000 subscribers2012
1,000,000 subscribers2014[2]
10,000,000 subscribers2019[3]
Last updated: August 18, 2023

Career
The official MKBHD logo

Brownlee joined YouTube on March 21, 2008.[12] He first started uploading technology videos in January 2009, while still in high school, about new products or reviews of products he already owned.[13][14] He produced his first videos through screencasting.[14][15] His first several hundred videos were primarily hardware tutorials and freeware.[8]

Brownlee in 2014

Brownlee's reviews have been promoted by other review sites as well. Engadget promoted the site in January 2012 when they featured his tour of the then-new cloud storage service called Insync.[16] In November 2013, one of Brownlee's most viral videos was posted based on the LG G Flex, where he performed various scratch tests to demonstrate the self-healing ability of the device.[17][18] The video reached one million views on the first day. As of April 2023, the video has more than 8 million views.[19] In December 2013, Brownlee did an interview with Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside.[20][21] In May 2014, Brownlee did the first over-the-air interview with Evan Blass.[22]

Brownlee's video review and scratch test of a rumored 4.7-inch sapphire display component for the iPhone 6, uploaded July 7, 2014,[23] gained immediate popularity, being featured on sites such as The Verge, Forbes, HuffPost, CNET, and Time Magazine. The video appeared on NBC News, and in newspapers across the world. As of January 2023, the video has gained over 9.2 million views on YouTube and has had over 60,000 likes.[23] Brownlee also has a similar video regarding a dummy model of the iPhone 6, uploaded a couple of months earlier, which (as of April 2023) has since gained over 7.6 million views on YouTube.[24]

In December 2015, Brownlee interviewed professional NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant, titled "Talking Tech with Kobe Bryant!", in which he talks about tech interests of Kobe and the most recent Kobe-designed Nike shoes at the time, the Kobe 11.[25][26]

During one of the 2016 Democratic presidential primary debates that was cosponsored by YouTube, Brownlee asked the candidates, by video, whether tech companies and the government can find a middle ground over encryption while considering rights to privacy and national security.[27]

In October 2016, he interviewed Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi during the release of their latest MacBook Pro 2016.[28] The latter was, again, invited to Brownlee's channel after WWDC 2020 in June.[29]

In March 2018, he interviewed Neil deGrasse Tyson.[30] In April 2018, Brownlee won Shorty Awards Creator of the Decade.[31] In June 2018, Brownlee was a guest on Hot Ones.[32] In August 2018, he interviewed Tesla CEO Elon Musk[33] and with assistance of TLD (Jonathan Morrison) filmed Tesla Factory Tour with Elon Musk![34] In December 2018, Brownlee was featured in YouTube Rewind, later releasing a video on his complaints about the series.[35]

In February 2019, he interviewed Bill Gates.[36] In October 2019, he interviewed Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella before Microsoft's Surface announcement, in addition to actor Will Smith.[37][38]

Brownlee reached 10 million subscribers on December 18, 2019,[39] making MKBHD one of the most-subscribed-to technology-focused YouTube channels, according to Social Blade.[40][41] His primary Brownlee uploaded his 1000th video on March 29, 2018.[42] As of April 2023, his main channel has 16.8 million subscribers and 3.45 billion total views. His secondary channels add an additional 2.6 million subscribers and approximately 165 million views.

He interviewed Bill Gates again in February 2020.[43] In September 2020, he interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, discussing holograms and the future of virtual reality.[44] In December 2020, he interviewed Barack Obama, discussing use of technology and social media in government.[45] In December 2020, he was honored in the Forbes 30 Under 30 listing in its social media category.[46]

In May 2021, Brownlee interviewed Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google on various subjects such as future technology and AI.[47]

In April 2023, Brownlee collaborated with footwear brand Atoms to create the high-top Sneaker 251, named after the duration of his first YouTube video.[48]

Retro Tech

Retro Tech is a YouTube Original series produced by Vox Media Studios starring MKBHD which aired on December 2, 2019.[49] In the series, Brownlee interviews fellow YouTube creators and celebrity guests and discusses iconic pieces of technology from the past which have had a major impact on modern life and culture.[50] Season 2 of Retro Tech began in April 2021, in which he reviews technology that was believed to be the future but failed to ever reach production or the general public.[51]

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Main article: Waveform (podcast)

Brownlee is the host of a technology podcast with co-host Andrew Manganelli, who is a producer for the MKBHD YouTube channel. The podcast is called the Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast and is sometimes referred to as Waveform and WVFRM. The podcast is focused on consumer electronics and surrounding topics. The first episode was aired on July 31, 2019. Brownlee announced the podcast on his YouTube channel on August 13, 2019, in the video titled "Introducing Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast!". There have been multiple high-profile guests on the podcast, including iJustine, Mark Zuckerberg, Craig Federighi, and Carl Pei.

