Bresser Youngster 40-2000x Microscope

The Youngster 40-2000x is a compound microscope with lights above and below the stage, so a child can look at slides and at solid things on the same instrument, and a smartphone mount for photos through the eyepiece. The body is aluminium and plastic in white, 29 cm tall and 772 g with its accessories.

Objectives of 4x, 10x and 40x and two eyepieces, a WF10x and a WF25x, give 40x to 1000x, and a 2x Barlow lens doubles each setting, which is where the 2000x comes from. Anything past about 400x on a microscope like this enlarges the picture without adding detail, which our magnification guide goes into, so 40x to 400x is the range a child will use. The LED switches between lighting from below, for slides, and from above, for a coin, a feather or a leaf laid on the stage. A colour filter disc under the stage adds contrast on pale samples.

Three AA batteries power it and are included, so it works at the kitchen table or in a tent. The box holds the smartphone mount, both eyepieces, the Barlow lens, the filter disc, a box of slides with a storage case, a preparation set, sea salt and a brine shrimp hatching kit with a magnifier box, eggs and yeast.

The Junior Biolux SEL below it is the same idea at 40x to 1600x with a phone holder, and the Biolux NV above adds an HD camera and a mechanical stage. Our microscopes for kids page lists all three side by side.