Review on 🔍 Discover the World Up Close: SWIFT Compound Monocular Microscope 60X-200X with 42PCS Accessories: Perfect Microscope Kit for Kids STEM Exploration, Includes Smartphone Adapter & 10PCS Blank Slides by Ben Barrington

I have young children. It's basically too small for a microscope at the moment, but I wanted to get the kids a good microscope in case they get interested when they get older. I regularly look at children's microscopes from National Geographic for retail prices under $20 (the so-called "zoom microscope" I believe), but I shy away because I think of optics and lenses as something technical. I remember when I was a kid my microscope wasn't as good as the science lab in high school and the difference was day and night. So I didn't want to go to extremes for my kids, and I think it's worth a little more money for a little more microscope. What intrigued me about this particular microscope, SWIFT Compound Monocular Microscope 60X-200X, Microscopes for Kids STEM Kit, is that Swift makes many different microscopes, including super large ones. So I think Swift will do a good job with the product and maybe a lower quality microscope is still pretty good. Overall this is a great microscope that has a little bit of everything for young kids. I watched this with my 6 year old. It's a good size and weight for small children. It is very light and made of plastic and will not scratch furniture or hit objects when moved. The controls are also such that even a small child can operate them. The manual says to supervise children. This is mainly due to the fact that the slides supplied are made of glass. As for a 6 year old using this alone, I don't think it would be possible. My kid was able to understand the basics when I showed him, but I feel like he might break the microscope to find out. Maybe it will get better in a few years. It's good for me to watch him at the moment. Many of the parts and the way they are built are like one piece, they are strong and difficult to break. I think this is a good first microscope for kids and would be great for hobbyists who want to look at things up close and maybe take some interesting photos. I think 6 is a bit young for this and maybe 7 or 8 and up is the best age to be able to use it. The manufacturer's recommended age on the Revain product page is currently "7 months and over", which is almost certainly a typo and should be 7 years and over. 7 years and older seems correct to me. (There are small thin pieces of glass in the form of slides, so definitely don't give this to a seven-month-old!) Here are more details about the microscope's capabilities: - Comes with a phone holder. That's settled. It has a kickstand that you can adjust to fit your phone. There's a large screw knob that you turn to loosen the pieces, then adjust the size for your phone, and then tighten to hold the stand firmly in place. This was fairly intuitive as the large screw is on the same side as your camera lens so you can see the lens and center it on the small hole and then tighten and lock the stand pieces. Then to attach it to the microscope, it has a plastic tube that fits over the microscope eyepiece and a hand-tight bolt that you turn, causing one side of the tube to go in and press against the microscope eyepiece. That works great. It presses on the eyepiece but doesn't scratch it and the pressure is easily distributed through the plastic disc. I think it would be nice to use the phone mount on another high end microscope. - The phone holder worked great and was easy to use. And since Android phones have a feature that allows you to triple-press the power button to turn on the camera but leave the phone locked, it can be used with a child without giving them access to your phone. The kid doesn't need a phone. You can easily show them how to access the camera only and save your password. There is a clip in the product video of someone adjusting this cell phone holder on a phone and mounting it on a microscope. It's great to get a feel for how it works and what it is. - The light is battery operated but does not have a mirror to illuminate it. Old microscopes, like the ones I had as a kid and used in the lab, had a mirror that could be adjusted to get the light under the microscope. I've never managed to get a mirror to work. Only battery powered LED light can be used. Requires three AAA batteries which are not included. You absolutely need them in order to be able to use them. The battery and light are part of the slide mount and cannot be removed. Built-in color gel light filters. The light comes with built-in gel filters in multiple colors. If you don't know the term, you can google it. These are thin pieces of plastic with a colored tint. If you have a slide of a specific color, you can change the backlight to make certain colors more visible or less visible to better highlight certain details. It was a nice touch. - The light has a knob that you can turn to adjust the brightness. - Comes with sliders. like, something like. Includes 2 premade slides. One is a cross-section of a fern root, the other is labeled only "prepared glass" and looks like a small piece of an insect's wing. You will then be given a small box of blank slides, slide lids and slide prep liquids for you to make your own. In fact, you'll probably need more blank slides if you have a specific project or if someone is really interested in it. If you have a specific project, you may already have a slide plan. If you are giving this to a child I recommend also giving a set of prepared and labeled slides so they have something to look at on day one. I see the same set of 48 "Animals, Bugs, Plants, Flowers" plastic slides sold under different brands here at Revain for about $10. It looks like a great gift set for kids as it's made out of plastic and doesn't require as much control as glass slides. All lenses are fixed. You can't unscrew any of these and replace them like you would with a professional microscope. The eyepiece is also non-removable. It's less broken for beginners/kids and is what I would expect from a basic inexpensive option like this. There is no way to adjust this so that the lens pushes against the slide and breaks the slide. I believe this is true for most simple microscopes, but at high power it's often possible to move the slide up and down closer and further away from the lens so that the lens presses against the slide and breaks it (which I might previously done by turning the focus knob and looking through the eyepiece, and yes it can damage your lens). That's not possible with this microscope, so one less problem with this microscope. There are no items in it, but you can get it for extra money: use. My 6 year old had a hard time keeping track of a hole in this hole. Higher quality microscopes have more magnification settings and may even have the ability to switch lenses, especially if you're upgrading to more expensive models. Overall, this is a great microscope for kids. It has good optics and good image quality. It is possible to mount a mobile phone for a better view. The cell phone holder, sold separately, costs about twenty dollars, so it's good value. You absolutely need 3 AAA batteries to use this and you can't use it without them. It also doesn't come with any pre-made slides. So if you're giving a gift to a child, be sure to give a set of pre-made slides as well. Because the slides that come with this microscope are glass, if you give a gift to a child, you must be present at the opening and you must be careful not only to prevent the child from breaking the microscope, but also to protect the child protection .