Marques Keith Brownlee (; ; born December 3, 1993), also known professionally as MKBHD, is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, influencer, and professional ultimate frisbee player, best known for his videos reviewing technology devices. , he has more than 19 million subscribers across all channels and 4.95 billion total video views. In 2013, Vic Gundotra, a former senior vice president of

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

, called Brownlee "the best technology reviewer on the planet right now". At the 10th Shorty Awards in 2018, he was named "Creator of the Decade" The former name of his YouTube channel is a

concatenation In formal language theory and computer programming, string concatenation is the operation of joining character strings end-to-end. For example, the concatenation of "snow" and "ball" is "snowball". In certain formalizations of concatenati ...

of MKB (Brownlee's initials) and HD (for high definition). With New York PoNY, he is the 2022 WFDF World Champion in the Open Category for ultimate Frisbee.

Online career

Brownlee joined

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on March 21, 2008. He first started uploading videos in January 2009, while still in high school, about new products or reviews of products he already owned. He produced his first videos through screencasting. Brownlee's reviews have been promoted by review sites.

Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...

promoted the site in January 2012 when they featured his tour of the then-new

cloud storage Cloud storage is a model of computer data storage in which data, said to be on "the cloud", is stored remotely in logical pools and is accessible to users over a network, typically the Internet. The physical storage spans multiple servers (so ...

service called Insync. In November 2013, one of Brownlee's most

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

s was posted based on the LG G Flex, where he performed various scratch tests to demonstrate the self-healing ability of the device. In December 2013, Brownlee did an interview with

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

CEO Dennis Woodside. Brownlee's video review and scratch test of a rumored 4.7-inch sapphire display for the iPhone 6, uploaded July 7, 2014, gained immediate popularity, being featured on sites such as ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'', ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', '' CNET'', ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'', and more. , the video has gained over 9.2 million views on

and has had over 60,000 likes. In December 2015, Brownlee interviewed professional NBA basketball player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

. 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. In April 2018, Brownlee won Shorty Awards Creator of the Decade. In August 2019, Brownlee began co-hosting a technology

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, '' Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast.'' that is commonly referred to as ''Waveform'' or ''WVFRM''. The podcast is focused on product reviews and interviews with figures influential in the technology industry.'''' ''Retro Tech'' is a YouTube Original series produced by Vox Media Studios starring Brownlee which was published on December 2, 2019. 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. Brownlee reached 10 million subscribers on December 18, 2019, making MKBHD one of the most-subscribed-to technology-focused

channels. , his main channel has more than 19.6 million subscribers and 4.561 billion total views. His secondary channels (WVFRM Podcast, 438 thousand subscribers; Auto Focus, 1.08 million subscribers; The Studio, 977 thousand subscribers; Waveform Clips, 487 thousand subscribers; MKBHD Shorts 647 thousand subscribers) add an additional 3.52 million subscribers and approximately 394.75 million views. In December 2020, he was honored in the Forbes 30 Under 30 listing in its social media category. In April 2023, Brownlee collaborated with footwear brand

Atoms Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished from each other ...

to create the

high-top The high-top is a shoe that extends slightly over the wearer's ankle. It is commonly used for sports, particularly basketball. It is sometimes confused with the slightly shorter mid-top, which typically extends no higher than the wearer's ankle. ...

Sneaker 251, named after the duration of his first YouTube video. In February 2024, he joined everyday accessories company

Ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

as a board member and chief creative partner. In May 2024, Brownlee gave a

commencement speech In the United States, a commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the ...

at his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a Private university, private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely de ...

, and was awarded an honorary doctorate of business administration.

Controversies

Panels

In September 2024, Brownlee launched ''Panels'', an

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android app for browsing and downloading hand-picked wallpapers. The app drew widespread criticism from the tech community, mainly for its implementation of a subscription model ($12/month or $50/year) that was deemed overpriced. Other common points of criticism included the presence of in-app ads (for free users), its overall lack of quality, privacy concerns and allowing AI-generated art to be included on its wallpaper portfolio. He later addressed the criticism, significantly reducing the pricing and fixing most of the other problems.

Speeding

On November 11, 2024, Brownlee published a sponsored review for a DJI

action camera An action camera or action cam is a digital camera designed for recording action while being immersed in it. Action cameras are therefore typically compact, rugged, and waterproof at the surface level. They typically use CMOS image sensors, an ...

that attracted significant backlash regarding a

point-of-view shot A point-of-view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or subjective camera) is a film scene—usually a short one—that is shot as if through the eyes of a character (the subject). The camera shows what the subject's eyes would see ...

of him driving at in a neighborhood that had a

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

of . It was also noted that the

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge (instrument), gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as ...

was blurred, leading to speculation that Brownlee had deliberately tried to hide the fact. Brownlee received widespread criticism. He removed the driving portion and issued an apology on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

(X), admitting to his mistakes, leading to mixed responses.

YouTube channels

* ''Marques Brownlee –'' Brownlee's main channel * ''The Studio'' –

behind-the-scenes https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...

secondary channel * '' WVFRM Podcast –'' technology podcast'''' * ''Waveform Clips'' short highlights of Waveform podcast discussions. * ''Auto Focus –'' car-focused channel * ''MKBHD

Shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

Personal life

Marques Keith Brownlee was born on December 3, 1993, and grew up in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

. He attended

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

, graduating in 2011, and studied at the Howe School at

, where he majored in business and information technology. Brownlee graduated in May 2015 and became a full-time

. His videos were produced at his apartment until he moved out in 2016; he now works out of a studio in

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 41,999, an increase of 1,315 (+3.2%) from the 2010 census cou ...

Ultimate Frisbee Association

Brownlee is a professional ultimate frisbee player for the New York Empire of the

Ultimate Frisbee Association The Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) is a professional ultimate league in North America. The league comprises 24 teams divided between the South, Central, East, and West divisions. Each UFA season has 12 regular season games which run from Apr ...

(UFA), who were the UFA champions in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 2022 and 2023. 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 UFA, and the New York Rumble, which was in the now-defunct league

Major League Ultimate Major League Ultimate (MLU) was a North American semi-professional Ultimate (sport), ultimate league from 2013 to 2016. It was composed of eight member teams, seven in the United States and one in Canada. It was formed in 2012, and began its inaug ...

. On July 31, 2022, Brownlee won the WFDF World Ultimate Club Championship with New York PoNY.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlee, Marques 1993 births 21st-century African-American writers African-American media personalities American bloggers American technology news websites Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni Living people People from Kearny, New Jersey Writers from Maplewood, New Jersey Streamy Award winners Technology YouTubers Ultimate (sport) players American YouTube vloggers Writers from Hoboken, New Jersey YouTube channels launched in 2008 YouTubers from New Jersey 21st-century American writers 21st-century American male writers American male bloggers Stevens Institute of Technology alumni