YouTuber alleges that MSI offered money in exchange for hushing “disappointing” MSI Bravo 15 laptop review

YouTuber @TechTeamGB alleged that laptop maker MSI attempted to entice them with money in exchange for hushing up a review that called the Renoir Ryzen 4000-powered MSI Bravo 15 “disappointing.” In the Twitter thread, the YouTuber claimed that his negative take on the Bravo 15 was because “the display was poor, thermals were terrible, and the track pad felt like it was broken.”

They claimed that, after posting the review, MSI threatened to blacklist him for sponsorships and upcoming review samples and that the company even attempted to contact AMD to ask him to take the video down. @TechTeamGB claimed that AMD sided with them and that an AMD PR representative allegedly stated that the problem was with the laptop in question. 

Interestingly, top tech reviewers and streamers, including Gamers Nexus, Hardware Unboxed, and Linus Tech Tips offered their support on the Twitter thread. One top YouTuber indicated that @TechTeamGB’s experience with MSI was very different from theirs, but that nevertheless, their story “checked out.”

It is possible that issues with a particular review sample may have been at fault here. It’s relevant to note that we had a positive overall take on the MSI Bravo 15, with our review stating that it “sets new standards for CPU performance in the US$1000 range.” It’s also important to note that MSI has never offered us money as an editorial enticement. We’ve reached out to them and will be updating this piece shortly.