Whether you’re prepping for the next meteor shower or eager to explore the cosmos, check out my ranking of the best telescopes on Amazon.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. Celestron - NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope
Highlight: Includes a database that comes with more than forty thousand celestial objects.
Helpful review: I’m in love with this telescope. It has super optics, which is by far the best part about it. I love how easy it is to use and I’ve found that I’ve never had any issues spotting stuff in the sky–and that’s coming from an 80 year old grandma who struggles with using an Iphone!
Just top of the line, top-notch. I’m a novice astronomer, and I was worried it would be difficult to use, but it’s just super easy! This definitely gets five stars, but I guess if I had to take off half a star, I might, and here is why.
1. Lacks a power supply. You’ll need eight double AA batteries to get it working, and I don’t know if you’ve checked the prices of batteries recently, but they’re cheap. And if you’re using this as often as I am, the batteries really don’t last long. I just really feel like for the money you’re investing it to this, at the very least it should come with a plug! Even my I phone has that! The internal battery isn’t that great and it dims the back light some when you use it. You can get a power pack, but expect to spend about fifty bucks on average on that. The easiest solution is probably to spend your extra dollars on a portable battery supply made by Celestron, but even a third party would work..
2. The star pointer is super helpful for basic astronomers like me, but once you get comfortable with it, you might find yourself wanting something a little nicer, like one with some magnification and crosshairs. This one also had the highest learning curve. I recommend checking out YouTube. My grandson recommended them and they were very helpful. If this is your first telescope like it was for me, don’t go all in on buying extra equipment. The 25mm eyepiece that is included does a pretty good job and gives enough magnification that you can get the hang of it. My next plan is to get an eyepiece that widens the FOV–field of view if you’re new here haha. From the research I’ve done, the 32-40 range is ideal for that.
I also recommend grabbing the cheap 7x50 binoculars that Celestron sells. It’s helpful in scanning the sky first to pick which area you want to look at. Honestly, even in the city, like where I live, I can still see so much with both the binoculars and the telescopes, despite the light pollution. Really couldn’t recommend this enough! — Billie Davidson
Get it from Amazon now: $1,599.00 & FREE Returns
2. Gskyer - 400mm Focal Length and 80mm Aperture
Highlight: Includes a high quality full sized tripod.
Helpful review: Astronomy was a hobby of mine in college, but I kinda forgot about it until my divorce forced me to find new hobbies. I’m so happy I got back into it. I’m now a proud owner of a spotting scope and three telescopes. I’d consider this Gskyer scope more of an entry level scope with an 80 mm focus length that comes as a dual refractor telescope and spotting scope. It also comes with a tripod, three different eyepieces, and a 3X barlow.
Honestly, I really like that it works during the day and at night. In daylight, you can use it as a spotting scope, and at night, it works like a regular astronomy telescope. It’s pretty easy to use (I’ve had some scopes that have a much higher learning curve). I think the stability of the mount is what makes it easier to use. Because it comes with a barlow and three different eyepieces, you’ll find that you have a good variety of magnifications to play around with. It’s compact, too, which makes it super easy to travel and play around with if you also have larger scopes on hand.
THE MOUNT:
This is definitely my favorite part about this telescope. It’s stable and solid and really easy to move around. A lot of entry level scopes, because they’re cheaper, don’t have solid tripods, and it makes you regret not spending money on something nicer. But then you’re stuck, because you don’t even know if this is something you want to invest in as a hobby, but then you can’t even play around with a good tool. I like that this telescope offers the best of both words–being able to play around with an entry level scope that actually gives you a good test of how it would work–all because of the mount. There’s also a dovetail attachment which means that you can attach it to other optical tubes or accessories in the future. It also comes with an extra stud situated on the mountain rings so you can mount accessories or cameras. Definitely a nice touch and not something I’ve seen before on other entry level scopes.
