Are you one who has a question about ‘How to find the best stethoscope under $100? Well, then your search ends here as we have completed the detailed research and got an incredible list of best stethoscopes to help you choose one of them. Not only we have listed the best stethoscope; we also backed up their usefulness with detailed reviews.
Finding the best stethoscope is a daunting process for every student of medical, nursing, paramedics as well as EMTs, and every single stethoscope brand claims that they are the best in the market.
After many failures and long research, I completed the mammoth task and got to a point where I was sick of all the so-called advice that articles have given me. And, yes, I made a conclusion that a stethoscope can be excellent for me and might be horrible for my fellow medical, nursing, or EMT students.
And that being said it is the buyer the one who should acquire information on more than one stethoscope and then & then only decide which stethoscope is truly the best for students.
It is worthy to note that the stethoscope is an important & primary tool of every physician. The stethoscope is a basic but great tool that can diagnose very serious diseases of heart or lung only by auscultating the chest of your patient.
So it is important to have the best stethoscope and never think to buy a cheap stethoscope. It is worth investing some money to buy this valuable lifetime assistant.
We have approached many senior doctors and medical students to see what they prefer and made a list of good stethoscopes that they recommended to us (Not to surprise almost 90% of them have voted for Littmann Classic II SE and Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope). Then we tested these entire stethoscopes in different situations and different environmental conditions.
Paramedics need a stethoscope that can able to transfer the sound of a patient’s heart and lungs without mixing it with the sound of surroundings as they work in an outdoor environment.
Please note that the stethoscope reviews we are providing here are subjective and based on our listening and handling of these scopes; you might get different results if you test out these scopes yourself but we are confident that we have made 99% correct valuation of these scopes.
Contents
- Top 5 Best Inexpensive Stethoscope Under $100
- 1. 3M Littmann Classic III Monitoring Stethoscope
- 2. 3M Littmann Lightweight II S.E. Stethoscope, Black Tube, 28 Inch, 2450
- 3. 3M Littmann Stethoscope, Master Classic II, Black Tube, Silver Chestpiece, 27 inch, 2144L
- 4. ADC – 615FV Adscope 615 Platinum Sculpted Clinician Stethoscope with Tunable AFD Technology
- 5. MDF Acoustica Deluxe Lightweight Dual Head Stethoscope
- How Do You Know If A Stethoscope Is Good?
Top 5 Best Inexpensive Stethoscope Under $100
We are reviewed a few popular stethoscopes that being regularly used across the globe and popular among all students as well as clinicians. Please take a few moments to go through these stethoscope reviews.
1. 3M Littmann Classic III Monitoring Stethoscope
Classic III Monitoring Stethoscope is one of the great acoustic sensitive stethoscopes from 3M Littmann healthcare company which is being used by worldwide nursing as well as medical student and practicing doctors.
Earpieces are comfortable, have a weight of 14.1 ounces (lightweight), come with quality & TUNABLE diaphragm, and provide loud & clear sound. If you are looking for a good stethoscope that provides quality and does not cost you more money, then the 3M Littmann Classic III Monitoring Stethoscope will be the perfect solution for you. It is available in many colors and is durable.
It also provides a dual-sided chest piece with a non-chill rim & allows switching between bell and diaphragm mode by giving simple pressure on the chest piece. We highly recommend this to anyone who is in the medical field and searching for the right stitch.
This stethoscope beats the Cardiology IV! I’ve owned many stethoscopes, but this one is the best. Lightweight and long enough that I don’t have to smell my patient’s breath when listening to breath sounds, and I can hear the S1 and S2 heart sounds.
This stethoscope beats the Cardiology IV! I’ve owned many stethoscopes, but this one is the best. Lightweight and long enough that I don’t have to smell my patient’s breath when listening to breath sounds, and I can hear the S1 and S2 heart sounds.
2. 3M Littmann Lightweight II S.E. Stethoscope, Black Tube, 28 Inch, 2450
3M Littmann Lightweight II S.E. Stethoscope is most rated by senior physicians around the world. If you are planning to buy an extremely good stethoscope that will provide you great built-in quality, loud & clear sound, tunable diaphragms on both sides, and useful for adults as well as pediatric patients then your search ends here.
This is a durable, versatile stethoscope that provides its user a good experience and convenience. It comes with diaphragms on both sides of the chest piece out of which diaphragm from the small side can be easily removed to convert this part into an open bell to capture low frequencies sounds. This stethoscope is commonly used by cardiologists, pediatrics, and medical student to listen to heart and lungs sound.
With its unique tunable diaphragm technology, this stethoscope makes it easy to switch between bell and diaphragm modes by giving a simple pressure change on its chest piece, which means there is no need to remove, index, and replace for same-site auscultation or turning over the chest piece. This time-saving feature allows for a focus on the patient.
