I bought this for my 6-year-old niece as a gift. We experienced an LCD Digital Microscope at a science event and she had so much fun with it I thought getting one for her to use at home would be perfect. She uses it all the time! It's great for magnifying very small objects we find on walks or items around the house. We don't use it for anything professional but it certainly could be used to magnify stamps or coins, etc.

This is a great little microscope, and for the price point I did not expect something this good. I had to come back and write a review because I remember being scared by the bad reviews, and I love mine. So I'll go over the good and bad things about the unit now that I've used it for awhile, but first I'll cut to the chase - if you are on the fence like me but you find the price point attractive as long as it's a usable scope, go ahead and buy it, I think you'll be pleased.

Short review: The viewing angle of the screen is fixed and has bad up/down angle, so you have to be over the screen to see the image. This is the biggest gripe, but you can hook the scope up to a computer and have your own screen, so that may not be a deal breaker depending on your purpose. The magnification is about 50:1 max so it's nowhere near its stated magnification rating.

Pros: This has an unmentioned feature. After a certain magnification, it becomes an infinite lens, so you can actually use it as a telescope (I can resolve an image across my room with it), but even better, if you put it on a longer neck you have yourself a bench soldering scope that gets you very decent magnification, where you don't have to worry about how much it cost. It can capture movies with a camera data card (not included). It has a nice image and the built in LEDs are pretty bright.

Long review:

MAGNIFICATION

The stated magnification is false. I measured the apparent size on the screen to the size of the object, and I calculated 60:1 magnification in very generous circumstances. So my guess is this is actually about a 50:1 magnification microscope. I am not subtracting points for this because it is fit for my purpose and I'm happy to have paid $50 for it. Also it has the hidden feature I described in the short review - an infinite focal length at a certain magnification, allowing it to be used in a bigger assembly without issues.

Test Conditions:

I used an electronic caliper accurate to 0.03 millimeters to measure the screen size of an object at max magnification, versus the actual size of the object (a mosfet I cut open to see the transistor chip) . I detached the unit from the base, I was generous to the size of the image on-screen, and I erred on the side of too small (which would yield a greater magnification factor) when measuring the size of the object, and also I poked the object above the lens protector that prevents you from getting closer while the microscope is fully assembled, yielding a greater magnification than you can get from normal operation. I found the limits of the magnification this way, past a certain distance the scope could not resolve an image.

MICROSCOPE ASSEMBLY

The assembly provided with the scope is perfectly functional, but tiny, and too small to be really useful as a hobbyist electronic scope for circuits or jewelry where soldering and tinkering needs to be done. The platform is a few inches by several inches, it's not a decent sized work surface at all. I am not subtracting points for this because I can build my own assembly, and everything but the base is usable in the rebuilt assembly. I got myself a nice metal gooseneck from Goodwill on an old lamp, and I can 3d print connector pieces to make a decent sized microscope by combining the neck of the microscope assembly with the gooseneck. I didn't expect a great assembly, and it's actually solidly made even though small, so in that way, it exceeded my expectations.

MONITOR
The built in monitor suffers a lot from the fact that it is in a fixed oriented angle, and the up/down viewing angle of the screen is limited (as it is with most LCDs on the market these days), so unless you are looking directly at the screen, you don't see the image well. This is the biggest gripe about the unit, but again I'm not subtracting points because I don't expect the screen to be great at this price point, and it's more than good enough, especially once I have it on a gooseneck and I can adjust the angle easily. Also the option to display on a different device (it functions as a Windows webcam) means this limitation can be overcome when it's important to do so. It would make a lot more sense for a microscope like this to make the optimal viewing angle on the horizontal axis rather than the vertical, and it's a shame they didn't realize this.

All in all I'm very happy with it, including its limitations. This review has been 100% my honest opinion, hope it helps you to make your decision!

The image is really crisp and well-suited for my purposes, which is soldering small parts. This does the job of a soldering microscope very well, albeit with a modified assembly.

Very happy with purchase

Well machined, easy to use, easy to set up. Very versatile, excellent imaging and nice hefty 18650 battery for mobile use. It captures startling images for its meager 3,6MP/720 resolution, the LCD screen is quite good

You can spend more if you wish but for 43.99, you're not going to beat it, (trust me, I've worked under the scope in electronics with units costing 20X-30X this unit, I KNOW quality...}

I've been looking for a microscope for personal use when messing with electronics but wouldn't need to use it often so I couldn't justify spending the $100+ most of the ones on Amazon are asking for. I stumbled on this microscope with a standard feature set and was expecting an average product.

The packaging comes in a nice box. The stand and base are made of aluminum and feel very strong. Assembly was completed within 5 minutes. The microscope can move vertically by about 3 inches. The magnification says that it can do 50x-1000x. I doubt I'm ever going to use 1000x zoom but I was able to easily view SMD Resistors and LEDs with ease. The picture quality is fantastic. You can fine tune the focus on the camera and I have yet to come across something that I could not get focused. It even comes with a built-in battery so it can be easily moved around and stored.

Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. It will make doing SMD Reflow work easier and more enjoyable compared to my old helping hands + magnifying glass setup.