BioSpec Smartphone Microscope Bead - 11079SMS Review

Great product, what I was looking for. They're industrial quality, but you can find good ones by rolling them over a piece of glass or mirror that's on a slight incline. The good ones roll straight and smooth, the odd ones bounce, wobble or go sideways. There are thousands of patterns, and about one in 20 will be the quality of the lens. Beautiful clear pearls.

They are cheap and plentiful, but glass uniformity varies greatly from bead to bead. It's hard to find one (especially at higher magnifications) that doesn't distort the image too much. That being said, if you're willing to take the time to find a good bead, that's pretty cool!

You don't deserve a single star as a microscope bead. or money. First, there doesn't seem to be a way to deal with 1000x beads (perhaps that's why PNNL glossed over them in their video and written explanations). Second, other sizes may or may not work in the end. Microscope PNNL, of course not! I've tried about a dozen of the copies we've printed (none for 1000x because although they say so, there really aren't any). The point is that either trying to fit the beads in a simple microscope will…