Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) Interview: How He Keeps Viewers’ Trust

Marques Brownlee has reviewed phones, laptops and cars on YouTube since 2009, and his verdicts still move people. When he calls something the worst product he’s reviewed, the argument afterwards is about whether one reviewer should have that much influence. That kind of trust is rare, and it’s worth hearing how he explains it.

This post is for creators who want an audience that believes them, marketers deciding how to work with reviewers, and fans curious about his studio. It covers how he works, his rules for brand deals, the 2024 arguments over his Humane and Fisker reviews, his Panels app, his advice for new creators, and what he’s doing as of October 2026.

Who is Marques Brownlee?

Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD, is an American YouTuber and podcaster best known for reviewing consumer technology, from smartphones and laptops to electric cars.

He started uploading in January 2009 as a high school student in Maplewood, New Jersey, and went full time after graduating from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2015. The channel name joins his initials with HD, for high definition. Today he runs a studio in Kearny, New Jersey, with about 17 people, several YouTube channels, the Waveform podcast and a creative role at the accessories company Ridge. He also plays elite ultimate frisbee.

How did Marques Brownlee get started?

“When I picture a YouTube video about a laptop, this video is for the person who is searching for those videos, because I was that person.”

— Marques Brownlee, Stratechery, June 2024

As a high school sophomore, Brownlee bought an HP laptop, mostly with his own allowance, after watching every review he could find. None of them mentioned the small media remote that came with it, so on January 1, 2009, he posted a video about it, Fast Company reported. He told Ben Thompson that he thought of his early videos as answers to search queries.

Growth was slow. His 100th video celebrated 74 subscribers, and YouTube twice turned down his application to share in ad revenue. Asked about an inflection point, he described 15 years of gradual growth rather than one viral hit. What he remembers is a Safari-for-Windows how-to that drew more views than his subscriber count could explain, proof that people wanted timely, helpful videos.

The lesson: make the video you wished existed when you were researching something. Search demand is steadier than hoping the algorithm notices you.

How does MKBHD decide what to make next?

“For myself, I don’t think it really does. I think all of my editorial choices are purely for what I’m interested in and what I think will make the best tech video I can make.”

— Marques Brownlee, Stratechery, June 2024

Thompson had asked whether ad rates shape his topics. They could: finance videos earn far higher rates, Brownlee explained, and some creators optimize for every variable. He says interest decides instead, and he turns down more than 99 percent of the requests in his inbox.

He thinks in arcs. Smartphones climbed steeply, but the gap between generations has narrowed, so he looks for steeper curves such as computers, electric cars and AI. Crypto he skips, because he doesn’t care enough about it.

His explanation for avoiding burnout is the most useful part: he isn’t the subject of his videos; the tech is, and the industry keeps producing new things to point a camera at.

How does MKBHD make a video?

“But the other thing about an octopus is that it has three hearts. Their three hearts are the things you can’t chop off. And for me, those three hearts are being on camera, writing, and reviewing technology.”

— Marques Brownlee, Think with Google, September 2025

The octopus is his favorite description of a creator’s job. At first you’re every arm: camera, editing, lighting, sound, inbox. Growing means handing arms to people who can do them full time, while keeping the hearts. He used the analogy with Think with Google, Google’s marketing publication, and with Thompson a year earlier.

His first hire, in 2017, was Andrew Manganelli, a fellow ultimate player with a film degree. By September 2025 the team was about 17 people, each doing a job Brownlee once squeezed into a fraction of his own time, from graphics and research to sponsorship negotiations.

Reviews follow a set process: the team tests the product and settles on a verdict, then the review is almost completely scripted, he told Thompson. A video takes anywhere from a day to a week. The studio Fast Company toured in 2023 included a $250,000 robotic camera arm for the swooping product shots his reviews are known for.

What does MKBHD say works on YouTube now?

“They’re [titles and thumbnails] at least half the story … if your title and thumbnail are not good, the video does not matter. … But on the same token, if the title and thumbnail are incredible, but the video does not deliver, YouTube actually learns from that, their algorithms are optimizing for audience happiness.”

— Marques Brownlee, Stratechery, June 2024

Packaging matters only if the video keeps the promise. That was his defense of the Humane AI Pin title: he told Thompson he considered it accurate as well as entertaining.

He splits his audience in two: people searching because they’re about to buy, and subscribers who watch for entertainment. He tailors reviews to the first, smaller group, and the second enjoys listening in. Serving the viewer with a real need usually pleases the casual viewer too.

