Reviews
Apertura AD6 Dobsonian Review: Editor’s Choice
The Apertura AD6 is an excellent telescope, but for the price, you might be better off with a 6” f/5 tabletop telescope or saving up for a bit more for the AD8 or another 8” model with greater capabilities.
Celestron StarSense Explorer 12” Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 12” Dobsonian is a capable but nonetheless cumbersome instrument, where simplicity is paramount in its design and use - for better or for worse.
Celestron StarSense Explorer 150mm tabletop Dobsonian Review: Partially Recommended Scope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 150mm Dobsonian is certainly a well-made and fairly affordable telescope, but it’s debatable whether it’s worth paying a premium for the bundled StarSense Explorer technology despite its simplicity and benefits.
Celestron StarSense Explorer 114mm Tabletop Dobsonian Review: Recommended Telescope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 114mm Dobsonian is a nifty little telescope. But for the MSRP it asks for, it’s not worth trading off the capabilities offered by a greater aperture Dobsonian in exchange for the StarSense Explorer technology.
Celestron StarSense Explorer 130mm Tabletop Dobsonian Review: Recommended Product
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 130mm Dobsonian is a nice telescope, but it doesn’t really justify its own existence given the price and lack of features to explain such a markup over comparable instruments.
DwarfLab DWARF II Smart Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The DwarfLab Dwarf II is a fun device, I agree. But its astronomical capabilities are not really its main selling point, and the telescope has a lot of persistent hardware/software issues that I didn't expect.
Celestron CGX 925 SCT Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron CGX 925 SCT is a powerful and versatile telescope package for visual and astrophotography use, featuring a large-aperture Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube paired with Celestron’s CGX equatorial mount.
Celestron CGX 800 8″ EdgeHD Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron CGX 800 EdgeHD is an excellent visual or astrophotography setup, though it’s rather complex and may be intimidating if you’re not familiar with telescopes and astrophotography.
iOptron GEM28 EQ Mount Review: Recommended Mount
While a little lighter than most competing mounts in its class, the iOptron GEM28 boasts an excellent set of features and remains quite portable.
iOptron CEM26 EQ Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The iOptron CEM26 is a compact and lightweight equatorial mount designed primarily with astrophotography in mind and features a number of unique features that make it a pretty good buy.
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi is one of the most advanced small equatorial mounts/star trackers in the market, offering features and capabilities that make it an attractive option for beginners and experienced astrophotographers alike.
Sky-Watcher Evostar 72 APO Review: Recommended OTA
The Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED isn’t the best small ED refractor available, but it’s certainly well-designed mechanically and has functional enough optics for astrophotographers to make use of it.
iOptron SkyGuider Pro Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The iOptron SkyGuider Pro is a compact and portable equatorial mount designed for wide-field astrophotography with lightweight cameras and lenses. It is one of the most popular star trackers on the market, offering a range of features and capabilities that make it an attractive option for beginners and experienced astrophotographers alike.
iOptron AZ Mount Pro Review: Recommended Mount
The iOptron AZ Mount Pro is a versatile and user-friendly alt-azimuth mount that can be used for both visual observation and some astrophotography with a variety of telescopes without the need for counterweights or balancing.
Orion StarSeeker IV 130mm GoTo Review: Partially Recommended
The Orion StarSeeker IV 130mm is well-designed, but with performance and features more in line with a scope priced at a couple hundred bucks less.
Celestron CPC 925 XLT GPS Review: Recommended Telescope
The Celestron CPC 925 GPS is a highly dependable telescope that offers extensive capabilities in an easy-to-use and reasonably portable package. However, depending on your specific objectives, there might be more attractive telescope options available.
Vaonis Stellina Smart Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Vaonis Stellina is the iPhone of astrophotography rigs - easy to use, fairly capable, and sleek, but very constrained when it comes to certain capabilities and user upgrades or modifications.
Vaonis Vespera Smart Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Vaonis Vespera is a nice little wide-field, minimalist astrophotography setup without the cables and confusion of an a la carte rig. But it isn’t all that capable given its exorbitant price tag.
Losmandy GM8 Mount Review: Recommended Product
The Losmandy GM8 is a top-tier German equatorial mount for smaller and medium scopes - a premium competitor to mounts like the Celestron Advanced VX. However, you might be better served by just getting a bigger mount, such as Losmandy’s own G11, right off the bat.
Meade LX85 Mount Review: Partially Recommended
The Meade LX85 might be worth considering if it were priced half-off, but as it is, it is hundreds of dollars more expensive than its competitors, all for a relatively mediocre mount.
Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ5i Mount Review: Recommended Product
The Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ5i mirrors the features found in its larger counterpart, the AZ-EQ6i, but in a more compact and easily portable package, ideal for lightweight visual and imaging payloads.
Losmandy G-11 Mount Review: Recommended Product
The Losmandy G11 is considered a premium-tier German equatorial mount, and it’s designed with exacting specifications that cater to the needs of serious astrophotographers, as well as anyone looking for a top-quality heavy-duty equatorial mount.
Nikon 10×50 Aculon A211 Binoculars Review: Recommended Product
The Aculon 10x50s are eerily similar to the Bushnell Legacy WP 10x50s but feature sharp optics and a durable frame, as is to be expected of any of Nikon’s high-quality products.
Bushnell Powerview 10×50 Binoculars Review: Partially Recommended
The Bushnell PowerView 10x50 binoculars don't offer any special features and may not be the best value for money, though they can be a sufficiently good quality choice if budget constraints are a primary concern.
