I'm updating the lab kit for the intro to programming courses, EECS 1011 and EECS 1021. The goal is to find a variety of 5v-compatible, low-current micro servo motors that can be used in student lab kits. These micro servos are sold by multiple vendors, both online and in brick-and-mortar shops, like traditional hobby stores or electronics vendors like Sayal. As such, they're practical and popular with engineering students. The costs for these servos were covered by the EECS Department here at York University.
Testing was undertaken using two laptops, a Dell XPS 2-1 tablet and a MacBook Pro M3 Pro using MATLAB and the Arduino tools for MATLAB and an Arduino-compatible Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino. Four tests were performed on each servo.
- Push test. Affix a horn to the motor. Zip-tie a pencil to the horn. Zip-tie the motor to the Arduino board and push the board up using commands from MATLAB. One test on the Dell XPS tablet, one test on the Apple MacBook.
- Pull test. Affix a horn to the motor. Zip-tie a pencil to the horn. Connect a string between the board and pencil. Hold the motor above the Arduino board. Pull the board up with the string using commands from MATLAB. One test on the Dell XPS tablet, one test on the Apple MacBook.
I did not verify current ratings directly, nor did I directly measure angular performance. Tests were to verify if the servo simply worked and whether it had sufficient torque to lift the Arduino board.
TLDR -- which micro servo for a lab kit?
For a lab kit my recommendation is either:
- The Miuzei MS18 via Amazon, or
- The DF Robot SER0006 via Digikey or Mouser
Either of these two hobby servos will work in our lab kit.
Below the demo video are the details for all of the servos tested.
Detailed Results
"HXT900" / "Tenstar Robot" / "Tower Pro" SG90
Sayal sells a number of generic SG90 micro servos under various names. In one case the outer packaging said "HXT900" but the servo inside was either the Tenstar or Tower Pro model (I can't remember which as I bought two servos at the same time from Sayal).
- Purchased at: Sayal (in-person, Scarborough)
- Cost: $8 - $14 per servo.
- Turning limits: 180 degrees, with hard stops.
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: three
- Connect to board with: Grove to 4 pin jumper (SKU 110990210) on D2 header; or use pin-to-pin "Dupont" wires between Arduino and servo sockets.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? Yes, both servos were tested and worked.
Why purchase from Sayal? Because you can shop there in-person if you're a student in Toronto. Not a viable option for bulk-purchasing for a lab kit.
Miuzei MS18
These resemble the SG90 microservos but go by a different name (MS-18) on the name plate.
- Purchased from: Amazon.ca (online)
- Cost: $3.60 per servo in a pack of 5 or $3.30 per servo in a pack of 10.
- Turning limits: 180 degrees +/- 3 degrees. (per data sheet). Hard stops tested at closer to 200 degrees.
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: three
- Current: @ ~5v: stall 500 - 750 mA +/- 10% quiescent under 40mA. (per data sheet)
- Connect to board with: Grove to 4 pin jumper (SKU 110990210) on D2 header; or use pin-to-pin "Dupont" wires between Arduino and servo sockets.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? Yes.
Why purchase this one? Cheap and available in bulk from Amazon. Has hard stops if you want them. Great for student "group buy". Possible option for a bulk lab kit purchase since it's so cheap, but not sure if Amazon vendor has sufficient stock.
DF Robot SER0006 (DF9GMS)
The DF Robot SER0006's name plate says DF9GMS.
- Purchased from: Mouser. Also available from Digikey (thousands) and RobotShop (small quantities)
- Cost: $5.23per servo
- Turning limits: 220 degrees (per data sheet). No hard stops, per testing.
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: three
- Current: @ ~5v: stall under 800 mA, quiescent under 40mA. (per data sheet)
- Connect to board with: Grove to 4 pin jumper (SKU 110990210) on D2 header; or use pin-to-pin "Dupont" wires between Arduino and servo sockets.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? Yes.
Why purchase this one? Inexpensive, easy to source and no hard stops (if you don't want hard stops). Suppliers like Digikey sell these in the thousands, so the supply is viable for lab kit inventory at our Bookstore.
DF Robot SER0048 ("Maqueen Mechanic" version)
The DF Robot SER0048 has no name plate / sticker on it. It has metal gears and a metal hub.
- Purchased from: Mouser. Also available at Digikey but not Robotshop. Low stock.
- Cost: $7.06 per servo
- Turning limits: 180 degrees (per data sheet). No hard stops, per testing.
- Gearing: metal
- Hubs & horns: one metal disc hub with four threaded holes.
- Current: @ ~5v: stall under 300 mA, quiescent under 40mA. (per data sheet)
- Connect to board with: Grove to 4 pin jumper (SKU 110990210) on D2 header; or use pin-to-pin "Dupont" wires between Arduino and servo sockets.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? Yes.
Why purchase this one? You want metal gears and a metal hub with threaded machine screw holes. Inventory is very limited at Mouser and Digikey. Suitable for individuals but not for bulk purchasing for a lab kit.
DF Robot SER0053 (DS-S006L "Clutch Servo")
The DF Robot SER0053's name plate says DS-S006L. It has a "clutching" safety action to prevent the gears from stripping if you over-torque it.
- Purchased from Mouser. Also available from Robot Shop (small quantities) and Digikey.
- Cost: $7.20 per servo
- Turning limits: 300 degrees, no stops as per the data sheet.
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: three
- Current: @ ~5v: stall under 550 mA, quiescent under 5mA. (per data sheet)
- Connect to board with: Grove to 4 pin jumper (SKU 110990210) on D2 header; or use pin-to-pin "Dupont" wires between Arduino and servo sockets.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? No.