The Studio

Brownlee is also the host of another YouTube channel called The Studio, which focuses on behind-the-scenes activity of the MKBHD team.

Smartphone Awards

In December 2014, Brownlee started his Smartphone Awards series, where he picks the best phones in certain categories from the past year. In 2017, Brownlee started to create physical awards that were featured in the video, most of which were requested and sent to the companies whose phones won them. The Smartphone Awards are usually posted towards the middle of December, after all of the phones of the year have been released and tested.

Year Best Big Smartphone Best Compact Smartphone Best Camera The Value[lower-alpha 3] Best Battery Best Design[lower-alpha 4] Most Improved Bust of the Year Phone of the Year Ref.
2014 Galaxy Note 4 Xperia Z3 Compact Galaxy Note 4 & iPhone 6 Plus OnePlus One — Sharp Aquos Crystal BlackBerry Passport Fire Phone HTC One (M8) [52][53]
2015 Galaxy Note 5 iPhone 6S Galaxy Note 5 OnePlus X Droid Maxx 2 Galaxy S6 Edge+ BlackBerry Priv HTC One A9 Nexus 6P [54]
2016 Galaxy S7 Edge iPhone 7 Pixel & Pixel XL OnePlus 3T Moto Z Play Galaxy S7 Edge HTC 10 Galaxy Note 7 & Project Ara Pixel XL [55]
2017 Galaxy Note 8 iPhone 8 Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL OnePlus 5T Razer Phone Essential Phone HTC U11 HTC U Ultra Galaxy Note 8 [56]
2018 Galaxy Note 9 iPhone XS Pixel 3 & Pixel 3 XL Pocophone F1 Mate 20 Pro Find X Razer Phone 2 Red Hydrogen One OnePlus 6T [57]
2019 ROG Phone II Galaxy S10e iPhone 11 Pro & iPhone 11 Pro Max Redmi K20 Pro ROG Phone II Galaxy Fold ROG Phone II Pixel 4 OnePlus 7 Pro [58]
2020 Mi 10 Ultra iPhone 12 Mini iPhone 12 Pro Max Pixel 4a ROG Phone 3 Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Galaxy Z Fold 2 Galaxy Note 20 Galaxy S20 FE [59]
2021 Galaxy Z Fold 3 iPhone 13 Mini iPhone 13 Pro Pixel 6 iPhone 13 Pro Max Galaxy S21 Ultra Galaxy S21 Ultra Surface Duo 2 Galaxy S21 Ultra [60][61]
2022 Galaxy S22 Ultra Asus ZenFone 9 iPhone 14 Pro Pixel 7 ROG Phone 6 Nothing Phone 1 Pixel 7 OnePlus 10T Pixel 7 [62][63]
Brownlee speaking at Web Summit's Collision conference in Toronto in 2023

Personal life

Marques Keith Brownlee[64][65] grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey. He attended Columbia High School, graduating in 2011, and studied at the Howe School at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he majored in business and information technology.[8][9] Brownlee graduated in May 2015 and became a full-time YouTuber. His videos were produced at his apartment until he moved out in 2016, and he now works out of a studio in Kearny, New Jersey, using RED video equipment.[66]

American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL)

Brownlee is a professional ultimate frisbee player for the New York Empire of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL),[67][68] who were the AUDL champions in 2019 and 2022.[69][70] Brownlee previously played for the Philadelphia Phoenix (2017) and Garden State Ultimate (2015–2017). Other previous team engagements include the now-defunct New Jersey Hammerheads, a team belonging to the AUDL, and the New York Rumble, which was in the now-defunct league Major League Ultimate.