Meade Polaris 114 Reflector Review: Not Recommended
The Meade Polaris 114 is unacceptably flawed optically, and its other design features don’t deliver much value for the price - look elsewhere for a quality first scope.
Explore Scientific AR127 Refractor Review: Not Recommended OTA
The Explore Scientific AR127 is a good mid-sized achromatic refractor, though it’s nowhere near as versatile as a more expensive ED doublet or triplet on account of its chromatic aberration.
Explore Scientific AR152 Refractor Review: Not Recommended OTA
The Explore Scientific AR152 certainly delivers if you want a big, fast f/ratio achromatic refractor, although why exactly you’d purchase such a thing is a different question given the compromises involved.
Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6i Review: Recommended Mount
The Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6i further improves on the excellent EQ6Ri Pro with the addition of built-in FreedomFind encoders and an alt-azimuth mode for even more versatile uses and telescope payload options.
Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi GoTo AZ Mount Review: Recommended Mount
In the realm of alt-azimuth mounts, the AZ-GTi confidently stakes its claim as one of the most capable and cost-effective currently available, particularly when considering one equipped with GoTo and tracking functionality.
Explore Scientific Twilight I Alt-Azimuth Review: Recommended Mount
The Explore Scientific Twilight I mount is an excellent manual mount for smaller telescopes and is a huge improvement over a photo tripod head or the partly-plastic alt-azimuth mounts supplied with many cheaper scopes.
Unbiased Celestron SkyMaster 25×100 Binoculars Review
The Celestron SkyMaster 25x100 Binoculars are a good choice for an astronomical binocular of this size, but you should make sure that such a specialized instrument is right for you before purchasing.
Unbiased Celestron SkyMaster 25×70 Binocular Review
The Celestron SkyMaster 25x70 binoculars are acceptable but just not particularly easy to use, and their 25x magnification provides few advantages over more typical 12x70 and 15x70 binoculars to justify the many compromises otherwise necessary in the design.
Unbiased Celestron SkyMaster 20×80 Binocular Review
The Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 Binoculars are an economical choice for large-aperture binoculars, though inevitably with some compromises on account of their huge size and low price.
Explore Scientific 12″ Truss Tube Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Explore Scientific 12" Truss Tube Dobsonian is an economical alternative to a premium truss 12” with many of the same design features, but be prepared to spend plenty optimizing it for the best possible views.
Unistellar eVscope 2 Review: Not Recommended Scope
The Unistellar eVscope 2 is a highly deceptive product with capabilities that are neither groundbreaking nor capable of justifying its exorbitant price or wild marketing claims.
Meade Polaris 90 Review: Partially Recommended
The Meade Polaris 90 is acceptable, but extremely limited in capabilities and rather poorly constructed - you can do a lot better for the price.
Meade Polaris 127 Review: Not Recommended Scope
The Meade Polaris 127 suffers from unacceptable optical flaws, its mount is complicated and wobbly, and its accessories are nothing to get too excited about. I highly recommend you explore other options for a quality first telescope.
Celestron Omni XLT 102 Review: Partially Recommended Scope
The Celestron Omni XLT 102 is a nice telescope, but it combines the overly high cost of refractors with the inconveniences of a manual equatorial mount; it won’t have nearly as much capability as a larger aperture reflector or catadioptric for visual observation and isn’t useful for any astrophotography either.
Unistellar eVscope eQuinox Review: Not Recommended
The Unistellar eVscope eQuinox is an extremely misleading product with capabilities that are neither innovative nor remotely capable of justifying its price tag or marketing claims.
Orion Atlas EQ-G Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The Orion Atlas EQ-G is one of the best equatorial mounts for imaging or carrying heavy telescopes for visual observation out there - though it isn’t quite as jam-packed with features as newer offerings.
SarBlue Mak70 Telescope Review: Recommended Scope
The SarBlue Mak70 is limited to the brightest objects in the night sky, but it sure does a fantastic job on the handful of things you can see with it, especially for such an affordable and convenient instrument.
Celestron CPC 925 EdgeHD Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron CPC 925 EdgeHD is well-made, but it’s less compact or versatile than an equatorially-mounted configuration while offering few of the astrophotography capabilities which would make the EdgeHD worth buying over the regular C9.25 XLT version.
Meade 8″ LX200 ACF Review: Not Recommended
I'd have considered Meade 8” LX200 ACF to be worthy if it was sold for half price, but it offers little in the way of features or value to justify the outrageous markup compared to its competition or really to justify its own existence at all.
Sky-Watcher 8″ FlexTube GoTo Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 8” FlexTube GoTo Dobsonian is a nice scope, but being sandwiched between manual and GoTo 10” and 12” scopes in price makes it kind of an odd sacrifice compared to a larger aperture instrument with more capabilities, motorized or not.
Sky-Watcher 10″ FlexTube GoTo Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 10” FlexTube GoTo Dobsonian offers a flexible computerized/manual scope in a fairly compact package, though as is typical with Sky-Watcher the provided features and accessories are otherwise extremely basic.
Sky-Watcher 14″ FlexTube GoTo Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 14” FlexTube GoTo is a big scope packed with performance, though it may be harder to justify over a cheaper 12” or more capable 16” scope.
Meade 8″ LX90 ACF Review: Partially Recommended Scope
For those looking for a lightweight and portable telescope with good optics, the Meade 8” LX90 ACF is worth considering if no alternative 8” Schmidt-Cassegrain configuration is available. But from what I've experienced, other telescopes are simply a better deal for the money and often have more capabilities.
