Carson Clip and View Pop-Up Retractable 7X Aspheric Keychain Magnifier (GN-70)...

Takes up little room in pocket. Easy to read small writing

These pocket magnifiers are terrific! Crystal clear images, no distortion as far as my eyes can tell! Love the size and compactness. One for my car, one for my purse, one at my desk, and one for my Hubby! He was really surprised and pleased with it. Would make a nice gift too.

I'm old. Even with glasses, I can't read many of the stupid labels on stuff at the store, or even some of the price tags. So I carry one of those thin little credit-card-size magnifiers in my wallet. Those suck! They're blurry, dry out, crack, break, and generally don't magnify much. I wanted something I was willing to carry in my pocket (banging around with keys, change, and junk), but really simple to use. I've tried having larger magnifying glasses, but I forget to take it along because I can't keep it my pocket regularly. I didn't know what power the credit card thing is, but it seems to be about 3X. Okay, I also have a cheap-ass magnifier at home, and I'm pretty sure that's a 3X power, so I decided to give this a shot. First of all, it's so easy to put in my pocket, I now carry it when I go out. Secondly, the lens folds into the outer case, so it doesn't get scratched. Is it cheap? Of course! But I'm not using this professionally as a geologist! Sure enough; the day after it arrived and I was carrying it as a test, I had to read some stupid price label at Walmart, to see which product was being referred to. Out came this unit, popped it open, and Blam!---I could read the whole label! Turns out the shelf label was in the wrong place, and whatever I was looking at was way too expensive for what I wanted. I suppose you might say this magnifying glass saved me from premature bankruptcy and possible financial ruin! .....Or not. Excellent solution for people who need an easy-access, easy-to-carry magnifying glass to "help" with the glasses. No light, no key chain, no bells and whistles -- just a basic, decent 3X magnifying glass. That works!

Studied customer reviews of10 power, 5 power, 3 power, glass, acrylic etc etc. Dont want or need a stupid light. The higher the power, the more difficult to use, the worse edge to edge definition, the more expensive to manufacture. I watched the brief video about this one and it was helpful. This Carson 33 is very affordable ~ $5 Acrylic and light weight. Fantastic edge to edge definition. Very clear. Pivots in and out of its plastic case. I decided to purchase this one and buy a more expensive one later on. WELL, I am quite happy with this one. I use it to inspect my coins, read the fine print on bottles, read the fine print on written articles on iPhone, inspect a finger splinter. CONS? Not heavy duty. Would not carry this in my pant pocked with bunch of change or keys even though it may withstand it OK. Now I understand why they also sell this in packs of four. I want one for purse,EDC pack, desk top, coat pocket. This is a small item meant for a small area. Makes fantastic Christmas, Birthday gift. I cannot imagine anyone not benefitting by having one of these. This one is 3X magnification. That is plenty enough for what I need. Customer reviews help me a lot so I hope this one helps others.

The three lenses each have 5x magnification. The single 5x is pretty good, two lenses at 10x get blurry, and all three at 15x are too blurry to be of any use. It is well built, but if I were to do this again I'd order a model with a smaller magnification range.