His videos have also grown longer, from three or four minutes to nine to 14 minutes, partly because so many people watch YouTube on their TVs, he told Think with Google in 2025. In September 2026, he and his Waveform co-hosts compared public and engaged view counts on their own videos after YouTube changed how it counts views. Our guide to vetting YouTube creators explains that change.

How does MKBHD keep viewers’ trust?

“As far as trust, I think that just comes with telling a truth for a long time consistently. I don’t think there’s much more to that.”

— Marques Brownlee, On with Kara Swisher, May 2024

“If they sugarcoat something because they don’t want to be too mean or they’re friends with a company so they don’t want to say too many hurtful things, then you start to not tell the truth as much and lose that trust.”

— Marques Brownlee, On with Kara Swisher, May 2024

He said this alongside Walt Mossberg, the former Wall Street Journal tech columnist. Honesty about the good and the bad, kept up for years, is the whole method. Forbes reported in 2024 that he has never accepted money for a review or given a brand approval rights before publishing.

He told Swisher he wishes he could put a journalism-style ethics statement next to every video. Instead, he made a video about whether viewers can trust him, setting out what he discloses and how he handles ads. What erodes trust, he said, is undisclosed deals and videos full of affiliate links pushing one product.

Consistency also makes a reviewer readable: he told Think with Google that long-time viewers can often predict whether he’ll like a product. If you’re judging reviewers yourself, our guide to spotting an honest AI tool review turns these ideas into a checklist.

Do bad reviews kill companies?

“My job is to speak directly to my audience… If the product is good, it’s my job to share that it’s good. If the product is bad, that’s my job to share that it’s bad.”

— Marques Brownlee, Stratechery, June 2024

In March 2024, Brownlee called the Fisker Ocean the worst car he’d ever reviewed. In April, he titled his Humane AI Pin review “The Worst Product I’ve Ever Reviewed… For Now”. The pin cost $699 plus a $24 monthly subscription, from a company that had raised more than $230 million. Critics on X said someone with his reach shouldn’t sink a young company. He replied on X, TechCrunch reported that April: “We disagree on what my job is.”

He then posted a video asking whether bad reviews kill companies. TechCrunch quoted its conclusion:

“All that any honest review actually does is just accelerate whatever was already going on.”

— Marques Brownlee, YouTube video quoted by TechCrunch, April 2024

Both companies had problems before he spoke. TechCrunch reported that Fisker had just $121 million in the bank, and that federal regulators had begun investigating Ocean brake complaints the month before his review. Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2024. In February 2025, HP acquired Humane for $116 million and the AI Pin was discontinued. Brownlee told Thompson he isn’t invested in the companies he reviews. His advice to them: in the social media era, a good product matters more than ever.

What does Marques Brownlee say about working with brands?

“One is that they don’t do anything in the area of things that I actually review. And you’re right, I also don’t own stocks in any of the companies that I review. … But the other rule is that I actually have to believe in the thing.”

— Marques Brownlee, On with Kara Swisher, May 2024

Those are his two rules for companies he works with outside his reviews. His example was dbrand, which makes skins for phones but not phones. Ridge fits the same pattern: under a multi-year deal announced in 2024, he received equity, a board seat and creative input on products, Forbes reported, and he has since worked on wallets, a backpack and a battery bank.

He describes a good deal as a win for three parties: the creator gets an experience they couldn’t otherwise have, the brand reaches new viewers, and the audience gets a better video. Fast Company described the ad reads in his videos as few in number, clearly disclosed and based on his own experience with the product.

Creators can check the rules in our guide to disclosing affiliate links and sponsorships. Brands can borrow his rules as a filter, alongside our checklist for vetting a YouTube creator.

What mistakes does MKBHD say he made?

“My taste for how good I wanted the videos to be was always above my skill level”

— Marques Brownlee, Fast Company, November 2023

Even in his first video, he apologized for the lighting. He closed the gap the slow way, with better equipment and hundreds of videos. In 2019 he told Y Combinator’s podcast that he’s borderline perfectionist, but that a video 95 percent there and finished beats one 99 percent there and still in progress.

Some mistakes have been public. In November 2024, viewers criticized a sponsored DJI video for a clip of him driving at 96 mph past 35 mph signs. NBC News reported that he removed the clip, apologized on X, calling his driving inexcusable and dangerous, and said he had heard feedback on sponsored videos too.