Vixen R130SF/Porta II Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Vixen R130SF is an excellent telescope, but it’s extremely expensive compared to similar telescopes and lacking in value for its price range.
Celestron CPC 1100 GPS Telescope Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron CPC 1100 GPS is a great scope, though it’s definitely bulky compared to other optic and mount options for its aperture.
Celestron CPC 800 EdgeHD Telescope Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron CPC 800 EdgeHD is a decent telescope, but it is less compact than the NexStar Evolution design and the EdgeHD optics are not particularly useful in this telescope configuration.
Celestron AstroMaster LT 76AZ Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster LT 76AZ is not particularly capable nor easy to use, and for the price there are options with better aperture and better mount designs.
Apertura 6″ f/9 Ritchey-Chretien Review: Recommended OTA
Apertura’s 6” Ritchey-Chretien is a nice scope for galaxy imaging, but isn’t ideal for beginners.
Celestron Advanced VX 11″ SCT Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron Advanced VX 11" SCT is great for visual astronomy and planetary imaging, despite the fact that it doesn’t really compete in price with other options.
Celestron CGEM II 1100 11″ SCT Telescope Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron CGEM 1100 11" SCT is great for visual astronomy and planetary imaging, despite the fact that it doesn’t really compete in price with other options.
Celestron CGEM II 800 8″ RASA Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron CGEM II 800 RASA is a great imaging setup if you can afford and handle it, though it is certainly not the cheapest nor most convenient arrangement out there.
Celestron CGEM II 800 8″ SCT Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron CGEM II 800 8" SCT is an acceptable astrophotography telescope, though you may prefer the EdgeHD version and/or a better mount for the job, and this package is completely pointless for visual astronomy compared to a bigger or cheaper instrument.
Celestron Cometron 114AZ Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron Cometron 114AZ is acceptable as a beginner or “grab n’ go” telescope, but the tripod is a weak link in its otherwise great performance and costs just as much as a sturdier and simpler Dobsonian design.
Celestron Astro Fi 90 Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron Astro Fi 90 is well-designed but lacks performance for its high price tag or compared to the other telescopes from the Astro Fi lineup.
Sarblue Mak60 With Freestanding Tripod Telescope: Partially Recommended
The SarBlue Mak60 is a great telescope, though the ordinary photo tripod it’s sold with is far from a great astronomical mount for the job that I've seen in the price range.
Celestron Advanced VX 6″ Newtonian Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron Advanced VX 6” Newtonian is something I see as a mediocre choice for imaging due to the limitations of its 1.25”-only focuser and the not-so-great Advanced VX mount. It’s hardly a convenient or affordable visual observation setup either.
Celestron NexStar Evolution 8″ EdgeHD Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron NexStar Evolution 8” EdgeHD/StarSense is a fantastic telescope, but offers few advantages over the regular NexStar Evolution 8 to make it worth the additional cost.
Celestron Advanced VX 9.25″ EdgeHD Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron Advanced VX 9.25” EdgeHD is under-mounted and pretty much useless for deep-sky imaging, while providing no advantages over the regular C9.25 XLT for other purposes.
Celestron EdgeHD 9.25 Review: Recommended OTA
Celestron’s EdgeHD 9.25 is a great scope for visual astronomy and imaging, albeit at a rather high price and with limited use cases.
Sky-Watcher EQM-35i Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The Sky-Watcher EQM-35i is a great entry-level astrophotography mount, though you’ll quickly outgrow it if you enjoy the hobby.
Celestron CG-4 German EQ Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The Celestron CG-4 is an excellent manual equatorial mount for those who might benefit from using one, such as owners of smaller refractor or Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes.
Celestron Advanced VX 8” EdgeHD Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron Advanced VX 8” EdgeHD is under-mounted for most astrophotography and overkill for visual observation, though it’s very good for the latter.
Celestron Advanced VX 8 Newtonian Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron Advanced VX 8” Newtonian is an acceptable quality telescope, but an overall poor choice for astrophotography or visual observing, and will frustrate users who attempt to do either.
Celestron Advanced VX Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The Celestron Advanced VX is a versatile mount that sounds great on paper and is ideal for visual use and planetary imaging, but has limitations for deep-sky astrophotography compared to better-designed mounts from other brands.
Celestron AstroMaster 102AZ Refractor Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster 102AZ combines a decent telescope and accessories with a shoddy mount at a price that is simply unacceptable for what we get.
Celestron AstroMaster 90AZ Refractor Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster 90AZ is another unfortunate example I see of a telescope designed by a marketing team for a price point instead of an attempt to make something that works.
Celestron AstroMaster 90EQ Refractor Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster 90EQ is one of the better AstroMaster telescopes, though “better” in this case merely means mediocre instead of unusable, and it’s still not a good deal by any stretch of the imagination.
Celestron Advanced VX 6″ Refractor Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron Advanced VX 6” Refractor is not a particularly good telescope for any purpose, despite its elegance and well-built mechanics.
Celestron Advanced VX 6″ SCT Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Advanced VX 6” SCT is a jack of all trades, master of none. In contrast to Celestron’s often under-mounted and low-quality beginner telescope offerings, the Advanced VX 6” SCT package is an almost absurd inverse.
Celestron Advanced VX 700 Maksutov Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Advanced VX 700 Maksutov is a superb planetary instrument, but its specialized nature and high price constrain its usefulness.
Celestron Advanced VX 800 RASA Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Advanced VX 800 RASA is a rather advanced telescope, but it is a great platform for astrophotography despite its limitations.
Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ is a classic example of a “department store telescope” which should be avoided like the plague.
Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25″ Review: Partially Recommended
I won't say that Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25 is terrible, but it is arguably just a bit too big for its own good - and for its mount.
Celestron Omni XLT 102AZ Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Omni XLT 102AZ is a pretty good telescope for the price. But with some more upgrades, it perform at its best.
Explore Scientific FirstLight AR80 Refractor with Twilight Nano Review – Partially Recommended
The FirstLight AR80/Twilight Nano isn’t the biggest telescope out there, but it’s a simple and portable instrument that does a good job for both planetary and wide-field viewing.
Explore One Aurora 114 Review: Recommended Scope
The Explore One Aurora 114 offers a lot of aperture for the money with good optics, but its accessories and mount, while functional, aren’t the best, especially for beginners.
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso 90 Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher Virtuoso 90 isn’t the largest telescope you can get for its price range, but it’s incredibly compact, razor-sharp on planets, and has motorized tracking built in.
Celestron Astro Fi 102 Review: Partially Recommended Scope
The Celestron Astro Fi 102 is an improvement over many of Celestron’s other computerized telescopes, but I believe it still doesn’t offer enough viewing capabilities to really justify its steep price and complex GoTo mount.
Sky-Watcher 12″ FlexTube Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 12” FlexTube provides a substantial increase in portability over a regular 12” solid-tubed scope without the complexity of a truss, and the FlexTube design makes a lot more sense at this aperture than with the smaller models.
Orion SkyLine 6 Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Orion SkyLine 6 used to be the darling of all the 6” Dobsonians available, and is well-made, but it’s a bit lacking in the value department compared to Orion’s own XT6.
Popular Science Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 100AZ Refractor Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 100AZ Refractor is a great deal for those who must have a refractor, offering similar features and performance to the DX 102AZ at a substantially lower price.
Orion SpaceProbe II 76EQ Review: Recommended Scope
The Orion SpaceProbe II 76EQ isn’t the biggest or best telescope available, but it’s much better than the optically compromised or poorly accessorized telescopes often found in its price range.
Solomark Polaris 130mm EQ Review: Not Recommended
The Solomark Polaris 130mm EQ has acceptable optics, but is weighed down (albeit only figuratively) by a poor design, mediocre accessories, and its rather high price tag.
Celestron Advanced VX 9.25″ SCT Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Advanced VX 9.25” SCT package isn’t for everyone, but it’s a great setup for visual use and planetary imaging.
Sky-Watcher 10″ FlexTube Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 10” FlexTube Dobsonian is a decent scope with a workable accessory package, though it’s a little lacking compared to some other options when it comes to the mechanical design and value for the money.
Explore Scientific 10″ FirstLight Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Explore Scientific 10” FirstLight Dobsonian is well-designed mechanically and provides great views, but it’s not our top pick in terms of value for the money, especially when it comes to the included features and accessories.
Orion SkyScanner BL102 Review: Partially Recommended
The Orion SkyScanner B102 is an overpriced instrument with mediocre performance at best, seemingly brought in as a last-minute substitution for out-of-stock gear and kept ever since.
Orion SkyScanner BL135mm Review: Partially Recommended
The Orion SkyScanner B135 isn’t the worst, but suffers from serious mechanical shortcomings and poor-quality included accessories, making it less-than-ideal for the price.
SarBlue Mak60 Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The SarBlue Mak60 may not have much aperture, but its sharp views and steady mounting blow away the poorly-accessorized, wobbly, and often low-quality competing 60mm refractors, and the scope is so small that bringing it anywhere you go is trivial.
Gskyer 130mm EQ Telescope Review – Recommended Scope
The Gskyer 130mm EQ Reflector provides decent value for the money and an overall pleasant observing experience. But I don’t love the choice of the equatorial mount and slender tripod - especially for beginners.
Explore Scientific 10″ Hybrid Truss Tube Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Explore Scientific 10” Hybrid Dobsonian is a dream come true for tinkerers - a huge amount of aperture in a compact package with a sleek, all-metal mechanical design and a low price tag. But for those who just want a ready-to-use setup out of the box, I believe an 8” or 10” standard Dob is probably a better pick.
Apertura DT10 Review: Recommended Scope
The Apertura DT10 is a great scope at a great price, though it’s less of a bargain than it seems when you consider the lack of accessories - the AD10 is more than worth the extra cost of upgrading.
Celestron CPC 800 GPS SCT Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron CPC 800 is a big, bulky, and somewhat outdated telescope, but it’s jam-packed with features and will last a lifetime.
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P Review: Editor’s Choice
The Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P provides excellent value, portability, and capability all at a stunningly low price for a beginner telescope.
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 130P Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 130P is a computerized version of the popular Heritage 130P and an equally excellent choice for beginners - but the 150P version is only a bit more expensive and a lot more capable!
Celestron StarSense Explorer 10″ Dob Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 10” Dobsonian is a great scope. You could get a 12” dobsonian for the price, but the ergonomics and StarSense Explorer technology might really pay off .
Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114 AZ Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ Reflector not only doesn’t really need the StarSense Explorer technology, but it has compromised optics and a mediocre mount at best, all at a rather inflated price.
Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130 AZ Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130 AZ is a nice beginner scope and offers plenty of features, but its value proposition is a bit weak given the super-wide field’s negation of any kind of need for computerized assistance, combined with the availability of larger and/or more-accessorized instruments at the same or even a lower price.
Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80 AZ Review – Partially Recommended
The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80 AZ isn’t bad, but the StarSense Explorer Technology has no functional purpose with such a small telescope that has little in the way of capabilities beyond viewing the Moon and planets anyway.
Celestron StarSense Explorer 8 Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 8” Dobsonian is well-designed, but poorly equipped with accessories and thus, slightly lacking in value for the price compared to the Apertura or Zhumell 8" dob offerings.
Celestron C6 XLT Review: Recommended OTA
Celestron’s C6 XLT is one of the best Schmidt-Cassegrains in Celestron’s lineup and arguably the most versatile. It’s a travel scope, planet killer, astrograph, and works well for deep-sky viewing too.
Celestron EdgeHD 8 Review: Recommended OTA
Celestron’s EdgeHD 8 is an even more versatile telescope than the original C8, with a design great for almost every type of astronomical viewing or imaging.
Explore Scientific ED80 Essentials Review: Partially Recommended
Explore Scientific’s ED80 Essentials Triplet refractor is one of many small apochromatic refractors meant for astrophotographers in a crowded market. However, it’s not exactly the best for a number of unfortunate reasons which would be easy for the manufacturer to fix.
Sky-Watcher Skymax 150 Review: Recommended OTA
Sky-Watcher’s Skymax 150 optical tube is a great scope for planetary imaging or viewing, or as a more general-purpose “grab n’ go” or travel scope - though for the former, some caveats exist.
Sky-Watcher Skymax 127 Review: Partially Recommended OTA
Sky-Watcher’s Skymax 127 is a great “grab n’ go” or travel telescope, though it’s a bit limited compared to a slightly larger aperture offering and has some rather strange design flaws.
Sky-Watcher 8″ Flextube Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 8” FlexTube is great for those who place a premium on compactness, but the collapsible tube has some compromises - both in cost and usability.
Celestron NexStar 90SLT Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron NexStar 90SLT is a bizarre combination of convenient and inconvenient features which make very little sense to me as a purchase when put together as a package. I'd recommend getting something else.
Celestron NexStar Evolution 6 Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron NexStar Evolution 6” is one of Celestron’s best offerings - however, the high sticker price means there’s a plethora of cheaper alternatives with arguably more capability.
Apertura DT8 Review: Recommended Scope
The Apertura DT8 is one of the nicer beginner scopes available and at a great price, though this price does come with some concessions on accessories.
Sky-Watcher 10” Classic Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
The Sky-Watcher 10” Classic Dobsonian is a nice scope, as is any 10” Dob - but of the 10” commercially available scopes it’s not our top pick, and ultimately whether or not it’s a good choice largely depends on price and availability, which are increasingly volatile in current times.
Apertura AD10 Review: Editor’s Choice
The Apertura AD10 is one of the highest-quality beginner telescopes available today, and offers nearly unmatched value - despite its higher sticker price than some competing brands, it’s well worth the extra cost.
Orion SkyView Pro 8 EQ Review: Not Recommended
The Orion SkyView Pro is a veritable dinosaur of a telescope, and probably one you should skip unless you’re a masochist. Unfortunately, Orion Telescopes, the whole company, closed down their business in mid-2024.
Celestron Inspire 100AZ Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron Inspire 100AZ is supposed to be designed for beginners, and for the most part lives up to those expectations pretty well, though it still struggles to deliver on value compared to a Dobsonian.
Sky-Watcher Heritage 150p Review: Editor’s Choice
The Sky-Watcher Heritage 150P is essentially a scaled-up version of the beloved 130P, with similar features and drawbacks - with a key difference of a significant uptick in aperture.
Apertura DT6 Review: Editor’s Choice
The Apertura DT6 is the most well-made 6” Dobsonian on the market, if perhaps a little bulkier than its competitors.
Apertura AD12 Dobsonian Review: Editor’s Choice
The Apertura AD12 is a big scope that’s ideal for a big house and/or a big vehicle, but it also provides big, bold, bright, and beautiful views of the night sky.
Zhumell Z130 Telescope Review : Recommended Scope
The Zhumell Z130 is one of the best beginner telescopes available, though I, of course, have some inevitable nitpicks. If you can afford it, a full-sized 6” Dobsonian might be a bit better, but I very much like the Z130 nonetheless.
Zhumell Z114 Telescope Review: Recommended Scope
The Zhumell Z114 is one of our favorite beginner telescopes. It has little in the way of compromises in its optics or mechanical quality.
Zhumell Z10 Dobsonian Review – Editor’s Choice
The Zhumell Z10 is one of the best telescopes around, particularly in its price range and for beginners. We highly recommend it, even though it’s a bit expensive.
Apertura AD8 Dobsonian Review: Editor’s Choice
The Apertura AD8 costs more than some of its rivals but delivers accessories and value that can’t be beat.
Sarblue Mak60 Tabletop Tripod Telescope Review – Partially Recommended
The Sarblue 60mm Makstuvov doesn’t deliver on aperture, but it’s one of the most portable telescopes available.
Celestron Astro-Fi 130 Review – Recommended Scope
Celestron’s Astro-Fi 130 is part of the company’s latest attempts to make GoTo telescopes and stargazing as accessible as possible to newbie stargazers, and completely succeeds with only a few minor drawbacks.
Orion AstroView 6 EQ Reviewed – Recommended Scope
For those who must have an equatorially mounted telescope, the Orion AstroView 6 used to be a solid budget pick. Unfortunately, after the 2022 revision to the scope, that's no longer the case.
