Best Microscopes in the UK

The Swift SW200DL Compound Microscope will accommodate middle schoolers, high school students, and hobbyists alike. With this microscope, you can participate in science fairs, conduct at-home experiments, and more. Its dual LED illumination system lets you examine both transparent and solid specimens. And because the model uses cool LEDs, both the user's eyesight and the live specimens that you examine are protected from harmful radiation. From the magnification perspective, you can set the 'scope at 40X, 100X, 250X, 400X, and 1000X using the included aberration-correcting 4X, 10X, and 40X glass objectives. Plus, the 10X and 25X eyepieces stretch the view field pretty wide.

But the best thing about this device is its sturdy construction. Made from high-strength metal, both its arm and the base will be able to go the distance without bending. What's more, the microscope's monocular head's fixed at 45 degrees, preventing neck strain and letting you rotate the 'scope, sharing it between multiple people.

The precision coaxial focusing knobs that the arm features on both sides will make sure you can always add minute adjustments, whilst the clips on the plain stage keep the slides secure. Between these attributes, the model's setup can feel a little convoluted initially, but the microscope is well worth the time you might spend figuring it out.

At first glance, the Swift SW150 is a little less impressive than its less affordable stablemate. But, where most users are concerned, the differences between these two models are negligible. As far as we're concerned, the subject device's worst offence is that the 40X objective sits a little low, sometimes knocking into the sample.

Apart from that, the model offers lab-like optics without sharing a price tag with these tools. The available magnification range starts at 40X and reaches a whopping 1000X, so you can study paramecia in puddles, cross-section onion skins, examine pollen, taking a pretty close look at leaves, and more.

The same three aberration-correcting glass objective lenses that we've seen in the previous 'scope from Swift make a comeback here as well. Paired with two wide-field glass eyepieces (10X and 25X), the lenses prevent the edges from blurring out so that the produced image always remains sharp. Likewise, the model also incorporates two LED bulbs, delivering dimmable illumination and letting you examine transparent specimens.

In short, the Swift SW150 will prove an excellent match with kids, middle school students, high schoolers, and casual hobbyists, serving as an accessible introduction to microscopy.

As some parents are probably aware at this point, Learning Resources isn’t just another commercial enterprise that makes different toys for kids to fool around with. This is a company that is dedicated to educating children and sparking an interest in hard sciences from the very young age. With over 30 years of experience under their belt, these are exactly the kind of people you ought to put your trust in and the Learning Resources MicroPro Microscope is another suitable example as to why that is the case.

Despite what the title may suggest, you won’t just receive a set in stone microscope for kids but actually a complete set of scientific accessories. In it, you will be able to find a selection of professionally prepared slides and everything that a young brilliant mind could require to create his own projects. Aside from a microscope capable of providing from 50x to 600x magnification and the aforementioned prepared slides, you will get up to 40 different pieces of equipment, including a pair of different magnification eyepieces, a scalpel, a spatula, a stirring rod, a pipette, a test tube with a cap, a petri dish, a pair of tweezers and three specimen vials, that’s not to mention eight blank slides, eight slide labels, and 16 slide covers. 

Suffice it to say, this should be more than enough not to just spark an interest in STEM and other hard sciences in your kid but also to maintain it in the long run. And, at the end of the day, this is what the product is all about. If you would like to raise a future Nobel laureate or simply prefer your kid to give the world of science a whirl, leave it to professionals at Learning Resources with their MicroPro Microscope to deliver a comprehensive set of tools capable of sparking a long-lasting interest in a young mind.

The TELMU XSP-S5 is a little different from previous microscopes. Abandoning the more traditional approach, the model comes equipped with a mobile phone holder. As you can guess, this way, the phone serves as the screen, which can feel a little inconvenient initially but, with time, you might even start preferring this method. Plus, using the phone, you can always record the work that you've accomplished and share it with friends and family. Aside from the phone holder, the provided accessories include 5 biological slice samples (double twenty-two leaf stems, onion skin, housefly claws, pine trees, and cotton stems), 5 slides, and 10 coverslips.

Light-wise, the model incorporates 2 LED bulbs. Sitting at the microscope's top and bottom, the bulbs provide more illumination than what you get from a single light source, which means that you'll also be able to examine thick specimens like fungi, roots, stems, and leaves.

The non-skid feet on the bottom keep the baseplate steady and stable. The issue with it is that the same baseplate makes battery replacement a little inconvenient. Nevertheless, we can easily recommend the TELMU XSP-S5 to people who like sharing their projects. With it, you might just pique your kid's interest in science.

As you would expect, the TELMU XD-1606 shares a few similarities with the TELMU scope that we've reviewed above. What they don't share, however, is the magnification range and the overall package. In the former case, the difference does not quite work in our microscope's favour. Since the range caps at 320X, the 'scope will not always let you observe and examine the most minute organisms. On the upside, the overall package here is much more impressive.

To go with the company's standard mobile phone holder, this kit features 10 blank slides, 5 pre-fabricated specimens, a measuring cup, long metal scalpel, cover glass, plastic tweezer, and 2 collection bottles. Between these accessories, you can conduct various experiments without purchasing separate instruments. Furthermore, despite lacking in the magnification department, the model makes up for it with its powerful inverted optical system. Using this system, you can study live cells inside aquatic organisms like algae in Petri dishes or flasks, exploring more valuable cell life processes.

The clips on the plain are a bit weak, so make sure you proceed with caution in this regard. Besides that, get the TELMU XD-1606 and start experimenting right away, what's stopping you?