Do we like Marques Brownlee?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful turned up in his words or company, but a dangerous driving clip and some money-grab backlash leave a few marks.
Marques Brownlee started his channel for fun while still in high school, and it grew into one of the biggest tech review operations on the planet. He's a Stevens Institute graduate from Maplewood, New Jersey, a former science-centre volunteer, and was reportedly the first YouTuber invited to an Apple press event. He now runs a team of about 15 and has posted more than 1,600 videos.
His worst moment came in November 2024, when a video showed him driving a Lamborghini at 96 mph past 35 mph signs and a children-playing sign. The clip sat in a video viewers said was sponsored by drone maker DJI, and DJI told NBC it does not condone driving at dangerously high speeds in a school zone. Brownlee cut the clip and called his driving “Absolutely inexcusable and dangerous.”
Earlier, in September 2024, his Panels wallpaper app copped a pile of criticism over a $12-a-month premium tier, ads and the amount of data it collected. He said the team was “fixing the excessive data disclosures, as people rightfully brought up.” The price stayed, but the data grab and the free tier's ads were wound back, so he listened, but only up to a point.
He was also one of three big YouTubers who had promoted the Honey shopping extension, which a creator called MegaLag accused in late 2024 of hijacking affiliate links. PayPal, which owns Honey, said it follows industry rules. The reporting I read puts the allegations on Honey, not on Brownlee, who hadn't responded to Fortune when it published.
On the harm check, nothing nasty turned up: no campaigning against LGBTQ+ people, women or migrants, and no conspiracy rabbit holes. When dbrand sent a tweet critics called racially insensitive about a customer's Indian surname, he said he'd only work with them again once it was removed. To be fair, the record is thin because he mostly sticks to gadgets, so this is an absence of harm rather than a record of speaking up.
The most recent flap I found was in February 2026, when a battery video drew complaints about a misleading thumbnail, with sparks coming off a phone. He said the video grew out of reviewing phones and viewers' questions, and the thumbnail was changed. He has also defended his scathing reviews as “accurate and entertaining”, which is fair for a reviewer, though it does earn him the odd stoush.