Sky-Watcher 6” Classic 150P Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
Sky-Watcher’s 6” Traditional offers some of the best value of any telescope in its price range, and enough accessories out of the box that you don’t have to buy anything else right away.
Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P Review: Editor’s Choice
The Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P is compact enough to go almost anywhere, and delivers quite a punch for its price point. Beloved by beginners and veteran observers alike, the 130P is one of our most-recommended telescopes.
Orion Observer 80ST EQ Review – Not Recommended
Orion’s Observer 80ST may look like the old ShortTube 80, but in reality it’s a cheapened parody of the venerable telescope it replaced.
Orion Starblast 90 Review – Not Recommended
Orion’s StarBlast 90 represents the latest in a series of cheap, shoddy products meant to cash in on Orion’s brand reputation, and is a scope you should avoid no matter the price.
Explore Scientific FirstLight 8″ Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
Explore Scientific’s FirstLight 8” Dob may not be the #1 pick in its price range, but it’s got a lot of unique features that make it more versatile for experienced observers.
Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Review – Not Recommended
Celestron’s PowerSeeker 127EQ is so bad that I'm genuinely baffled as to who in the world would’ve given this product a green light for manufacturing.
Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ Reviewed: Partially Recommended
The StarSense Explorer DX 102 is a nice telescope, but I consider a fully computerized instrument or a manual scope with more aperture to be a better pick. There's also a cheaper and similar Popular Science version of the scope that I'd prefer in its place.
Celestron’s PowerSeeker 50AZ Reviewed – Not Recommended
The PowerSeeker 50AZ is little more than a cheap toy designed to lure novices in based on Celestron’s brand reputation.
Orion StarBlast 62mm Travel Telescope Reviewed: Not Recommended
The Orion StarBlast 62mm Compact Travel Refractor Telescope isn’t particularly well-suited for both imaging or visual applications, though it is capable of both and of course tremendously compact.
Orion SkyQuest XX12i IntelliScope Reviewed: Editor’s Choice
The XX12i, simply put, provides huge aperture without huge inconveniences.
Meade Lightbridge Mini (82, 114, 130) Reviewed
Unfortunately, all Meade Lightbridge Mini series telescopes were discontinued in 2019.
Meade Infinity 90AZ Review – Recommended Product
Product permanently discontinued by Meade after the acquisition by Orion. The following review was published before the discontinuation.
Zhumell Z12 Dobsonian Reviewed – Editor’s Choice
The Zhumell Z12 isn’t for everyone thanks to its sheer size and bulk, but its big, bright, and beautiful views completely blow away what’s possible with smaller instruments.
Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Telescope Review: Recommended Scope
The Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 used to be a bit of an oddball in the SkyQuest Dobsonian line as well as the world of tabletop Dobsonians. When it was available, I found it to be a great first telescope, albeit a little small in aperture and expensive compared to its competitors.
Orion 180mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope Review: Recommended OTA
Those who are interested in having a small, light, and portable planetary setup without having to use a Barlow lens or a long telescope should definitely consider the Orion 180mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope, especially if they are looking for high-quality optics and a small central obstruction.
Zhumell Z100 Telescope Reviewed: Editor’s Choice
The Zhumell Z100 is one of the cheapest decent telescopes you can buy, and great for users of any skill level.
Orion StarBlast II 4.5 EQ Reviewed: Recommended Telescope
If you don’t mind the slight inconvenience and increased complexity of using an equatorial mount, Orion’s StarBlast II is certainly a great choice for the beginning astronomer or a serious enthusiast looking for a smaller and more lightweight instrument to complement a larger telescope.
Meade’s Infinity 80AZ Telescope Reviewed – Recommended Product
Product permanently discontinued by Meade after the acquisition by Orion. The following review was published before the discontinuation.
Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 Review: Editor’s Choice
The Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 is a fairly interesting telescope to me that includes great features to make using the telescope easy.
Zhumell Z8 Telescope Review – Editor’s Choice
The Z8 may not be the cheapest option for an 8” Dob out there, but it is certainly one of the best, particularly for beginners.
Explore Scientific 10” Truss Dobsonian Reviewed – Recommended Product
The Explore Scientific 10” Truss Dobsonian requires some fine-tuning and shopping to reach its full potential, but I found it to be well-made and extremely rewarding to use.
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Review: Recommended Star Tracker
The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i is an excellent star tracker for astrophotography, if perhaps on the lightweight side and requiring numerous aftermarket purchases by the user to get working.
Celestron CGX Equatorial Mount Review: Recommended Mount
I find the Celestron CGX to be an excellent-quality, heavy-duty mount for visual observation and astrophotography. When I used it, I encountered hardly any issues.
Celestron RASA 8” Reviewed: Recommended OTA
The Celestron RASA 8” is an excellent astrophotography telescope provided you understand its limitations, use case, and complex design.
SkyWatcher EQ6-Ri Pro Mount Review: Recommended Mount
If you plan on buying any equatorial mount for under $2500 USD, then the Sky-Watcher EQ6Ri Pro is absolutely for you.
Celestron CGEM II Mount Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron CGEM II is a versatile and acceptable quality mount for large visual setups, planetary imaging, and deep-sky astrophotography, but isn’t as well-designed as some other competing mounts I've tried that are being offered at similar prices.
Sky-Watcher HEQ5i Pro Review: Editor’s Choice Mount
The Sky-Watcher HEQ5i Pro Mount is a well-made machine that can serve you for quite a while, I assure you.
