Techfluencers

Can a YouTuber with 20 million followers really bring down a company with one negative product review?

Marques Brownlee, 31, known by the handle MKBHD, has been accused of dooming $700 AI Pin startup Humane ("the worst product I ever reviewed", 8.7 million views) and EV maker Fisker ("the worst car I ever reviewed," 6.4 million views).

But look past the clickbait headlines and you'll see the secret of his success: Brownlee is simply one of the most affable, low-key, ego-free, give-it-to-me-straight tech reviewers on any platform today.

"I try to be as fair and informative as possible," he says in one video. "But I'm not going to sugarcoat to protect any company's $700 device."

A MKBHD video will always be clear in its reasoning; you can take that to the bank. And Brownlee has, according to Forbes, which now pins his net worth at $10 million — though he claims not to know anything about that since his mom runs the financial side of the business, leaving him more time for his side gig as a professional Ultimate Frisbee player.

TechJoyce, a young tech influencer from Vancouver, Canada, has been producing videos for the last three years, and any follower of hers will recognize her distinctive brand of humor and approach to tech. 

Her content often involves pranks, memes, and slices of her life. But the creator knows her tech: She discusses Apple CarPlay to the tune of the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song. She trolls her family alongside reviewing new products.

Take her YouTube short featuring a stretchy phone case: The video, which is just under a minute, has over 23 million views, and features Joyce hiding movie theater snacks inside the case.

She’s garnered over 5 million followers across major platforms including TikTok and Instagram, and with her growing fanbase, she’s worked with brands like Sony, Insta360, Twitch, and Intel. Her gaming content – and frequent collabs with her brother – consistently entertain. 

If you’ve been Extremely Online since the early days of YouTube, you’ll recognise Justine Ezarik. As Forbes puts it, "before 'content creator' was a job, there was Justine Ezarik." 

Better known as iJustine to followers, Ezarik gained fame back in 2007 with her infamous “300-page iPhone bill” video. Ezarik unpacked her lengthy bill — delivered by AT&T in a box — on YouTube and across other platforms, garnering hundreds of thousands of views at first but then reaching millions. Her video, in which she condemned the waste of paper billing, was picked up by news channels across the United States. Ezarik soon became nothing short of an internet celebrity. 

Ezarik’s life as a content creator since has translated to media attention, Hollywood stints (including voicing a character on YouTube’s comedy series Annoying Orange), and brand collaborations. She’s interviewed the world’s most recognizable tech CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, and hit over a billion views on YouTube.

With consistency and a willingness to evolve over time, Ezarik now boasts millions of followers across platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and a career in content creation that has spanned nearly as many years as YouTube itself (the platform recently celebrated its 20th anniversary). 

Based in California, Mau Lozano is a tech creator who primarily posts in Spanish, making tech content inclusive and accessible for his 4.4 million followers on TikTok.

Lozano says his primary intention is to simplify tech for his audience. Speaking authentically and conversationally, Lozano unpacks new tech products, breaks down the pros and cons of gadgets, provides smartphone tips, and has interviewed Apple execs during WWDC25.

He’s become an expert voice, for Spanish-speaking audiences and beyond, for improving the quality of our lives through technology. 

Want to know which remote-controlled car is the fastest? Or which iPhone case is the strangest? Arun Maini, a tech creator with over 21 million subscribers on YouTube (and 2 million followers on TikTok), has the answers. More commonly known as "Mrwhosetheboss", Maini began his online career with videos focused on smartphones. This quickly evolved to covering all sorts of products, comparing the best and worst there is out there. Maini’s video on buying his dream house — one that is, of course, highly tech-powered — garnered a million views, with different installments detailing his journey to create the "dream smart garden" and "dream smart kitchen." His penchant for tech led to winning a Guinness World Record in 2024, when Maini and fellow YouTuber Matthew Perks built the world’s largest smartphone replica.

