AWS Gemini-20 Milligram Scale 20g x 0.001g–Digital Jewelry/Lab Scale for Powder, Gold, Gems – Includes Calibration Weights, Tweezers & Tray–Tare, Cal, 6 Units (Gemini - 20 - Silver)

Slick looking small milligram scale. This could technically be a pocket scale but is better suited to carrying in its provided box, the lid of which is retained by magnets to allow quick easy opening but keep it closed otherwis. The measuring surface by itself is not very large and is better suited to using the saucer that comes with it or something like SEOH Plastic Hexagonal Weigh Boats Micro Dish 100pk which I have bought myself. The Seoh boats provide a larger container then the provided metal saucer. I compared this to an older Ohaus digital scale I had that only goes to .1 grams and they both seemed to match. The provided calibration weights seem fairly cheap. They are not solid and the bottoms seem to be poorly glued on which retains the fine material inside that apparently allows them to tune the weights before shipping. You can pick up and shake the weight and hear the bits bounce around inside. Actually upon opening my box the piece of scotch tape on the plastic bag holding the scale had a few metal bits stuck to it.I was confused where these came from until I pulled the calibration weight stuck in the box out to see the bottom missing. See my photos The real problem to this is when the scale first arrives you will probably need to calibrate it. However to properly calibrate requires BOTH 10 gram weights. So this left me in a bit of pickle where sure I can compare the first 10 gram weight to the 2nd damaged 10 gram weight but since I could not properly calibrate the scale to begin with I am unsure if this comparison is accurate.... I glued the pieces in and it looks like I may be off around +/- .003 grams or so. I considered requesting an exchange or a new set of weights but it seemed like a lot of trouble. I may end up picking up some higher quality calibration weights later but they would likely cost more then the scale itself. Another issue I have is I wish the scale would stay on a little bit longer or have an option to stay permanently on or at least an extra minute or two. You really have to have everything setup and ready to go as soon as the scale is turned on and your weighing container is tared. Conclusion Pro: Cheap, accurate, nice looking scale. Including calibration weights, weighing pan, tweezers Con: Poor calibration weights - one of mine arrived damaged, weighing pan fairly small - recommend purchasing plastic weighing boats

This is a balance but since the title uses the word scale I will call it a scale for simplicity. [Skip to bottom for pros/cons/short version]. This scale is exceedingly well made *for the price* (and reasonably well made even compared to much higher priced ones). It comes in an excellent little protective case that holds the scale and the accessories tightly in place and closes securely with a magnetic latch that is far easier to open than if it were a standard box. The screen is backlit blue with black text and is easily readable in all lighting conditions, the text is large and sharp, and though smaller the mode indicators are also easily readable. The buttons are easy to press and give a distinct tactile click. The lid of the scale opens and closes easily without contacting the weigh boat or changing the tare, it can also be left in the half open position shown which gets it out of the way and is not heavy enough to tip the scale. Included is the scale, TWO 10 gram calibration masses, a measuring bowl and a pair of sharp smooth tip tweezers all contained securely in a carrying case. I would say that this scale is ideal for measuring within the range of 15 milligrams all the way up to 19 grams with a repeatable measuring accuracy of +/- 1.5 mg in the 10 mg to 500 mg range and an accuracy of +/- 3 mg in the 500mg to 19 gram range - these numbers are based on my own testing using professional calibration weights and comparing readings between this scale and a Mettler-Toledo balance in my lab that costs orders of magnitudes more than this little guy. It has mode selections to measure in: Grams Carats Penny Weight - dwt (used in gold measurements, 18.23 dwt = 1 Ounce or avoirdupois) Grains - gn (some pharmaceuticals still use this measurement, aspirin for instance) Ounces - oz (Don't mix this up with troy ounces, which it also measures) Troy Ounce - ozt (Troy ounce, used when measuring precious metals it is equal to 31 grams instead of 28 like a normal ounce) The accessories are of okay quality and the calibration masses check out to within 0.00025 grams of 10g and each other - there is a place for one of the check weights on the scale itself and one in the carrying case which is a little silly. The masses I received seemed to be solid metal, unlike some of the other reviews have said. The weigh boat has a relatively small flat portion on the bottom and the handle is also quite small, this makes it hard to handle and easy to spill especially if you are using it to handle liquid. I personally replaced it with a higher walled teflon weigh boat with a fully flat bottom. The tweezers are tweezers, not much to say there - they are stainless steel with a sharp tip allowing small amounts of sample to be scooped but since they are stainless powder sticks to them pretty significantly, so for my uses I replaced them with a teflon tipped pair of the same size. The only real downside to the operation of this scale that I have encountered is the Auto-Off function, which can no be adjusted, is often much too short - especially if you are closing the lid. For instance if you put your weigh boat down and tare it then remove it to add some sample the scale will often turn off before you have the chance to put the sample back on - this is true even if you dont remove the weight boat after taring and are adding a very small amount of powder, since you must be careful and take your time it will occasionally turn off on you; this can also happen if you're getting really close to a specific amount (say 100mg) and just need to add 2mg more so you just tap your tweezers to add tiny bits of powder, if the amount you add is a bit under 1mg and doesn't cause the reading to change it will shut off on you. I would estimate the auto off to be about 30 seconds. What I do as a work around is remove the weigh boat after taring and tap the scale surface gently every little bit to keep it active, you can also hit the mode button, etc. ******* A QUICK WORD OF WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THIS BALANCE TO MEASURE OUT 1mg of a something if being off by 1 or 2 mg could be dangerous, just don't do it with this device. Instead measure out 100mg then dissolve in solution. Despite the quite excellent accuracy of this scale over its whole range it simply is NOT the tool you need to measure out a 1 mg sample. I would suggest trying to measure at least 10mg of a sample if you are measuring by difference (i.e. you put X mg on the scale, tare it, then remove sample until you reach -10mg) and >30mg for normal measures. This is a great scale for its price but it is not a scale I would bet my life on measuring out 1 mg, period. Take the extra time to volumetrically divide a larger sample by solution or buy a .00015 gram range balance if that is your intended use. ******** Pros: Scale is far better than I could have ever expected for this price. It is accurate, precise, and the readings are repeatable over a wide range. It includes all needed accessories, the case is excellent and holds everything firmly in place. The calibration weights are accurate (some reviewers said theirs were not solid but mine were). Great selection of modes available, just be careful not to mix up oz and ozt. Highly readable screen. Cons: Included weigh boat is small (even for a small scale like this) and is prone to tipping. The auto-off feature turns the scale off too quickly, especially if you are using the lid to eliminate breeze, requiring you to press a button or something to keep it on and not risk losing your tare. The tweezers are especially prone to static cling when using them for powder measures, the weigh boat is as well to a lesser extent.

