Maplin USB Microscope with 400x Magnification | Review

Item sent for consideration for review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

I’ve mentioned before how into science and the world around him Jack is. We were recently offered the chance to review an item from Maplin and had a few different items to choose from – we gave a shortlist and we were picked to review the USB Microscope with 400x magnification – there’s a whole load of microscopes available on Maplin here.

This USB microscope, standing at 125mm high and 33m in diameter, helps you to explore the smaller details of the world with its 400x magnification. The microscope itself is digital and you can capture not only images but video – and you can even watch live from your PC, laptop or Mac (compatible with Windows 10, 8, 8.1, XP, Vista, 7 and Mac 10.5 and later) – a feature which Jack and Olivia both loved. The camera is 1.3 megapixel which is interpolated up to 2 megapixels to give a 1600×1200 pixel image on screen.

The design of the microscope is pretty sleek – it is plain black and comes with an alloy stand.

So what can we see with this microscope? Jack tested it out with such a wide variety of items – the carpet, a cotton bud, a leaflet, various body parts – he was keen to see what the inside of his mouth looked like in minute detail. All you need to do is place the microscope directly over or on the sample to get the highest magnification posible and slowly pull it away, adjusting the focus as you do so you get back to 20x (The minimum focusing distance is 10mm, giving you enough room to see by simply placing the microscope on top of your sample over an area of approximately 855mm²).

So is it easy to use? Yes, definitely. Jack and Steve spent ages discovering the world around them. Jack would happily have sat there for hours sorting it. To set it up, you simply have to plug in the attached USB lead to your chosen device and install the included software. This sets it up so you can see the detail of your samples in real time on a big screen. You can keep the microscope on the stand to keep it steady or take it off to look freely. There are eight LEDs to keep your samples illuminated whilst looking at them.

Overall, Jack has been very impressed with the microscope and Steve has too – he’s been as enamoured with it, if not more than Jack. Jack is constantly asking to get it out so that he can discover more about the world around us.

Are your kids into science like mine? Maybe they’d like a microscope like this. This particular model is usually £54.99 but is currently down to £44.99 and is available to buy at Maplin. Would you like one of these?