THE OPTICAL TUBE ASSEMBLY:
The optical tube assembly gives you a solid image and works exactly as it's supposed to. The focuser wasn’t difficult to play around with at all, and it comes with an option that shows you the correct image so that you can also use it during the day as a spotting scope. I like using it at night too when I’m comparing the differences between the chart and the sky. It comes with the standard 1.25 that you’ll find with most scopes, meaning that you can add different accessories in the future if you want to play around with this more. Keep in mind that you’re gonna have to align the optical tube with the finder, and that’s standard for most telescopes. But I’d recommend doing it during the day, and you’ll definitely want to do this if you plan to use the telescope at all–both during the day and at night.. The trick is using a target in the distance, at least five hundred feet away when you do it.
EYEPIECES:
I love the eye pieces this scope comes with. They definitely suit the product and can be used with your typical astronomy filters and you can use them when you’re looking at planets, the moon, and even stars. For the day time, I recommend sticking with the 16X and the 40X, they’re pretty good options. You’ll also have 240X, 120X, 80X, and 48X to play around with. When you’re using it at night, 140 to 160 is usually the max, but it's cool because with the 1.25 size, you’ll be able to add a focal length or other zoom eyepieces.
WHAT CAN YOU SEE WITH THIS PACKAGE?
A lot! That’s what. In daylight, I was able to zoom in on the maple tree leaves from a distance of about a hundred and fifty feet, like half of a football field. The detail was awesome. I could see down to the individual veins in the leaves. Really playing around it, I used it at a distance of eight hundred feet and could even see a bird sitting at the top of the branches. Overall, just really good results.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
It’s definitely meant to be an astronomy scope, and I love using it for that, and I’d just say it worked pretty good in comparison with my other 80mm scopes. The mounts are super easy to use and I love how easy it is to use the focuser too. Keep in mind that your personal experience is going to change depending on how much light pollution you have. The darker it is, the more you’re gonna be able to see, obviously, but remember that with any telescope, it’s not gonna be the exact same as long exposure photographs. You’re gonna be able to see what planets, stars, and different parts of the sky that you definitely can’t see with your plain old eyes.
IN SUMMARY:
If you want a spotting scope during the day and a telescope at night, then this is it for you! The standard 1.25 eyepiece is ideal because you can expand and add onto it with more filters, more eyepieces, and more accessories. Oh, and you can take pics and videos through it! Which honestly makes this one of my favorites to use. It’s pretty easy to figure out, and I’d recommend that anyone under ten may need some help, but honestly, it’s awesome. Go get it. You won’t regret it. — Andy J. Anderson
Get it from Amazon now: $199.99 & FREE Returns
3. HexEum - 600mm Focal Length and 80mm Aperture
Highlight: Includes a wireless remote and phone adapter.
Helpful review: Finally! Now I have my very own way to look at the moon and the stars. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be and more. I want to be an astronaut when I grow up, so this was a great sixteenth birthday present for my mom so I could look at the stars I’ll hopefully be able to visit in the future! It has the perfect amount of brightness and contrast, and my mom said it was affordable, but not cheap! If that makes sense. Like you can tell it isn’t made cheap.
It tracks smoothly, comes with all the accessories you could hope to have, and there’s even a longer focal length that gives you bigger images. It’s pretty light weight, and there’s a really cool mount that makes it easier to use. The only downside I found was that the manual tracking get a little taxing when you’re using it all night. It’s not the professional scope that I’ve tested out at observatories, but it’s something I can use at home and keep my passions fired up!
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I’ve done a lot of research and study while learning how to use this. In terms of a refractor, I’d recommend not going smaller than the 90mm. If you have extra cash to spend (I don’t but I’m saving up my allowance), you should invest in a set of binos from Orion–ideally the 10X50 and the 20X80. It helps you figure out how to study the night sky and learn more about what you’re looking at.
UPDATE 1:
I’d like to think that I’m pretty familiar with the sky and the stars, and I was super excited to try this out. It only took about an hour and a half to put it together. Just be patient, follow the directions, and you can also watch videos online if you get confused. That’s what I ended up doing. I was able to spot Jupiter with my 20mm eyepieces and I could even see the bands and the four moons. The stars are crystal clear. Definitely make sure you get the SkyGuide app on iPhone, it really helps you figure out what you’re looking at. I haven’t tried the digital eye pieces yet, but I’m excited to get that going.
