USB Digital Microscope, VSATEN 3 in 1 50 to 1000x Magnification Endoscope with 2.0MP Camera 8 LEDs Stand Holder for Android Phone Tablet, Windows & MacBook OS Computer (Black)

I used this to examine damage on CDs and DVDs. I downloaded the phone app from the Play store and connected the hardware (device comes with a clever multi purpose USB plug, my phone uses USB C). At first I didn't get a clear picture, then I realized there was actually a transparent lens cover over the front. Once removed, a clear and sharp picture was seen. There is an inline "volume control" that adjusts LED brightness. Overall I thought it was a good value for not much money. Haven't used video or Windows functions so can't comment on that.

Alright, let's get the summary out of the way here: is it the best microscope I've ever used? Not by a long shot. But it's $20, so that's not exactly a surprise. Is it worth the money? Not sure, but I lean towards a yes.To the detail:Software:Software is functional. Be aware that, depending on the brand and age of your phone, you may need root access or a third-party app to get USB OTG working before the manufacturer's software will be usable. The standard camera app included in Windows 10 will connect though, so you don't really need the manufacturer's software anyway. EDIT: An error with the PC download link was temporary and has been resolved, as was previously-noted problem with the Android app. I should also say that the seller/manufacturer is responsive and willing to help with any software issues. I've bumped my rating up to 4 stars to reflect these changes.Optics:This is where the real problems are. Working distance is a little annoying at high magnification. Best guesstimate is that the range of working distances is something like 10-150mm. When all the way zoomed out, the focus is somewhere 100-150mm in front of the instrument. For me that actually makes it more useful than it otherwise might be, but it means that the stand is useless at low magnification - the working distance is longer than the stand can extend. At high magnification, you need to have the protective housing at the tip directly touching what you're viewing, and even then you can't get close enough to focus when magnification is turned all the way up. Honestly the low end of the working distance might be more like 5mm, but because of the housing you can't get the lens closer than about 10mm. So you lose out a little on high end magnification.Notice also I'm saying 'high' and 'low' magnification, and not '50x' and '1000x'. I'll eat my hat if this gets to 1000x. Just eyeballing cell size on some wood thin sections, I think this maxes out somewhere around 200-400x. That's a very, VERY subjective way for me to gauge this though, and I could be wrong. But I genuinely don't think it gets that high. I don't really have anything around that I know what it should look like at 50x, so I'm not going to venture an opinion on whether or not the low end claim is accurate.It's also worth noting that the description specifies there are multiple focuses from 50-1000x, NOT continuously adjustable focus. There are two or three magnifications between the high and low end which seem relatively easy to focus. One of them is near the low end of the range, one near the high, and another somewhere in between. If I wanted to spend a lot of time playing with working distance, I might be able to get it to focus at a broader selection of magnifications, but I don't care enough to spend the time.Lighting:Actually surprisingly good. There's maybe not a huge amount of range in between 'off' and 'maximum' lighting, but it's variable enough, and the highest setting is enough light for most stuff. I can run a slide onto a white background and get something that looks like a transmitted light image of a cell section, which is fairly impressive for something like this.I bought this to do VERY coarse field verification of wood samples, basically just to make sure I can see cell structure before I drag slides to a lab with a real microscope. It'll work for that, and $20 isn't a bad price. While the working distance at low magnification being longer than the fully extended stand may be annoying in some situations, that increased distance makes it more usable when viewing three dimensional objects. I may be able to use this to work under for some tasks on 3D objects, which will save wear on more expensive optics. It's not bad. If this was my only microscope I would want a taller stand to better compensate and adjust for working distance, and I would probably want a bright, LED-backlit stage to get more legitimate transmitted light images. But for the student/hobby/collector target audience, this is a reasonable starting point at a pretty good price.So yeah... it's not a flawless microscope. But it's functional, and it's cheap enough that it's still going to be worth it in some cases. Given the price, the lower quality in some respects wouldn't preclude me recommending it. If you want something cheap and expendable that'll still perform the basic tasks of microscopy, this is worth the $20. If you want a genuinely good microscope, put up a bit more cash.

Complete waste of money. The app that it tells you to download is total garbage and doesnt even produce an image. And now I have to return it and not even get my entire purchase price back! Wtf??? Isn't that typically called fraud and theft???

The suction cup is not the greatest. It falls quite often and i secure it to a clean marble table. I dont like that it will not take pictures on the device itself. You have to use the app with your phone but that also has its benefits too. This works good for a lot of things. I use most often for coins. I do think the app on phone should allow light filtering and adjustment for those that use it for coinage as well. The scope light is great! Dont get me wrong here, but it isnt shiny metal friendly. But with options being added to the app for filtering that would help in documenting errors and getting the perfect picture for showing. I love this thing. Even if the suction cup isnt the greatest, this really very awesome for the price and you cant go wrong.

A little disapointed, but I am satisfied. I have shakey hands and the zoom and focus are difficult for me to deal with. Pluged in to my Galaxy 5 cell phone and it worked immediately, picture quality was good and it is certainly worth the price. It's just a little too sensitive to the touch, but I am sure the more I use it, the outcome will become more satisfactory.

I bought this one to check my monitor pixel. I was suspicious about the product. It turned out that the purchase was worthy to try. This is my picture which was taken by this usb microscope. The resolution was 218 ppi. Highly recommendable.

The microscope comes with a USB cord that has a tail on the end with a USB-C fitting. Unknown whether the C is supposed to fit over the older USB fitting; if so, I couldn't fit it over because the tail is too short. Plugging the C into my MacBook directly or into a 5W power brick resulted in no juice to the microscope. The User Guide is in tiny print (get out your magnifier) and its instructions are very sketchy and of little help. I have returned the item to Amazon. Also, the website mentioned in the Guide doesn't seem to exist.

This microscope is fun to use. We have been running around the yard with the kids looking at everything with it. It works good and it has adjustable led so you can get the best lighting for the objects. The USB is pretty cool how it folds over to offer several plug options. The kids have loved this and has been a great learning opportunity.

The product does appear cheap and flimsy inspite of the chrome finish but it is very much what it claims to be. You will have hours of fun exploring the world around you that you would never have imagined existed. A big limitation would be to actually keep the view in frame with the stand provided. This will be a very good educational toy that you would want to gift your school going children.

Very bad resulation of camera. Picture is not clear. I couldnot get the cd with pack.

Excellent