I ordered this scale to weigh capsules from a compounding pharmacy. My suspicion was that the drug-to-filler ratio was varying widely. Since one ingredient weighs more than the other, if some capsules in the batch weighed a lot more than others did, there was a good chance I was getting an inconsistent mix of filler to drug. When the scale arrived I followed the calibration instructions (easy-peasy!) and then started weighing the capsules. Yup--big difference. So I took the scale in it's sturdy box and some capsules down to the pharmacy. The pharmacist viewed me with an expression of polite and slightly condescending patience, an "all right, I'll watch--then I'll show you that your cheap little toy doesn't weigh correctly" look. I weighed some capsules and he wrote down the numbers, then took the capsules into the back room to weigh them on his very expensive and accurate scale. When he returned, his look had changed to stunned interest. He asked where I got the scale and how much I had paid for it. He said he was going to recommend it to his customers, who had asked him where they could get an affordable and accurate scale. Yeah, the little round weighing platform is small, but it will accommodate a small pill very well. I didn't have any troubles with the little dish as one person claimed they did-I bet they didn't point the dish's pointed spout towards the calibration weight. That makes a difference! This scale is the REAL DEAL, and does the job. Just read all the instructions and follow them step-by-step. TIPS FOR ACCURACY-- 0) Read the 4 star rating for additional good tips. 1) Calibrate often, as this is a delicate instrument. Calibration is pushing a button and adding 2 weights (included). 2) If you are weighing a capsule or powder to use the little dish (included). 3) Be sure to point the spout on the dish directly at the calibration weight which is stored in a little holder on top of the scale. This scale is VERY sensitive, so if the dish always sits the same way, it will weigh the same each time. 4) When weighing capsules, point one end towards the same stored calibration weight also. That way your capsules and dish will always be in the same position, giving you more "sameness" when weighing things. 5) Always put the scale and accessories (extra calibration weight--you need both to calibrate but one stores on the scale and one in the box--and long tweezers) in the box when done with them. This scale probably won't survive banging around or being dropped on the floor, so put the box where it won't get knocked off a shelf.