Explore Scientific ED127 Essential Reviewed: Recommended OTA
The Explore Scientific ED Essentials 127ED isn’t the best imaging telescope out there but provides excellent views at the eyepiece and is a serviceable, if heavy, astrograph too.
Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED Review: Recommended OTA
The Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED is an excellent telescope for visual astronomy as well as astrophotography without breaking the bank or requiring a bulky and expensive mount to be used.
Orion ED80 Review: Partially Recommended OTA
A decent ED doublet refractor, the Orion ED80 is great optically but its mediocre mechanics make it a harder sell than some competing instruments, particularly for imaging use.
Celestron PowerSeeker 70EQ Reviewed – Not Recommended
The Celestron PowerSeeker 70EQ has a decent mount and optics, but lacks enough aperture or good enough accessories for me to recommend it.
Celestron C9.25 XLT Reviewed: Highly Recommended!
While certainly a bit of a niche telescope (as with any Schmidt-Cassegrain) the Celestron C9.25 XLT is probably the best SCT on the market and has outstanding optical performance.
Orion StarSeeker IV 150mm GoTo Reflector Telescope Review
The Orion StarSeeker IV 150mm has some unique features - and some unique flaws. It's a decent instrument, but not for everyone.
Orion Astroview 120ST Telescope Reviewed – Recommended Scope
The Orion AstroView 120ST isn’t a bad scope, but its high price tag, poor views of planets and its small aperture make it less-than-ideal for beginners.
Celestron Omni XLT 120 Review: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Omni XLT 120 is a nice telescope, but i believe beginners might want to shop for something else that provides more aperture and user-friendliness.
Celestron Powerseeker 114AZ Review: Not Recommended
Celestron’s Powerseeker line once again fails to deliver with their 114AZ model. I’d recommend steering clear of this one.
Meade Infinity 102AZ Reviewed – Recommended Scope
Product permanently discontinued by Meade after the acquisition by Orion. The following review was published before the discontinuation.
Celestron C11 XLT Review: Recommended OTA
The Celestron C11 XLT is a big scope with huge capabilities. However, it’s not for everyone.
Meade StarNavigator NG 102mm Review – Not Recommended
Product permanently discontinued by Meade after the acquisition by Orion. The following review was published before the discontinuation.
Celestron ExploraScope 114AZ Review: Not Recommended
Celestron’s ExploraScope 114EQ is plagued by poor design all around. I’d recommend steering clear.
Celestron SkyProdigy 130 Review – Not Recommended
Celestron’s SkyProdigy 130 might seem innovative, but to the most of us, it's a technological failure commanding an overly high price and dramatically overpromising its capabilities.
Celestron Advanced VX 8″ SCT Reviewed: Recommended Scope
The Celestron Advanced VX 8 is one of the best telescopes in their Advanced VX series of telescope and mount bundles, thanks to its relatively modest weight and bulk, decent portability, and acceptable amount of astrophotography capability.
Celestron C8 XLT Review: Recommended OTA
While certainly a bit of a niche telescope (as with any Schmidt-Cassegrain) the Celestron C8 XLT is probably the best SCT on the market and has outstanding optical performance.
Orion Apex 127mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Reviewed: Partially Recommended OTA
The Orion Apex 127 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope is a great choice for astronomers on the go who want a lightweight, portable scope for viewing bright targets, though it doesn’t offer the best value for the money.
Orion StarMax 90mm Review: Partially Recommended
In my view, Orion StarMax 90mm Tabletop is that it is an ill-suited combination of an otherwise acceptable telescope and mount, priced way too high for the level of build quality or performance it offers.
Celestron NexStar 6SE Review: Recommended Scope
Celestron’s NexStar 6SE is one of the best value computerized telescopes available, if perhaps inferior to many Dobsonians that retail at a similar price.
Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope Review: Recommended Scope
We like the Orion StarBlast 6i, but you might be best off with a bigger and more capable telescope for the same price.
Orion FunScope 76mm Reviewed – Partially Recommended
You won’t find too many bells and whistles on the FunScope, but what you will find is a small, portable, easy-to-use telescope, ready to explore the skies.
Celestron’s NexStar 102SLT Review – Partially Recommended
The NexStar 102SLT would be a decent scope were it not for its wobbly mount - as such, my recommendation is to buy something else.
Orion 8” f/4 Astrograph Telescope Reviewed: Recommended OTA
The Orion 8” f/4 Newtonian Reflector Astrograph is a decent imaging telescope and provides me great views at the eyepiece as well.
Orion Sirius EQ-G Mount Review: Recommended Mount
The Orion Sirius EQ-G computerised GoTo Mount was an excellent entry-level mount, as I've experienced.
Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ Review: Partially Recommended
I believe Celestron’s PowerSeeker 80EQ is the best product in the entire PowerSeeker line. However, it still suffers from a number of weaknesses and shortcomings, mostly due to the fact that Celestron seems to insist on marketing it as capable of absurd 675x magnification power and terrestrial observing.
Orion StarBlast 6 Tabletop Telescope Reviewed: Recommended Scope
The Orion StarBlast 6 is big for a tabletop scope, but offers the same quality as regular freestanding 6” Dobsonians albeit with a wider field of view.
Celestron 114 LCM Computerized Telescope Review – Not Recommended
The Celestron 114LCM is a complete rip-off, with a low-quality mount and optics that are below what has been considered acceptable for decades. It's clear to me that a newbie buying one would be frustrated and might even potentially quit the hobby.
Orion SkyScanner 100mm: Recommended Telescope
Orion SkyScanner 100, being small and light, is a real grab and go telescope that retails for just above $100.