On July 31, 2022, Brownlee won the WFDF World Ultimate Club Championship with New York PoNy.[71]

See also

Notes
  1. Subscribers, broken down by channel:
    • 17.3 million (Marques Brownlee)
    • 635 thousand (MKBHD Shorts)
    • 16.8 thousand (100 Upload Project)
    • 761 thousand (The Studio)
    • 301 thousand (WVFRM Podcast)
    • 399 thousand (Waveform Clips)
    • 680 thousand (Auto Focus)
  2. Views, broken down by channel:
    • 3.6734 billion (Marques Brownlee)
    • 51.820 million (MKBHD Shorts)
    • 3.017 million (100 Upload Project)
    • 33.849 million (The Studio)
    • 28.443 million (WVFRM Podcast)
    • 59.447 million (Waveform Clips)
    • 28.443 million (Auto Focus)
  3. Called "Best Budget Smartphone" before 2021.
  4. Called "Craziest Design" in 2014.

References
  1. "About Marques Brownlee". YouTube.
  2. Brownlee, Marques (February 12, 2014). 1,000,000!. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  3. Brownlee, Marques (December 18, 2019). 10,000,000!. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  4. Brownlee, Marques (December 3, 2011). MKBHD Update 7.0. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  5. Brownlee, Marques (March 10, 2020). The Truth About the Escobar Folding Phone!. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  6. "League Players". AUDL. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  7. Raymond, Scott (August 24, 2011). "Google+ real name clampdown ignores own grace period". ZDNet. Vic Gundotra is the Senior Vice-President of Social Business at Google.
  8. "New MKBHD Video is live! I spend a lot of time in thought for this one – I…". google.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013.
  9. Michael Fisher (October 25, 2013). "Pocketnow VIP, episode 3: meet Marques Brownlee from MKBHD! – Pocketnow". Pocketnow. Archived from the original on October 28, 2013.
  10. "Creator of the Decade". Shorty Awards. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  11. "Familiar faces dominate at WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships 2022". World Flying Disc Federation. July 31, 2022.
  12. "Marques Brownlee: About". YouTube.
  13. "Stevens Student's First Million: Tech Reviewer's YouTube Following Reaches Major Milestone". Stevens Institute of Technology. February 13, 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  14. "The Tato Show: After Hours – Episode 2". droidlife. January 24, 2013. We will also have a very special guest, Mr. Marques Brownlee who runs the YouTube channel MKBHD
  15. Wei, Will (November 21, 2014). "How A 20-Year-Old College Student Became 'The Best Technology Reviewer On The Planet'". Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  16. Cooper, Daniel (July 18, 2019). "Insync: Wave 'Bye, Bye, Bye' to Dropbox". Engadget.
  17. Souppouris, Aaron (November 20, 2013). "Watch LG's new flexible phone heal itself after a knife scratch". Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  18. "MKBHD Goes Hands-on With LG G Flex Self Healing Back, Even Takes a Knife to it". droidlife. November 19, 2013.
  19. Brownlee, Marques (November 18, 2013). LG G Flex Self Healing Demo.
  20. Petrovan, Bogdan (December 6, 2013). "Motorola CEO talks about Project Ara, wearable devices, and Moto X". Android Authority. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  21. Buckley (December 7, 2013). "Motorola's modular phone prototype is almost ready, final product might be sold on Moto Maker".
  22. Evan Blass [@evleaks] (May 23, 2014). "First and only @evleaks podcast: fireside chat with @MKBHD – bit.ly/S0gGYl" (Tweet). Retrieved September 19, 2014 – via Twitter.
  23. Brownlee, Marques (July 7, 2014). iPhone 6 Sapphire Crystal Display!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  24. Brownlee, Marques (May 26, 2014). The iPhone 6 Model!. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  25. Smith, Dave (December 15, 2015). "Kobe Bryant discusses how technology has changed over his 20 years in the NBA". Business Insider. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  26. Brownlee, Marques (December 14, 2015). Talking Tech with Kobe Bryant!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  27. "CHS Grad Marques Brownlee Asks Question at Democratic Debate". The Village Green. January 18, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  28. Brownlee, Marques (October 27, 2016). Macbook Pro chat with Apple's Craig Federighi!. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  29. Brownlee, Marques (June 26, 2020). Apple responds to your comments!. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  30. Talking Tech with Neil deGrasse Tyson!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  31. "YouTuber Marques Brownlee Talks Ten Years of Tech". NPR.org. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  32. Marques Brownlee Ranks Hot Sauce Labels While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones, retrieved October 11, 2019
  33. Talking Tech with Elon Musk!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  34. Tesla Factory Tour with Elon Musk!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  35. Brownlee, Marques (December 12, 2018). "The Problem with YouTube Rewind!". YouTube. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  36. Talking Tech & Saving the World with Bill Gates!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  37. Talking Tech & Meme Review with Will Smith!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  38. Talking Tech with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella!, retrieved October 11, 2019