What happened with Panels?

“We knew it was niche, but we made mistakes in making our first app, and ultimately, we weren’t able to turn it into the vision I had”

— Marques Brownlee, unlisted YouTube video quoted by TechCrunch, December 2025

Panels launched in September 2024 to sell artists’ phone wallpapers, prompted by fans who kept asking where he got his. HD wallpapers cost $12 a month or $50 a year, and the backlash over the price, ads and data disclosures was immediate. Brownlee said on X that the team would fix the excessive data disclosures first and reduce ads for free users, HotHardware reported.

It didn’t recover. Appfigures estimated about 900,000 downloads and $95,000 in consumer spending, according to TechCrunch, and Panels said its development team changed in early 2025. The app closed on December 31, 2025, subscribers were refunded, and the code was open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license. A reviewer who launches a product gets reviewed by his own standards.

What advice does Marques Brownlee give new creators?

“…you take your inspiration from other places, but you always have to come back to your own voice and your own perspective. Don’t try to be something else that already exists, or there won’t be any reason to watch it.”

— Marques Brownlee, Y Combinator podcast, March 2019

That answer is from 2019, and he added that luck plays a part and consistency is very important. His 2024 view, given to Thompson, is more sober. Production is easier than ever because anyone can shoot on a phone, but getting new tech to review is a real barrier, and with so much already made, finding an untouched angle is harder than ever.

So his advice is less about gear than perspective: find your angle, keep showing up, and say what you actually think. To compare another long-running YouTuber’s answer, see our Casey Neistat interview.

What is MKBHD working on now?

“I think tech reviewers sit pretty close but distinctly different from journalism, and we get torn apart for the difference between us and journalism all the time.”

— Marques Brownlee, Waveform, September 2026

As of October 2026, review ethics are still a live topic for him. On a September 2026 Waveform episode, he discussed another creator’s camera video labeled a sponsored review, and explained why calling a sponsored video from someone with a financial relationship to the company a review crosses a line he rarely sees crossed in tech. He’s considering updating his old video on whether viewers can trust MKBHD.

Waveform, co-hosted with Manganelli and David Imel and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network, still comes out weekly; its October 9, 2026 episode debated contenders for the 2026 MKBHD Smartphone Awards. Forbes’ 2026 profile says he is releasing a Ridge collection of chargers, suitcases and keychains, and in 2025 he told Think with Google he’d like to make a tech product someday that beats what he’s reviewed.

He still plays ultimate, too: he made Team USA in 2024, and an August 2026 Waveform episode went ahead without him while he was away playing.

What creators can learn from Marques Brownlee

Sources

• An Interview with Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) About Being a YouTube Star, Stratechery, June 2024
• YouTube creator Marques Brownlee on building a production powerhouse, Think with Google, September 2025
• Walt Mossberg and MKBHD Break Down the Art of the Tech Review, On with Kara Swisher (transcript via Podscripts), May 2024
• Inside Marques Brownlee’s tech review studio, Fast Company, November 2023
• How Marques Brownlee and Ridge are Shaping Future of Creator Economy, Forbes, April 2024
• Marques Brownlee profile, Forbes, June 2026
• Don’t blame MKBHD for the fate of Humane AI and Fisker, TechCrunch, April 2024
• EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy, TechCrunch, June 2024
• HP acquires Humane, shuts down AI Pin designed to replace smartphones, Business Today, February 2025
• MKBHD Responds To Angry Backlash Over $50 Wallpaper App Subscription, HotHardware, September 2024
• MKBHD’s wallpaper app Panels is shutting down, TechCrunch, December 2025
• Panels shutdown notice, Panels, accessed October 2026
• Top YouTube tech reviewer apologizes for speeding, NBC News, November 2024
• Marques Brownlee on Building an Audience and Other Advice for Creators, Y Combinator, March 2019
• I Don’t Need AI in My Toothbrush, Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast (transcript via Podscripts), September 2026
• The 2026 Smartphone Awards Discussion Episode and episode list, Waveform via Podscripts, October 2026
• Marques Brownlee, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026

What to do next

If you’re choosing reviewers to follow or sponsor, look for the habits Brownlee describes: clear disclosures, honest negatives and no conflicts with the products they cover. Our list of AI tool reviewers on YouTube picks creators on recent work rather than follower counts, and our methodology explains how.

For a very different model of building a YouTube business, compare our MrBeast interview, which uses the same questions.