Plugable USB Digital Microscope 250x, 2MP Micro Camera with Flexible Arm Stand - Handheld USB & USB-C Microscope, Windows, Mac, ChromeOS, Linux, Android, iPad Compatible

I was VERY skeptical about this little device, but I needed something to help me rework some old Macintosh logic boards and decided to give it a try. I was very impressed with the quality, ease of use and overall utility of the camera. I downloaded the viewer app from the manufacturer's web site and plugged it into my Windows PC and that was it. The camera provided crisp, bright images of the tiny surface mount components I needed to work on. The light and focus work very well at it's all powered from the USB cable so no additional power supplies or wires. The cable supports regular USB-A with a USB-C adapter so it will work with everything. The zoom from 50-250x is a bit of a misnomer. There is no zoom control; rather it works like a regular microscope where you move the object closer or further away to get the desired picture. The focus control then allows you to see the picture clearly at whatever distance you have decided to view from. It comes with a sturdy stand and mount that work well. Overall, a really nice product and a very good value.

In my search for an inexpensive, entry level digital USB microscope, I found thousands for sale on Amazon. I read many reviews and finally decided to give the Plugable Digital Microscope a try. Here's what I found.... At the $35 price point, I certainly wasn't expecting "Dino-Lite" quality or performance, but I must say that I was not disappointed. The Plugable is all plastic, but appears to be reasonably well made. It was easy to setup and get the software installed. The drivers and software are not included, but there is a link to them in the included "quick start" guide. I prefer to download software and drivers to get the most recent versions. Once the software is installed and the microscope is assembled on the stand, just plug in the USB connection and you're ready to go. The software is easy to use and appears to provide just about everything you need to make the most of the microscope. You can take photos or videos. There is a button on the camera for photos, but you can also click on the software button to take a picture. Since the microscope is so sensitive and can be easily moved out of position, I found it much more beneficial to take photos by clicking the button in the software. Fact vs fiction??? The specs state that the microscope will provide 10x to 250x magnification. I didn't see any way to vary the magnification so I contacted customer service. They told me that the magnification depends on the distance the microscope is from the object in conjunction with the focus ring. It's somewhat confusing and takes getting used to, but you will get "interesting" results. In reality, there is no way to even come close to guessing what magnification you're at. I have included some photos of a quarter at various "magnifications". As I said, it's just a matter of moving the microscope closer to the quarter and focusing accordingly. If you place the microscope right on the object and continuing turning the focus ring towards the "+", you will get two focus points, the later one being the highest magnification possible. Hopefully, the photos will demonstrate what I'm talking about. Overall, if you just want to have some fun and you're not doing serious research or lab work, this is worth a try. It won't break the bank and it's fun for "kids" of all ages. I'm 63, retired and always looking for new "toys". I did have to contact customer service regarding a minor issue I was having with the software. Sam, the customer service rep was very patient and knowledgeable and stayed with me until he reached a satisfactory resolution. His customer service made this purchase well worth the very reasonable price!

This is a really nice little scope for the money. It has helped in my coin hunting a lot. However, for me I think one with more megapixels is needed. It just does not have enough definition when I get zoomed in close on my coins. The pics are still a little grainy and that makes it difficult to identify some errors and varieties on some coins. I find I’m still breaking out my handheld loop to verify. Also, it does not go high enough to take a picture of a full Lincoln cent, let alone a quarter or half dollar. I have to put it up on a book to get a full coin shot. So a taller one is also in order. Nothing major wrong with the scope at all, it does everything advertised, I just didn’t know I needed more mega pixels that one that went taller. That’s just my ignorance on the subject. One issue It does have is a tendency to pop off the base if you adjust it with one hand. If you use two hands it is not an issue, but another annoyance. I like the scope, I just need one with slightly different features and parameters.

I've tried a handful of USB microscopes and this one is the best so far. Two things warrant mention. The first is the camera adjustments available under Windows and the other is resolution. The Plugable software (Windows version is all I've used), which requires download, can be set to auto adjust brightness but it can be manually adjusted too. My application requires locking exposure and this microscope can do it. That isn't the case for the other microscopes I've tested. It also isn't a feature mentioned by manufacturers. For my application, autoranging is undesirable. The ability to control exposure makes this scope stand out and why I like it so much. I am baffled by the magnification numbers given by manufacturers. This scope gives equal or higher magnification compared to others claiming 1600X. To change magnification, the scope is positioned above an object and focused. There is no zoom. All the others I've tried operate the same way. I've enclosed results at distances of 0, 20 and 40 mm from the clear plastic guard showing a 1 mm scale. I've also shown a penny's date at 0 and 40 mm. A penny is nominally 19 mm with 1 in the date being about 1.17mm or so. While the scope is great, I am not a fan of the flexible mount when operating at maximum magnification. Touching the microscope to focus or adjust lighting causes annoying movement. It is easy to get in a seemingly endless loop of adjust, move the object, readjust. I have a more rigid stand and find it to be far easier to use due both to rigidity and gears to move the microscope up and down. Circling back to software control, the camera app native to Windows can be used with add-on setting apps to set exposure and other options. Other USB microscopes have most of these setting greyed out whether in the Windows settings or in the apps supplied. They just aren't available.. I find the Plugable app does everything I want to do and does it quite nicely. Still pictures, videos and time-lapse are all available.