  39. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (August 9, 2019). "@LinusTech We gotta make this official, right? Set some stakes? First to 10M wins. The other has to wear the winner's merch in a video and do an entire in-video ad for the other's channel 😎" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  40. "Top 100 YouTubers tech Channels – Socialblade YouTube Stats | YouTube Statistics". socialblade.com.
  41. "Marques Brownlee Monthly YouTube Statistics". Social Blade. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  42. Brownlee, Marques (March 29, 2018). I've Made 1000 Videos?! Ask MKBHD V26!. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  43. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (February 14, 2020). "NEW VIDEO – Talking Tech and 2020 with Bill Gates! t.co/SUIHXyPFiw – RT! t.co/k9fu6MnJm2" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  44. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (September 16, 2020). "NEW VIDEO – Talking Tech and Holograms with Mark Zuckerberg! t.co/MqebhCpPkO t.co/I5XbA9tRQY" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  45. Brownlee, Marques [@MKBHD] (December 16, 2020). "NEW VIDEO – Some Quick Advice from Barack Obama! t.co/8CX2n4oRCt t.co/8s5bza1i81" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  46. "Forbes 30 Under 30 2021: Social Media". Forbes. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  47. Talking Tech and AI with Google CEO Sundar Pichai!, retrieved May 21, 2021
  48. Neelakandan, Laya (April 25, 2023). "YouTuber Marques Brownlee gets into the sneaker game with high tops for Atoms". Fast Company.
  49. Spangler, Todd (April 19, 2019). "YouTube Orders Marques Brownlee 'Retro Tech' Original Series". Variety. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  50. Ackerman, Dan. "Marques Brownlee explains why he's diving into the Retro Tech you love". CNET. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  51. "YouTube has officially greenlit Retro Tech Season 2". Twitter. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  52. Brownlee, Marques (December 7, 2014). Smartphone Awards: 2014!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  53. Weintraub, Seth (December 9, 2014). "Marques Brownlee picks his smartphones of the year (and we agree…mostly)". Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  54. Brownlee, Marques (December 18, 2015). Smartphone Awards: 2015!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  55. Brownlee, Marques (December 22, 2016). Smartphone Awards 2016!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  56. Brownlee, Marques (December 19, 2017). Smartphone Awards 2017!. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  57. Brownlee, Marques (December 18, 2018). Smartphone Awards 2018!. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  58. Brownlee, Marques (December 24, 2019). Smartphone Awards 2019!. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  59. Brownlee, Marques (December 23, 2020). Smartphone Awards 2020!. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  60. Brownlee, Marques (December 22, 2021). Smartphone Awards 2021!. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  61. Wise, Derek (December 23, 2021). "iPhone 13 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra battle it out for MKBHD's smartphone of the year". 9to5Mac. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  62. Smartphone Awards 2022!, retrieved December 27, 2022
  63. Espósito, Filipe (December 28, 2022). "iPhone loses the spotlight to its competitors in MKBHD's Smartphone Awards 2022". 9to5Mac. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  64. Brownlee, Marques. 10,000,000!. YouTube. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  65. Marques Brownlee [@MKBHD] (December 18, 2019). "More incredibly, though, we finally actually did it. 10,000,000 of you subscribed to the channel. So there it is. It's my Dad's middle name too. And his Dad's. We're all MKBs, I'm just the first HD one" (Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2019 – via Twitter.
  66. Linus Tech Tips (May 9, 2017). EXPOSING MKBHD'S FAKE VIDEOS (Studio Tour). Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  67. Yang, Avery (July 24, 2019). "Famous Tech YouTuber Has Side Gig as Ultimate Frisbee Pro". NBC New York. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  68. How Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) balances a massive YouTube following and a pro ultimate frisbee career (Web video). ESPN. January 29, 2022 – via YouTube.
  69. AUDL [@theAUDL] (August 11, 2019). "🏆 @empireultimate t.co/HUUSWSmwxM" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2021 – via Twitter.
  70. Rubin, Alex (August 28, 2022). "New York Empire Caps Off Undefeated Season With Second AUDL Championship". Ultiworld. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  71. Strod, Jesse (August 2, 2022). "WUCC 2022: PoNY Get Revenge on Ring in Gold Medal Match (Open Division)". Ultiworld. Retrieved November 24, 2022.

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