Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This stud finder works exactly as it is supposed to. It is so strong the it can suck magnets often be referred greater from almost 2" away. It works perfectly through extra thick plaster and paint over the dry wall. However because of its small size that means it has a very small footprint also. You almost have to swipe it across the wall as if you were frosting a cake or mowing a lawn. When you do find a nail it is unmistakable that you found it. I have used to message to find nails. The 1st is to hang it from a string in just pass the string along the wall to let the stud finder drag on the surface of the wall and it will stick hard when it finds a nail. The 2nd is to cup it loosely in your hand and pass your hand back-and-forth across the wall until it suddenly grabs hold. The packaging is anything but frustration free and is the old school piece of double-layered plastic molding sandwich between sheets of chipboard/cardboard. Notice in my photo the it is not much taller than a standard size toothpick. See that the entire package is much smaller than the A1 size box, Amazon's smallest box. Over all, does it work? Yes, exactly as advertised and as a perfect backup if you don't want to require batteries. Would I get it for a job site? Absolutely not. Its small size and therefore small footprint makes it too cumbersome to try to use for more then figuring out where to mount something at home. For the home user that May only occasionly have to figure out where the studs are, it is perfect because it can also double as a refrigerator magnet due to its smaller size. Additional note regarding the refrigerator usage: When this thing gets within about 2" of the refrigerator it will jump out of your hand in clean hard. It requires a decent amount of skoal to get it back-off. We have a calendar held to the refrigerator with 3 clip magnets. This stud finder was powerful enough to not only grab the 1st magnet from an inch away, but also pull the other 2 from the refrigerator and hold the calendar in the air while carrying it to another room and passing it through the door. Usage tip: Once you find the 1st stud, have a tape measure extended several feet and let the magnets of the stud finder hold the extended end of the tape as you hold the base end. Now mark every 16 or 24" to figure out approximately where to check for other studs' exact locations. This will make finding studs a little easier. Hint (for those without access to ask a good carpenter / inspector): An easy way to figure out your stud placement is to find the stud nearest the corner of a Room. (Avoid corners with windows or doors nearby, or corners of the house, as this may cause design layout to vary.) Measure either 16 or 24" (most common), and that will be your base measurement to expect in the rest of your house. Also note that exterior walls may have different / closer stud placement and distance than interior walls. Remember: Building code changes with time or materials used or location of wall. Keep that in mind when checking different parts of your home. {Professionals, please don't read this next part.} The quality of work or extra decisions of carpenters impacts placement. (I've seen "the studs are an average of 24 inches", and "as long as they're somewhere closer than 16 inches we're fine", plus what looks like "We're putting the door / window / outlet right here and that's final! Throw in some extra boards if it doesn't line up with the studs properly. It will be extra solid then, so it's no big deal if it doesn't make sense!") Also, metal doesn't always mean stud. ("Oops! Didn't measure that cut right / cut isn't smooth / didn't place the drywall correctly. But we can just patch it with sheet metal.") + Measure twice, cut once. This way you don't make mistakes. - Cut once and measure twice. That way you'll know how badly off you were and then finally get a rough idea of how you need to guess better next time.