I don't write reviews often, but after purchasing this USB microscope (my first), I was compelled to share my experience for those who are considering purchasing a USB microscope and may be on the fence about the quality and usefulness considering the low price compared to other similar products. I was also skeptical considering the low price, but after reading the mostly positive Amazon reviews, I decided to give it a try. I figured worst case scenario, it would make for a fun educational toy to show the kids if the quality wasn't all that great. The reason I purchased it was because I enjoy electronic circuits as a hobby and frequently solder and tinker with different circuits using various tiny components such as ICs, transistors, surface mount components, etc. Some of these components have part numbers printed on them and are hard to see because of how small they are. Even with a magnifying glass and perfect lighting at just the right angle, it can be a challenge to read the numbers. Also, as a beginner to the hobby, I felt it would be a valuable ability to be able to take pictures of my soldering work and take videos of my work for later review to make sure I didn't accidentally create solder bridges or not use enough solder and then go back and make corrections as needed. I included some pictures and videos I took using this microscope and it's viewer software. I have to say, I'm blown away with the quality of this device considering the price. It includes everything you see in the picture. The plastic board with printed grid lines is solid and sturdy and not a thin plastic mat that I thought it would be. The microscope suctions onto it and stays put with no issue. I really like the zoom control (the gray part). It has a rubber texture so it has a nice grip and it feels great when adjusting focus. It isn't loose at all and the rotation has some torque to it so you can really fine-tune the focus with ease and not have to worry about losing it by removing your hand from it. There is also a touch button on the back which was a welcome surprise, I didn't know it had this until I received it. There is a picture of a camera on the back end of the microscope and when you touch it, it snaps a picture of whatever you are looking at while in the viewer software and stores it in a folder for later view. It isn't a tactile button, just a touch-sensitive button which I really appreciate because I can take a picture of what I'm magnifying without worrying about shaking the microscope while snapping a photo. The pictures included in this review were taken using this function. The videos were also shot using the software and shows a close-up view of me soldering some header pins onto a couple of different components. I was in awe when I viewed the videos after I completed my soldering work. I really can't say enough good things about this microscope, its a great piece of kit for the price. I don't have anything to compare it to since its my first microscope, but if the more expensive ones can do things better than this one can, they must truly be magical devices because its hard to imagine anything doing it better than this one. I would have paid double the price knowing what I know now. Even if you are questioning whether or not you're going to use it a lot, just buy it. The uses this tool will provide will present themselves.

First, as many other reviews mention, the semiflexible tube stand is much more difficult to aim, orient, and focus simultaneously than a traditional stand which moves up and down independently, separately from its position, and vice versa. It also unfortunately doesn't work on Windows (including 10 and 11) or Android (Google phones and Tablets) without a custom, specific "viewer" software installed. So it's not great to bring "to the field" or anywhere you don't have admin privileges to install onto the compatible onsite computer and OS. Many others will simply appear as a "webcam" or external camera without any proprietary software, which is much easier. Apart from those two things, which really have no relationship with the actual image sensor quality, it is a great sensor and scope for the price. Almost all cheaper and no-brand products like this exaggerate their zoom level and sensor size by including "digital" zoom in the advertised number; that isn't a real measure of how finely it can capture - it's just zooming in to the captured picture (reducing effective resolution). "Digital zoom" is really a meaningless number, because any image can be "zoomed in" or cropped, but it does NOT change or improve the "quality" or definition of that zoomed-in area. However, THIS product has a decently large (& higher resolution) image sensor and quality lens, especially for the cost, when compared to others in its price range. And that's ultimately what probably matters to most buyers, more than a poor included stand and software, when many cheap scopes don't even include a stand at all.

Excellent to perfect your knife sharpening technique. This microscope works very well once you get used to it. It's important to get the orientation right so when you move whatever you're examining it moves that way on the computer monitor. Also, it's important to make sure that the orientation is correct and it was inverted on my computer. On my Mac I had to use a new program so that I can invert the image otherwise the image was backwards. I've been using this to help perfect my knife sharpening technique and it's very good for examining the edge of a knife.

I've had many USB microscopes over the years and it seems that in this price range (+/- $25 bucks or so) there are two classes - complete garbage and pretty good. This scope lands in the "pretty good" category and actually went a bit above and beyond my expectations. First of all, the directions, software and website support page are written in English which I find to be a HUGE plus. Even with very basic software like what's included with this scope, there always seems to be some oddball issue that prevents the install from completing or something along those lines. Not here. This software is basic, downloaded without any problems and does exactly what I need it to do. Another plus for this scope is the quality of the focus wheel. It's actually tight enough to hold in place and not go out of focus with the slightest tap as many others do. Also, the LEDs are difussed which prevents glare. I've had some ISB scopes that are actually unusable with the LEDs on because the glare is so intense. This scope has a nice, diffused light that is relatively glare free. Lastly, this scope doesn't have to be a kilometer away from the subject to properly magnify. I use this to enlarge my view of PCBs while I'm soldering small SMD (surface mount) parts. For years I used a magnifying glass on a boom arm but they are clumsy, get in the way, smudge easily and generally annoy me. This USB scope has solved my problem and allow me to view my live image clearly on my big ole monitor. My soldering SMD soldering tasks are much more enjoyable now and my eyes are thankful for it. Are there better USB microscopes out there? Of course there are but if you want to stay anywhere near this price range then I would recommend this model without hesitation. See my pics for some image samples that I took as well as some pics of the scope itself. **The last pic is with the scope about 4" above the board and if you look at the "R19" SMD, well... that's too small for me to solder by hand and I'm fairly experienced. The larger SMD components I can solder by hand and they're still very small. This is to give you an idea of the magnification at a fair distance above the board.