Best overall
Seestar S50 Pro
50 mm aperture, 4K sensor, 63° wide camera and a 9-hour battery for $999. No other model combines this much under $2,000.
- 50 mm
- 2.45° × 1.38°
- 2.8 kg
- $999
Smart telescopes, compared from the spec sheet up
Seestar, DWARF, Unistellar, Vaonis and Celestron Origin: 14 current models with verified specs, fields of view drawn to scale and US prices checked on 11 Nov 2026.
Our top picks
Best value
Seestar S30 Pro
A 4K IMX585 and the widest telephoto field here (3.99° × 2.24°) in a 1.65 kg body for $699 list.
- 30 mm
- 3.99° × 2.24°
- 1.65 kg
- $699
Best image quality
Celestron Origin Mark II
152 mm at f/2.2 collects about 7.7× the light of a 50 mm scope. Heavy (18.9 kg) and $4,299.
- 152 mm
- 1.32° × 0.75°
- 12.5 kg
- $4,299
All best picks and why · For beginners · Under $1,000 · For planets · For city skies
What fits in the frame?
S30 Pro · S50 Pro · Odyssey
Field of view decides what you can frame. Compare any model on any target with the field of view comparator, or read what you can see with a smart telescope.
Aperture: how much light each one collects
Popular comparisons
Every model
| Model | List price | Aperture | Field of view | Weight | Battery | Image scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seestar S50 | $499 | 50 mm | 1.29° × 0.73° | 2.5 kg | 6 h | 2.39″/px |
| Seestar S50 Pro | $999 | 50 mm | 2.45° × 1.38° | 2.8 kg | 9 h | 2.30″/px |
| Seestar S30 | $399 | 30 mm | 2.13° × 1.20° | 1.65 kg | 6 h | 3.99″/px |
| Seestar S30 Pro | $699 | 30 mm | 3.99° × 2.24° | 1.65 kg | 6 h | 3.74″/px |
| DWARF 3 | $599 | 35 mm | 2.93° × 1.65° | 1.3 kg | 5.5 h | 2.75″/px |
| DWARF mini | $399 | 30 mm | 2.13° × 1.20° | 0.84 kg | 4 h | 3.99″/px |
| Unistellar Odyssey | $2,599 | 85 mm | 0.75° × 0.56° | 4 kg | 5 h | 0.93″/px |
| Unistellar Odyssey Pro | $4,599 | 85 mm | 0.75° × 0.56° | 4 kg | 5 h | 0.93″/px |
| Unistellar eQuinox 2 | $2,899 | 114 mm | 0.76° × 0.57° | 7 kg | 11 h | 1.33″/px |
| Unistellar eVscope 2 | $4,999 | 114 mm | 0.76° × 0.57° | 7 kg | 9 h | 1.33″/px |
| Vaonis Vespera II | $1,590 | 50 mm | 2.50° × 1.40° | 5 kg | 4 h | 2.39″/px |
| Vaonis Vespera 3 | $2,490 | 50 mm | 2.50° × 1.40° | 5 kg | 11 h | 2.44″/px |
| Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 | $2,990 | 50 mm | 1.60° × 1.60° | 5 kg | 11 h | 1.70″/px |
| Celestron Origin Mark II | $4,299 | 152 mm | 1.32° × 0.75° | 12.5 kg | 6 h | 1.23″/px |
Frequently asked questions
What is a smart telescope?
A smart telescope combines a small telescope, a camera sensor, a motorised mount and a computer in one unit. You control it from a phone app: it plate-solves its position, slews to the target, tracks it and stacks short exposures live, so an image builds up on screen in minutes.
Can I look through a smart telescope?
Most have no eyepiece. You view on a phone or tablet. The Unistellar Odyssey Pro and eVscope 2 add a digital eyepiece that shows the same processed image.
Are smart telescopes good for planets?
Only partly. Their short focal lengths give 1–4 arcseconds per pixel, so Jupiter covers roughly 8–50 pixels. Unistellar's Odyssey and eQuinox/eVscope models do best; Seestars and DWARFs are deep-sky instruments.
Do I need a dark sky?
No, but it helps. Emission nebulae respond well to the dual-band filters built into Seestar and DWARF 3 models even from a city. Galaxies need darker skies or long total exposure.
What is EQ mode?
Alt-az mounts rotate the field during long tracking, which limits exposures to roughly 10–20 s. In EQ mode the telescope is tilted to the celestial pole (with a wedge or tilting head) so the field no longer rotates and exposures can reach 60–90 s.