UPDATE 2:
I’ve been using this telescope for months, and I freaking love this thing. I still give it top stars, but I will say that because this doesn’t have an apochromatic lens, the chromatic aberration is gonna get in the way a little. I guess this is common with budget scopes, but I’m still really glad that I’ve been learning to use this.
UPDATE 3:
I definitely will be upgrading to a better telescope at some point in my life, but for my first one, this definitely does what I need it to do. The only reason I want to get a better one is because you’re missing some details on the planets in the sky and I couldn’t spot the Andromeda galaxy which is something I’m able to see in my Nikon binos. But for the moon and the plants, you’re definitely gonna be able to see good stuff. The tripod is super sturdy and the whole thing is light to carry around. Definitely play around with the 900mm focal length for checking out the moon in detail.
Overall, I think that for my first telescope this is great! And it definitely has allowed me to show my mom that I’m serious about learning about the sky and pursuing my career as an astronaut! Definitely recommend! — Cindy Webster
Get it from Amazon now: $129.99 & FREE Returns
4. ToyerBee - 300mm Focal Length and 70mm Aperture
Highlight: Comes with an unlimited three year tech support.
Helpful review: I’ve never used a telescope before, but I’ve been a hobby astronomer for quite some time and I was excited to take the plunge and get my first scope. Before this, I used a pair of Cometron binos to star gaze, and wow, this is definitely a step above that!
The magnification is just beautiful, and it’s really expanded my ability to understand the beauty of the sky. I can actually see the craters on the moon, it’s that cool! Oh, and Jupiter! You’re not gonna see the differing shades on the planets, you’ll need a more professional scope for that, but honestly for a first telescope, this is it, above and beyond what I wanted. It comes with a high barlow object that gives you more zoom to play around with, but I do have trouble focusing it sometimes. You’re gonna have to find some patience to figure it out, as there is a slight learning curve.
When you use the lowest magnification, you’ll get super crisp focus. I ended up using a solar filter, which you can buy separately, and that let me look at the sun and solar flares in more detail, which was really cool.
For a first telescope, this is great. You’ll learn how to spot planets, play around with the finder, and just do basic stuff like getting to know how a telescope works. It’s definitely worth the price in my opinion. There’s not too many extra parts, and assembly was pretty straightforward. I love that it comes with a tripod too.
So if you’re just starting out with astronomy as a hobby, but you don’t want to spend a crap ton on a professional telescope, I recommend trying this out, just make sure you keep your expectations in check and recognize that this isn’t gonna be like NASA. I’m really happy with it.
A FEW WORDS FROM A NEIGHBOR:
What impressive optics this baby has! I love the aperture size and it really allows in a lot of natural light. The images are super crisp and clear and you can really get a good sense of the universe out there! It comes with a super sturdy mount, too. It was pretty easy to put it together, too, and I figured it out and had a lot of fun in just one night of using it! Oh and it comes with a great range for the magnification of the eye pieces too. You’re gonna have a lot of flexibility with being able to study the planets and the moon. You can tell that it’s just built really well and that the materials are made to last. I think it’s something that both hobbyists and professional astronomers can appreciate.
MY FRIEND’S REVIEW:
I had a more expensive telescope that I ended up returning after finding dust in the lens. I know, it's annoying. I’m so happy that this ended up happening though because man, I just love this scope so much. It’s super clear, the lens is 70mm, and honestly for the price, good luck getting anything better. It’s durable and sturdy and it’s just an overall really solid project. I love that I can see how bright the planets are, and it’s usually hard to spot them with a manual scope like this. Definitely check out the phone apps, there’s a bunch out there that allow you to see all the sky and the whole world up there. The adapter for the phone is super cool, but keep in mind how good it will work is also based on the quality of your camera. With my iPhone, I used night mode and put the exposure at the three to ten second mark, and that really helped. Honestly, I just love this thing. Can’t recommend it enough! — Gabriel & Laurie Kraus
Get it from Amazon now: $74.99 & FREE Returns