The Gemini-20 is a great scale for the price. I think they have made improvements to it, because I didn't have some of the problems that I read about in other reviews. I didn't have any problems with interference between the measuring surface and the tray. The tray did not have any adhesive or stickiness on it, and I didn't have packing particles on the reference weight. So I didn't experience a lot of the negative comments I saw in some of the reviews. The scale is great for what I am using it for, which is measuring ingredients for making electrolyte drinks. For that, I need to measure quantities in the 300 - 4,000 mg range, and they don't have to be exact, so variations of +- 10mg are not a problem. The scale is consistent: when weighing the same item several times, I get the same weight within +- 10 mg, even between power cycles. I also get the same results when I put it in a different location on the table. The consistency makes it easy to use: just pull it out and start measuring. I leave it on the default "g" mode, so I just need to press "on" and "tare". The measurements settle quickly, I can make back to back measurements easily. The build quality is what you would expect from an inexpensive scale, but it is well made. Everything is plastic except the measuring surface and the tray. One thing that hasn't changed is that the reference weight is too large and doesn't let you calibrate with the cover down. Not sure why they didn't think of that, but it isn't really a problem for me. If you needed, I am sure you could find a smaller set of weights. For what I need this scale for, it is awesome. I would highly recommend it.

This scale is exactly what I needed. If you want the short version of this review then simply put, BUY IT. If you want the longer version then just keep reading. This product came exactly as described and is a very easy product to use and is very accurate from what I understand. The way the product works, is you open it up and turn it on, then press the tare button which will set the scale at 0 calibrating it for whatever is on it. An example would be if you used a small cup style thing to put a product in to weigh it and it not get all over the place. So you tare it off with that product on top and it will show zero and not count the weight of the product holding the powder etc. Then you put it in and weigh it off. The look of this product is beautiful and exactly what I am wanting and looking for. It is very very small and compact and I keep it inside of the little box that it came in for protection. This could be a useful tip if you plan on traveling with it. When I put the 10 gram weight on it just to test and see what the scale would read, it would say around 9.9 so I would assume that It is just saying that it is only.001 off of what it needed to be or something along those lines. I would read into this a little more for a better understanding. But if you are looking for a quick and easy weight that you can use to measure some things out, this is for you. If you are some nit picky scientist that is looking for exact down to the wire no margin for error weighing then you may want to pay for a scientist quality scale. But for the average user weighing out nootropics to put on a pill then that is all you need. Good luck and thank you for reading my review. This is a great product for a new or average user looking for something quick and easy.

For info: I bought this scale to measure powder for reloading rifle cartridges. So, if you want the scale for something else, a lot of these gripes won't apply to you. There is a lot of fail packed into this cute little device: 1. The little holding pan included with the unit does not properly fit into the recessed weighing platform. More specifically, it touches the sides of the housing if you don't place it perfectly on the weighing surface - just a tiny bit off-center, or tilted, will result in incorrect readings. I tried picking up and replacing the pan with exactly the same amount of powder about 15 times and got significantly different results every time (> 50% deviation). 2. The pan is too flat to hold powder effectively. Trying to get powder from your powder measure into the pan *will* result in a granule covered workbench. Every time. Because of #1 and #2 above I had to find a different container in which to place the powder for weighing. But, trying to find something that would properly fit in the recess, and balance on the weighing surface (which has ridges on the outside), and have sides to properly hold powder, was an 'fun filled' exercise. I finally found plastic glue bottle cap. 3. The accuracy is questionable at higher loads. I compared the accuracy of my initial loads (19-24 grains of powder) to that of my RCBS balance scale and it was perfect. But when charging to loads in the 42-47 grain range this thing was off by .7-1 grains (again, compared to the RCBS balance scale). I trust the RCBS scale. 4. The auto-off feature is designed to make a prostate exam seem like a fun event by comparison. By 'fun' I mean watching puppies being set on fire type of fun. In other words, it is really awful. My workflow is: - Place measure of powder in container, - Weigh powder (and correct weight if needed), - Place powder in cartridge, - Insert and seat bullet, - repeat... Upon conclusion of this workflow I am often *just* in time to see this absurd little troll switch itself off. I had to add 'switch unit on, wait to power up, recalibrate' to my workflow. Yay. 5. There is a gap between the recessed weighing platform and the body of the scale. I strongly suspect that this gap is to reloading powder granules what the Bermuda Triangle is to unsuspecting boats -> a mysterious force that lures them in never to be seen again. Seriously, if you mess any powder near the scale, chances are some of the granules will find their way onto the weighing platform (which, being recessed, is an almost certainty), and any attempts to get the granules out will result in the powder finding its way into the internals of the unit (because of the gap). It's not all doom and gloom though, there is a plus side, the box it comes in is really cool.