According to creator Brett Turner, he makes "content about nerd stuff." The tech influencer is amassing a following on TikTok with videos on new products, as well as tips and tricks. But Turner is also tapping into less-discussed subjects like data security. Just shy of a million followers on TikTok, the creator is gaining traction for his genuine approach to discussing tech as it stands today. His recent video on online security and how personal data is traded is a prime example; in the explainer, Turner unpacks how data is traded legally for "ethically questionable things." He’s also an expert in smart tech, with regularly updated listings on how to use these products to improve your home.

At 36, Zack Nelson, better known as JerryRigEverything, has carved out a niche as YouTube’s premier tech stress tester. Nelson’s content centers on hardcore teardown and torture tests — think scratching, burning, and bending smartphones, tablets, and EVs. He’s famed for exposing the inner workings of popular gadgets, and no detail is too small to escape his notice. 

His channel, JerryRigEverything, hosts 9.36 million subscribers as of June 2025 — a steady increase from around 9.21 million last year, netting him roughly 150,000 new subs in the first half of 2025. Across platforms — including Instagram (760K followers), X (892.7K), Facebook (2.9M), TikTok (405.8K), and Reddit — he commands a global audience north of 13 million.

In late 2023, his Casetify lawsuit over apron-case plagiarism made waves. In 2024, he ignited controversy with a viral Tesla Cybertruck bulletproof test and a March 2025 follow-up teardown, along with a brief spat with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on X.

Beyond tech, Nelson’s work significantly advances disability awareness and accessibility. In 2022, he and his wife, Cambry — paralyzed when she was 18 — launched Not a Wheelchair, creating affordable off-road and manual wheelchairs. Their "The Rig" prototype video has earned more than 12 million Facebook views.

For more than a decade, Austin Evans has helped his millions of followers make smarter tech choices through no-nonsense reviews and an affable delivery that made "Hey guys, this is Austin" a calling card. Now 32, Evans commands a YouTube audience of 5.7 million subscribers as of mid-2025, with a total social reach topping 6.3 million across Instagram, X, and TikTok.

Best known for his insights on smartphones, consoles, PCs, and gaming hardware, Evans blends nerdy enthusiasm with casual-friendly technical insight. He’s also leaned into the future, covering AI laptops, modular gaming PCs, and emerging EV tech like Sony-Honda’s AFEELA prototype. His breakdown of its infotainment system went viral on X (@austinnotduncan), proving once again that his curiosity evolves along with the technology he covers.

In a world flooded with hype, Evans remains a calm, credible voice.

Not just content to scoop up Golden Globes and fill dancefloors with impromptu DJ sets, screen icon Idris Elba has been busy shaking up the tech industry. Over the last few years, The Wire and Luther actor has dived into tech entrepreneurship across finance, social good, and accessibility in a range of game-changing projects. In 2025, Elba teamed up with Luther director Stefan Schwartz to develop a TV and film script-reading app called Talking Scripts, based on the pair's shared experience with dyslexia. Working with the Stellar Development Foundation and the Bank of Ghana last year, he launched the blockchain-powered Akuna Wallet, a banking platform for creative Ghanaians receiving international payments for work. And speaking at the inaugural SXSW London in June 2025, Elba spoke of his dream to open a cinema chain on the continent, hoping to own the "African Odeon."

NASA engineer Mark Rober didn't plan to leave the space agency for YouTube — it just happened after a 2011 video of his high-tech Halloween costume went viral. Now 45, Rober has built a YouTube channel with 70 million subscribers, blending science, engineering, and pranks. He acknowledged the unexpected shift during his 2023 MIT commencement speech, comparing it to quitting the NBA to work at Foot Locker. But beyond internet fame — glitter bombs for package thieves, a swimming pool of Jell-O — Rober has continued engineering off-camera. From 2015 to 2019, he worked at Apple, achieving a patent tied to virtual reality and self-driving cars. He has also launched CrunchLabs, a subscription box that sends kids STEM toy-building kits. He credits his success to mastering the art of disguise. "I like to do what I call hide the vegetables. So you might see a really clickbait thumbnail of a 15-ton Jell-O pool, and it’s like, well, that’s real interesting," he told PBS Newshour. "Before you know it, you’re learning about the scientific method and chemistry."