MKBHD: The Best Technology Reviewer On The Planet

Marques Brownlee in Nexus 6 & Nexus 9 Wishlist

Many kids at the age of 15 are engrossed in their studies and strive to excel in their fields. But maybe Marques Brownlee had some other plans.

He started his video channel on YouTube reviewing various consumer products or providing some cool tips or tricks which you can do with your gadgets. The hard work had to pay off and now after 5 years and 681 videos, his YouTube channel now stands at 1.5 million subscribers.

So how hard was it to become such a famous Internet Personality?

He says, “When I first started making the videos, I didn't tell anyone about it," he said in an interview with Business Insider. "Not [my family], not anyone. But after a while it was something that was pretty obvious, since I was making a whole bunch of videos... I just didn't necessarily feel like telling people about what I was researching."

Marques Brownlee or MKBHD as the internet fraternity fondly calls him started his YouTube journey when he researched various computers and watching tutorials online since he required a laptop for himself in high school. Simply by watching those videos, he felt encouraged to create his own set of videos with some cool tricks. He is now a senior at Stevens College in Hoboken, New Jersey.

But it was not an easy road for him too. "It was super slow. The first few videos, there were no comments and no views," he told BI. "But eventually, once someone would comment on the video, they asked about other things I could share."

MKBHD’s first videos were handmade videos with only a single take featuring answers to users’ questions. By the time his 100th video was released, he had just mere 78 followers. If we just scroll through his page the number now stands at 1,551,710 subscribers until the 681st video.

Brownlee uses a Sennheiser microphone and a Canon lens, and he edits using the Adobe suite, but he says the list of equipment he uses changes every few months.

The videos he used to make would usually be of just 2-3 minutes “how-to”. But now his area of field has widened much more than anyone could ever imagine. The videos, as he says, are now much more elaborate and detailed with multiple videos for specific gadgets showing the first impressions, reviews, special features and some advanced projects.

If we go by Google Trends, Vic Gundotra’s post certainly affected MKBHD’s videos as it certainly helped the numbers surge higher. Though it is difficult to ‘multitask’ between studies and vlogging but Brownlee has a bit more flexibility in his schedule compared to high school - even as he majors in business and technology with concentrations in marketing and information systems.

Along with reviewing gadgets, MKBHD has forayed into various fields too such as offering giveaways and reviewing cars. He reviewed the Tesla Model S which was offered to him by the company itself for a review from CES 2014. He also created a huge giveaway of 75 LG G3 smartphones in collaboration with Unbox Therapy which led to a tremendous response.

When asked if he will stop making all the videos after college, Brownlee said he'll "definitely keep making videos as long as they're fun to make."

With inputs from Business Insider.