*********WHY I PURCHASED THIS SCALE*********** I purchased this scale so I could weight out various Nootropics supplements down to double digit MG. Here is a breakdown of what I needed to weigh and how much of each. I filled #00 gelcaps, for the most part, with the following, using the scale to weigh: 12.5MG of Tianeptine Sodium 300MG Adrafinil Powder 400MG Panax Ginseng Leaf Extract (42+% Gensenosides) 600MG Green Tea Extract (50% EGCG, 98% Polyphenols, PE) 1000MG Choline L-Bitartrate 600MG Phenibut HCL These are all part of the current Nootropics stack I'm trying, and in particular, I was unable to weigh out anything under 1g accurately with the scale I had. So, I purchased this scale to accurately weight 1mg - 1000mg accurately. ***********PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY************** This scale comes with 2 x 10g weights, which are both needed to calibrate the scale. My scale arrived perfectly calibrated, so this was unnecessary. However, at some point I will definitely need to calibrate it since all scales require service at some point, so having the price instruments needed to calibrate is very nice. The scale also came with a nice metal tray for weighing small powders, salts, and supplements out. I found it very convenient. Residue has a tendency to stick to it, but that not the tray's fault. The scan performed with STELLAR accuracy. I opened a couple preweighed gelcaps with ~20-200mg and was able to get an accurate reading down to the mg ever time. It was always spot on. Always make sure you scan is on a perfectly LEVEL, FLAT SURFACE. I can't stress this enough. At first my readings were slightly off, even though the scan was on a flat desk that should have been level. Come to find out the floor was off a couple degrees. When relocating to another surface that was flat AND level (on a level floor) I go consistent, perfect readings. *************Conclusion**************** Overall, I'm extremely happy with this scale. I was a bit upset because I selected Saturday delivery, when ordering it on a friday (I needed it ASAP. When the mail came on Saturday and their was no package, I went back to look at the order and the fee for saturday delivery was no where to be found. This is the second time Amazon ignored the fact that saturday delivery was selected (and both times my total had the $8.99 added which I placed the order, and both times the confirmation email had free shipping selected.......) I did, however, receive it the following monday, which is the next business day. The fact that the scale comes with 2 x 10g weights for calibration, a metal tray for weighing powders, as well as some nice tweezers, I think it's well worth the price. I'm very happy and feel I go exactly what I ordered. ####******######******Please vote if this review was helpful!!!!! Thanks and have a wonderful day!!!!*******#########*******########

To be clear... this scale is NOT accurate to 1mg. But I found that with the pills I take, a 5mg "dose" pill may actually weight 100mg. OR about 1mg does equals 20mg weight. And this scale does seem very accurate for that. After I bought this unit and was waiting for it to arrive I did some added research on its accuracy and was initially bummed out that it probably would not work..... but it did! Here is what I was trying to do. I am ramping down off of a long duration use of prednisone. I am towards the end of that ramp and am trying to cut the dose by 1-2mg per day. The pills I have are 20,10, and 5mg. So I have been cutting them and eyeballing how big the cut piece was to go from 10 to 9 to 8 to 7 etc. It was kind of inaccurate. This unit does not really show what the accuracy is but its resolution is .001g or 1 mg. If you read the reviews, the readings in the <1 gram are all over the place. So I thought this will not work. But I found a way... First..... you should know (I did not know) that a 10mg pill does not necessary weight 10mg..... it may actually weight as much as 200mg. That is becuase of all of the fillers and coatings in a hard pill. The 10mg is actually the dose weight of the active ingredients??? You don't have to know what % is active but its good to know so you don't freak out when you try to weigh your pill. Next... I already know by eyeballing the pills what the approximate dosage should look like. I would not suggest trying this unless you can do this. In other words do not wholly trust the scale. Next.... calibrate the unit (instructions in manual) Next... You should know that weight measuring devices work best in about the middle of thier range. So turn the unit on.... let it warm up for about a minute. Add the 10g standard weight. It should read 10.000g, right in the middle of its range. Next add a whole pill. Say you want an 8 mg dose. Add the 5mg pill. In my case it then read 10.100g (the pill wt was actually 100mg or 20 times the stated dose). I know I want 3 more mg. So I cut some of the 5 milligram pills into rough quarters (but really all a bit different). I know now that for a 8mg dose I need to see it read about 20 times that or 160mg or on the gauge 10.160g. I put in different pill quarters till I get a reading close to this. It turns out that the scale is very repeatible and I can pull that quarter piece off and put it back on several times and I get about the same reading each time. You can tare the 10gm weight out but I like to see everything being weighed. Again do not do this if you do not allready know roughly what your cut dose should look like. Also I have read that the actual dose weight of a pill can be 5-20% of the actual total pill weight. So you will have to figure that out for your own pills.