Reviewed by Ms Kym Durham from USA, winner of Zoomax campaign Name My Own Video Magnifier
The Butterfly Magnifier is an amazingly handy device! I have tried several other electronic magnifiers for reading. Most were too heavy or difficult to use. Some while nice, actually had too many features, making it far less efficient to use in atimely fashion. The Butterfly is just right for on the go, everyday use by those who want quick, easy use in almost any situation.
When I received the Butterfly, I decided to put it to the test. Due to the underlying disease that caused my visual impairment, my vision varies, never getting better than a certain baseline (20/400), but often gets worse. Electronic magnifiers I use must be versatile, light and simple to use with tactile controls.
Here's what I found:
- The Butterfly is surprisingly light. I was highly doubtful the lanyard that came with it would actually be feasible in everyday use, but I was able to wearthe Butterfly out to a supermarket, then to lunch and a second store without any kind of discomfort.
- The size allows for carrying in the back pocket of your jeans or easily in a purse.
- The screen, while maybe too small to read a book for very long, is perfect for things like medication bottles, product packages, crafts, quick reading like advertizements or magazine articles and things like that.
- There is an excellent zoom feature to magnify up to 15x, which allows for awide variety of impairment and accommodation of varying vision.
- A snapshot feature allows you to take a picture of something you can't hold, and then view at your leisure. The pic isn't stored but it's highly useful forsomething like the cans on a supermarket shelf. Snap a pic and take a peek tosee what's on the shelf. Combine it with the zoom to either zoom in on the desired object then take a pic or vice versa.
- Controls are conveniently located for one handed use of the most used functions. While they are on the right, it's still appropriate for lefties.
- Power button is on the left side and requires a press and hold to turn it on and off, so there's little risk of turning it off accidentally while using it or accidentally turning it on in your pocket.
- Butterfly's camera is located in the top center of the device, so the "aim" is natural...point it at what you want to see, and you've got it. No moving around to try and find what you want.
- There is lighting on either side of the camera that can be turned off, allowingfor magnification of virtually anything from your PC to a magazine to a novel in either natural sunlight or indoor lighting.
- The anti-glare screen, similar to some e-readers, is comfortable to use in all lighting situations.
- With 5 viewing modes, one camera mode and 4 color modes (black on white, whiteon black, yellow on black and yellow on blue) there are options to view mostitems comfortably for most people. The most commonly used color modes are represented without an overload of options that the user has to scroll through to get the one they want.
- The last used settings will be enabled when you turn the device on. For example, I most often use the camera mode to read pretty much everything. I can turn the Butterfly off and back on and it will be in camera mode. If for some reasons, I use yellow on blue, that's what will be there when I turn the device on next.
- A stand on the back of the device allows you to use it on a flat item by just sliding it along as needed. I rarely use the stand as I find it just a tad awkward for reading anything at length, though I imagine it might be good forlight reading on a tabletop.
- Controls can actually be found and identified by touch.
Overall,I highly recommend the Butterfly for all those everyday light bits of reading that's often taken for granted. Easy to use, easy to handle, lightweight and quite versatile for a device of its class. I love it!
Related informaiton:
Zoomax campaign: Name My Own Video Magnifier
Winner Announcement: Winner Announcement for "Name My Own Video Magnifier"