This Week at Mark Ellis Reviews

👋 Hi all! I released a video on the M4 Mac mini this week which performed well, but it highlighted some problems with YouTube that I thought you’d find interesting. I’m not going to rant or moan, but a bit of ‘peeling back the curtain’ was in order. Also, it was a bumper week of reviews with my thoughts on the seriously impressive Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 headphones. Enjoy!

FIRST THINGS FIRST

The truth about the M4 Mac mini and YouTube

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I once got halfway through shooting a YouTube video when I realised that I’d made the exact same video before. I forget which one it was, but I think it was related to the M1 Mac mini. I literally stopped while filming and said to myself, “I’ve made this one before”.

I published it anyway, and you can watch it here. Because it wasn’t exactly the same; I said some different words, and stuff. I was probably wearing different clothes, too. And you know what? No one noticed. From memory, the video ‘popped off’. Comments arrived praising the video and delivering perspectives from viewers, along with the usual raft of trolls, of course. But no one said, “Erm - we’ve seen this one before, mate”.

I can guarantee that, during that period, I would also have published one or two videos featuring brand-new non-Apple products that were definitely unique but which failed to generate numbers that were as big as my accidental double-posting. This is all you need to know about YouTube, and it’s an element of the best video streaming platform on the planet that frustrates me no end. I’m delighted that people want to watch me talk about the same stuff over and over again, but I’m not the sort of creator who can exploit that forever. I’d go mad.

The M4 Mac mini is a case in point. I stand firm on my belief that it’s the best thing Apple has ever done. It’s also a content monster. Any video I publish about Apple’s tiny desktop powerhouse goes gangbusters, even if I’m essentially saying the same stuff, just like the one I posted on Mark Ellis Reviews earlier this week. At the time of writing, it has clocked up 34,000 views in less than 24 hours and has attracted 248 comments.

I don’t know why YouTube works in this way, but it does. I don’t make the rules - I just play to them. The good news for you is that I can’t make identikit M4 Mac mini videos for the rest of my life - but I will exploit the algorithm if it keeps telling me I should.

BYTE-SIZED NEWS

This Week’s Top Tech Headlines

♻️ iPhone 17e Rumours Indicate That A Budget iPhone Will Become An Annual Release
It seems that the iPhone 16e has been selling well as the iPhone 17e is already in the stages of early production

🗞️ ​Samsung Z Fold 7 Series Release Date Likely To Be In Early July
It’s shaping up to be a busy few months for Samsung with a foldable refresh on the way, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Edge on the horizon.

ICYMI

Apple fanboy reviews Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE!

Samsung stuff just keeps continuing to impress me. For years, I have defaulted to exclusively recommending iPads to anyone who needs a tablet. But it just isn’t accurate guidance anymore. Yes, iPads are probably the best tablets you can buy, but most people don’t need that. They just need something capable for a good price. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE is exactly that.

Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 review - BETTER THAN Px8!

It feels like ages since I got to review a pair of headphones, and boy am I happy that streak was broken by Bowers & Wilkins! The new Px7 S3 headphones are simply excellent. They have a slightly more commercial sound than their other cans, which audiophiles won’t particularly like, but the Px7 S3 sound far more dynamic than their predecessors. Should you upgrade, though?

NEED TO KNOW

Tip Of The Week

👉 iOS tip: Move multiple apps at once – On the Home Screen, press and hold any app to enter edit mode. Keep holding that app with one finger, then tap other apps with another finger to select them all at once. Now, move them together to a new page or folder.

TOP FINDS

What Had Me Glued to YouTube…

🏎️ I SPENT $100,000 AT PORSCHE SO I COULD BEAT A FORMULA 1 DRIVER (Mat Armstrong) - It’s Mat time again! I do watch most of his videos, by the way - I just don’t bore you with them each week. This one’s great, though, because it shows just how far the guy has come - in spectacular style.

🎤 AlphaTheta XDJ-AZ Review - The 4 Channel you’ve been waiting for? (Crossfader) - I’m researching new DJ gear for a very specific reason, which I’ll let you in on soon.

🌆 Where EVERY F1 driver lives (Kym Illman) - Spoiler: most of them live in Monaco, unsurprisingly, but this is still worth a watch if you’re into your F1. Or just nosy.

ELSEWHERE

Why is the Xiaomi 15 Ultra SO IN DEMAND?!

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. The giveaway for the Samsung T9 SSD has now officially ended and we’ll be picking a winner shortly, so keep your eyes peeled for an email!

~ Mark