40% larger chest piece and 60% deeper bell than the 3M Littmann Classic III Stethoscope, it is heavier than Littmann classic III SE and weighs about 167gm, 27 inches long, 43 mm wide diaphragm and provide non-chill rim, comfortable earpiece. The only worry about this stethoscope is that it is costlier than others but it provides value to your money. We highly recommend this stethoscope for everyone.
For all the people intending on using this stethoscope for real medical practices, it is a great stethoscope for EMS/ER purposes, lung and cardiac sounds are auscultated with ease. This device gives clear acoustics for assessments and is a great affordable go-to for pre-hospital and emergency providers.
3. 3M Littmann Stethoscope, Master Classic II, Black Tube, Silver Chestpiece, 27 inch, 2144L
It’s very close to ‘Littmann Classic II SE’ and is considered as an up-gradation of the same to call it Littmann Master Classic. We found that it stands a little better than ‘LCIISE’ when it comes to loudness and clarity of sound.
I bought this as a replacement for my Littman Classic II SE. The master classic II has been really good at picking up heart tones that are faint. I can hear lung sounds better. I like that I don’t have to have two sides to switch frequencies. Most of my colleagues own this scope in our ICU.
While the only drawback of this Stethoscope is that it lacks a double-sided chest piece. It is a bit heavier than LCIISE Stethoscope and weighs about 160 Gm. and provides 44 Cm diaphragm. It does provide comfort and all other features of Littmann. This Stethoscope is costlier than LCIISE Stethoscope.
The 3M Littmann Master Classic II Stethoscope brings together award-winning ergonomic design and excellent acoustic sensitivity. It delivers reliable performance and comfortable use to professionals dedicated to providing the best patient care.
4. ADC – 615FV Adscope 615 Platinum Sculpted Clinician Stethoscope with Tunable AFD Technology
This is one more great stethoscope but falls a little short in a few things if we compare it with Littmann stethoscopes but with a budget under $100, ADC Adscope 615 Platinum Sculpted Clinician Stethoscope is the best option for the student.
It’s a little heavier & long than Littmann stethoscopes but if we see the price difference ADC Adscope 615 wins the race. When it comes to sound quality then it stands second to the Littmann. It is less comfortable than Littmann and has a heavy chest piece but the best thing about ADC stethoscope is that they are backed with LIFETIME WARRANTY which is one of the obvious reasons behind their share in the market.
This is a really good stethoscope, I have the Littman Classic II S.E, and they both sound the same. The only difference would be that the ADC stethoscope the tubing is longer, and the earpieces but are both comfortable. The acoustic is amazing.
5. MDF Acoustica Deluxe Lightweight Dual Head Stethoscope
This Stethoscope amazed us by its cost which too low as compared to other brands in the market. With its low cost, MDF Acoustica Deluxe Lightweight Dual Head Stethoscope managed to provide good quality with loudness & clarity of sound.
But when we repeatedly used this Stethoscope for auscultation few bugs come out. Please note that you get what you pay for and that is why we always ask you to pay a little more to get a good Stethoscope.
Durable, convenient, lightweight, and high sound performance. Though this Stethoscope provides good loudness & clarity of sound it lacks many other features.
In my opinion, although Littman produces a clear sound, the MDF brand produces great sound quality enough to do the job. I am able to differentiate between fine crackles, coarse crackles, wheezing, and absent breath sounds without a problem. I would not choose this stuff as the scope for cardiac sounds.
How Do You Know If A Stethoscope Is Good?
- It should be lightweight so it will become easy to carry on the shoulder.
- The length of tubing should be long enough for the proper examination of the patient. It should not be too long or too short.
- Diaphragms must be made up of high-quality PE compound film, resin with flexibility. It is better to have 35mm diaphragms for adult use, 25 mm for pediatric use, and 45mm for cardiology use.
- The scope should have a non-chill rim, comfortable earpiece, stainless steel binaural, and tube wall must thick enough to avoid outer sounds mixing.
- It must be cost-effective and add value to our money while maintaining its quality.
Conclusion
Our personal vote goes for Littmann Classic III SE. Build quality; comfort and performance are the best features that Littmann always provides with their all Stethoscope.
Littmann Classic III SE is a better stethoscope for every healthcare student and it does provide value for the money. If you are on a good budget and want the more efficient & the best Stethoscope than LCIIISE then Littmann Cardiology IV is a Stethoscope to pick up. We highly recommend buying the Littmann Cardiology IV stethoscope for everyone. It is the most loved Stethoscope by senior physicians, anesthetics, chest physicians.
Littmann Cardiology IV is a great acoustic stethoscope. If you don’t want to spend more money then get one Littmann Classic III SE for yourself, you will never regret these purchases.