Why purchase this one? Don't. It failed to work on the Grove board. Did not move. I may need to test this more, but the lack of movement on the first try is a giant red flag and makes it a non-starter for a 1st year course with inexperienced students.
DF Robot SER0043 (DF9GMS 360 -- Continuous Rotation Servo)
Be careful with this one. There's a little "360" on the motor name plate / sticker but, otherwise it looks like the SER0006 model. The 360 means that it rotates continuously, which makes it unsuitable for positioning. It's meant to drive wheels.
- Purchased from Mouser. Also available from Digikey and Robotshop.
- Cost: $5.76 per servo
- Turning limits: none. It rotates continuously.
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: three
- Current: @ ~5v: stall under 800 mA, quiescent under 40mA. (per data sheet)
- Connect to board with: Grove to 4 pin jumper (SKU 110990210) on D2 header; or use pin-to-pin "Dupont" wires between Arduino and servo sockets.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? No as a position servo. (but, yes, as continuous drive)
Why purchase this one? Don't if you're looking for a position-control hobby servo. If, on the other hand, you're looking to drive a wheel, then it's fine.
Grove Servo
The Seeed Grove Servo ("Analog Servo") is an easy-to-use but more expensive variant from Seeed Studio. This is apparently a "grovified" eMax es08a, according to the Seeed servo manual.
- Purchased from: Mouser. Also available from Digikey and Robotshop.
- Cost: $9.94 per servo
- Turning limits: About 180 degrees, with hard stops around 200-220 degrees (per testing).
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: four, including a disc and really long cross.
- Current: @ ~5v: unknown. Data sheet doesn't specify it.
- Connect to board with: the Grove connector that is included on the servo. No adapter needed for Grove-compatible boards.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? Yes.
Why purchase this one? It's the simplest one to connect to a Grove-compatible board. No adapters. Also, tied for best plastic horn selection of the servos tested. Easy-peasy. If you're a student and are intimidated by wires but are willing to pay a bit more, get this one. Not a viable option for a lab kit with parts purchased in bulk, however, due to high cost and narrow and shallow supply chain.
M5 Stack SG90 Servo
Like the "Grove Servo" above, this unit is designed for use with Grove connector-type devices like the Arduino Grove Board or an M5 Stack module. The advantage this one is that it achieves the Grove compatibility through adapters, making it versatile. But supply is really, really limited.
- Purchased from Mouser. Also available from Digikey and Robotshop.
- Cost: $7.95 per servo
- Turning limits: About 180 degrees, with hard stops around 200 degrees (per testing).
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: five, including a disc, an x-shaped one, and a regular cross.
- Current: @ ~5v: unknown. Data sheet doesn't specify it.
- Connect to board with: included pin to Grove socket connector. Requires a Grove cable, not supplied.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? Yes.
Why purchase this one? It's the second-simplest one to connect to a Grove-compatible board. An adapter is included. Also, tied for best plastic horn selection of the servos tested. Easy-peasy. It's cheaper than the Grove servo and its included adapter makes it a nice alternative for wiring. However, it's not available in large quantities and seems to suffer from inventory and distribution issues like some M5 products do. I don't recommend it.
Smraza SG90 9G Micro servo
The push test on the Smraza SG90 was performed. It failed to lift the board.
- Purchased from Amazon.ca
- Cost: $2.60 per servo
- Turning limits: About 120 degrees, with hard stops around 300 degrees (per testing).
- Gearing: plastic
- Hubs & horns: three,
- Current: @ ~5v: stall current 1.4A (too much!!), quiescent current 0.4A (too much!!)
- Connect to board with: grove to pin adapter.
- Wiring: Brown: Ground; Red: +5V; Yellow: signal.
- Test successful? no.
This is not a good servo. While it's super cheap, it does not deliver sufficient torque when connected to the Arduino/Grove board. This is likely due to the massive amount of current it needs (relative to the other servos tested). The computer's USB port may be current-limiting the servo (which is understandable). This hobby servo appears to take almost 1.5 amperes at stall, according to the manufacturer. This is up to twice what is required from comparable hobby servos.
Confusingly, this Smraza SG90 had a motor plate/sticker labelled "Tower Pro"... which makes it look like the one I think I bought from Sayal. But its performance is NOT the same.
So, verdict on this Smraza SG90 (labelled "Tower Pro"): I don't recommend it.
Conclusion
The micro servo form factor is super popular and there are plenty of designs. There are a few good options here, depending on your needs and all (except for one) were demonstrated to work on an Arduino-compatible system. For a lab kit, I recommend the DF Robot SER0006 or the Miuzei MS18.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to our Department Chair Chinaei for providing the funds for testing the servos. Thank you to our tech team (in particular, Mr. Eric Prandovszky) for ongoing support with the courses. Thank you to the YorkU Bookstore staff for all the work they do in putting the lab kits together.
Updates
June 9, 2026: the entry for the Smraza SG90 was inserted.
James Andrew Smith is a Professional Engineer and Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of York University’s Lassonde School, with degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and McGill University. Previously a program director in biomedical engineering, his research background spans robotics, locomotion, human birth, music and engineering education. While on sabbatical in 2018-19 with his wife and kids he lived in Strasbourg, France and he taught at the INSA Strasbourg and Hochschule Karlsruhe and wrote about his personal and professional perspectives. James is a proponent of using social media to advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion as well as evidence-based applications of research in the public sphere. You can find him on Twitter. You can find him on BlueSky. Originally from Québec City, he now lives in Toronto, Canada.