Pocket Microscope, Portable Mini Microscope Kids 60X-120X, Handheld Microscope with 5 Microscope Slides and Carrying Case for Microbiological Observation Lab Study Educational

I highly recommend this microscope. This is the perfect size microscope for any age. It is a portable hand held microscope. Magnification is 60 to 120 times. Small light ensures that you can see all objects. Soft zipped container for storage. Reasonable price.

I am so pleased with this! I was really uncertain what quality of product I was purchasing and I was so pleasantly surprised! It magnifies really well and is very easy to zoom in and fiddle with the focus. It will take some practice for my child to get used to it, but that’s to be expected. Both UV and LED work really well. Would recommend! I’m probably buying more as Christmas gifts for nieces and nephews!

This is a somewhat decent mini microscope [for kids] with a typical albeit average build quality that's similar to most others out there with similar design and/or style. It's fairly small and compact, and although the build quality isn't exactly bad, this particular microscope has a rather old design that it lacks anti-skid rubber coating at the bottom of the plastic as well as slotted frame to hold the slide in place. It claims to have 60-120X magnification and that appears to be true although I can't be absolutely certain about the max magnification of 120X but it's close enough nonetheless. It has the usual knobs for adjusting magnification level and focus, as well as a push-button for turning the LED on/off and another push-and-hold button for UV light. Needless to say this may not be safe for kids so just keep that in mind. All is dandy except it's nearly impossible and rather difficult to make any adjustment without moving the slides which would move the object out of field of view. Some others (and I assume they are the newer and improved models) have anti-skid rubber coating at the bottom to minimize movement which this one does NOT have and that's useful for slides (or whatever else you wanna use) of standard size. In addition, it also lacks the slotted frame where standard slides can be inserted into the bottom of the microscope so the slide won't move at all when adjustments are made that, again, this microscope doesn't have which makes it difficult to use. I have serious doubts that this would be usable or even useful for younger kids because they (well, most of 'em anyway) simply don't have the dexterity or patience to actually see anything with this before they get bored and give up. With that being said, it's working the way it should but the amount effort required doesn't actually match the target audience this is advertised for, at least not in my mind anyway. As you can see 5 slides are included with this and they aren't the best selection out there, but they serve the purpose I suppose. I also tested it against a macro lens (pic 13/14) and I have to say I'm a little disappointed at the overall quality; though, again it's not terrible bad. However, I have to mention that it took me a few seconds to take the picture with the macro lens (pic 13) but it took significantly LONGER for those 2 shots (60X/90X) with the microscope and I'm not sure if it's actually as effective as I wanted it to be. Anyway, you get my point. ≡ Value All things considered, this is a somewhat decent mini/portable microscope that appears reasonably well-built and works just fine; however, I'm not sure if this is actually suitable for kids (or at least younger kids) because it requires certain amount of effort that some kids might not necessarily able to provide. It's somewhat reasonably priced at $24 for what it provides and its overall build quality, features, and performance. Your mileage might vary.

The quality is good (perfect for kids - he is eleven), and not too shabby for adults. The only thing I ended up adding was a small 'plexi glass' box of the slides. That way he can collect things and add to slides without having to reuse so often. This way he can compare things. I did include a notebook (just a plain one with wide rule) so he can take notes while he explores.

I guess I'm an "adult hobbyist" when it comes to microscopy. I have an Amscope compound microscope that is really quite good for the cost, and I also have access to Olympus compounds as well as Leica dissection microscopes in my college biology labs. My husband and I made a DIY microtome based on a youtube tutorial from microbehunter - so yeah - pretty nerdy here. My biggest concern with this microscope is that - even when used on a flat table with a still flat specimen - the focusing ring causes the image to jiggle a lot more than I would expect from my hands. This is definitely more of a toy than a tool - and I think I was hoping more for tool than toy. I can also see a child getting frustrated trying to get the image of the slide in view because of the wiggle. Again, my concern would be that a child might get turned off by this. It depends on the age though. For example, our godson and his two friends come over after school twice a week. They're all 12-13 years old. One of the girls is really interested in science and made the comment that they had "just some pocket microscopes" at home. I can imagine they are similar to this - but I don't know for a fact. The Amscope was HUGE hit compared to the enthusiasm for the home scopes because it was stable and the controls were easier to use. Obviously cost is a big issue here, but I just wanted to share this anecdote for those considering pocket vs compound microscopes for children. There are LOTS of pocket microscopes out there from China on Amazon, and I would also consider reading the reviews and looking for mention of jiggle or focus issues. As far as this BNISE unit goes, it _can_ focus, but it definitely takes _patience_. I might actually buy a different brand of pocket microscope with a lower magnification to try in the field. This one is more useful for tabletop flat specimens. (e.g. I could not get it to work with my houseplants in mid-air at all, even when I held the leaf to the bottom.) One potentially good use of this is to inspect paper threads. I used it on a variety of watercolor and/or handmade papers. That would be a good exercise to try with your kids if you got this microscope. See if they can focus on something with a little bit of color (to reduce the bright contrast) and go from there. In any event, I wouldn't give this particular unit 5 stars. 4 stars because it is, quite honestly, still kinda fun to play with.