Explore Scientific AR102 Reviewed
The Explore Scientific AR102 is a decent telescope, though as an achromatic refractor it’s limited in utility as well as overall value for the money.
Meade Polaris 130mm Telescope Review – Recommended Product
Product permanently discontinued by Meade after the acquisition by Orion. The following review was published before the discontinuation.
Celestron Astromaster 114EQ Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ works. But its poor optics, confusing mount, and awful accessories make it a terrible scope for the price.
Orion Observer 90mm EQ Telescope Reviewed – Partially Recommended Scope
The Orion Observer 90 is a great telescope for the Moon, planets, and other bright targets, but suffers from the limitations of any 90mm aperture - not enough aperture for deep-sky viewing.
Celestron Travel Scope 50 Review: Not Recommended
The TravelScope 50 is an embarrassingly bad telescope that is little more than a decoration or toy.
Celestron Omni XLT 150 Review: Recommended Scope
Celestron’s Omni XLT 150 is a good choice for beginners who want a quality, medium-aperture telescope that isn’t a Dobsonian or a tabletop scope.
Meade Infinity 70AZ Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Meade Infinity 70AZ is decent but suffers from the typical pitfalls of such a cheap and small aperture instrument.
Celestron FirstScope Telescope Review – Partially Recommended
If you absolutely must have a telescope and only have $70 or so, the Celestron FirstScope will do.
Celestron NexStar 8SE Review: Partially Recommended
If you can afford the high price and don’t mind the tediousness of aligning a GoTo system and collimating a Schmidt-Cassegrain, the Celestron NexStar 8SE is for you.
Sky-Watcher 8″ Classic Dobsonian Review: Recommended Scope
Sky-Watcher’s Classic 200P offers views simply never before possible at its price range, and gives you excellent bang for your buck, second only to my favorite, the Apertura AD8 Dobsonian
Meade ETX125-AT GoTo Telescope Review – Partially Recommended
The Meade ETX-125 AT is a rather niche use instrument optimized solely for the Moon, planets, and double stars - as well as portability. I would say that it’s a great scope for the job if you are okay with its limitations.
Celestron Astromaster 76EQ Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster 76EQ isn’t a terrible telescope, but given its poor value and poor accessories I’d recommend shopping for something else.
Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ Review: Not Recommended
The Celestron AstroMaster 130 is widely advertised and praised as one of the better beginner telescopes out there. But it suffers from several shortcomings that tend to make it infuriating to use out of the box.
Orion SkyQuest XT10 Reviewed: Recommended Scope
The Orion XT10 is an excellent, time-tested instrument great for newcomers and experienced astronomers, but isn’t the most well-accessorized 10" dobsonian that I've used in its price range.
Meade ETX 80 Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
Following Meade’s acquisition by Orion Instruments, Meade Observer 80 was permanently discontinued. However, this review remains relevant for anyone considering a used model.
Celestron PowerSeeker 114EQ Review: Not Recommended
Celestron’s PowerSeeker 114EQ, like all of its siblings in the PowerSeeker line, are unusable scopes which I don’t recommend to beginners. However, the 114EQ is a little better than the other PowerSeekers.
Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector Reviewed – Editor’s Choice
The Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro is an instrument that I consider to be an excellent beginner scope or even a “grab n’ go” complement to a larger telescope, and is sold at a remarkably low price.
Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ Telescope Review: Recommended Scope
While Dobsonians tend to be recommended to beginners, Orion’s SpaceProbe 130ST promises to deliver decent views with the promise of astrophotography down the road. It’s not a bad scope, but it’s of little practical benefit compared to just buying a Dobsonian.
Orion SkyQuest XT6 Review: Recommended Scope
While the trend lately among most amateurs, including myself, is to recommend a larger 8” (or even 10”!) Dobsonian to beginners, I think 6” f/8 Dobsonians like the Orion XT6 are still a great choice if you are on a budget or just not sure how much money you want to invest into the hobby starting out.
Unbiased Celestron Skymaster Giant 15X70 Binoculars Review
The Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars aren’t exactly the most well-crafted or well-inspected big binoculars out there, but they are quite cost-effective and fairly good performers.
Orion SkyQuest XT8 Review: Recommended Scope
While the base Orion SkyQuest XT8 is somewhat accessory-poor, it surrenders nothing to more expensive 8” telescopes.
Meade ETX-90 AT Telescope Review: Partially Recommended
The Meade ETX-90 is a nice telescope. But when I look closely at it, it lacks the performance or features to justify its price tag, nearly double that of its competitors.
Celestron NexStar 130SLT Review: Partially Recommended
The NexStar 130SLT works, but its mediocre and outdated mounting isn’t exactly the best option for the price.
Celestron NexStar 5SE Review: Recommended Scope
Celestron’s NexStar 5SE is popularly recommended and bought as a beginner telescope. However, in my opinion, its high price and low capabilities make it a questionable choice for beginners.
Celestron NexStar 4SE Review: Partially Recommended
While small GoTo telescopes aren’t the most useful instruments for beginners interested in astronomy, the Celestron NexStar 4SE is not a terrible package.
Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ Review – Not Recommended
Celestron’s AstroMaster 70AZ promises to be a fully-functioning telescope for under 150 dollars in price – and a refractor on a tripod, at that. I don't see it delivering on that promise.
NexStar 127SLT Telescope Review – Partially Recommended
The NexStar 127SLT isn’t bad. However, it struck me that it comes with serious limitations that make it a questionable proposition in value.