20 Best Handheld Telescope For Stargazing (2023 Updated)

Just got this home tonight and unboxed/haven’t officially used it yet. Keep in mind, I own many telescopes and have enjoyed astronomy for many years. I wasn’t expecting much for the price, but here are my first impressions: This is a plastic telescope with “ok” optics, not something for any “serious” astronomy/observing, other than the moon or a fleeting glimpse of Saturn or possibly Mars.

It will give a good close-up view of the moon surface, but not at a high resolution. Mars will look like a small reddish circle (SMALL), and will be able to tell that Saturn has rings, but will not be much more than a yellowish circle that has a slight bulge around the middle (the rings).

It might be okay for terrestrial viewing (distant mountains/landscapes, etc. ), so don’t expect greatness. The construction is all plastic, with only a few metal parts. This makes the entire setup very lightweight and easy to carry, which is it’s strongest attribute.

Don’t tighten any of the screws/knobs more than just enough to keep things from falling off, otherwise you risk stripping the threads. The OTA tube itself is plastic with a decal covering that looks neat, but it’s still just plastic.

I keep mentioning plastic as that means the entire assembly could be damaged/broken if treated roughly, so just be nice to it and it should work well. The tripod leaves a lot to be desired. Yes it is lightweight, but is very susceptible to vibration from even just a slight puff of wind which will result in a “shaky” image.

The pan/tilt (Alt/Az) controls are identical to a cheap camera tripod (in fact, this can certainly be used for a small “point-n-shoot” type camera just fine) and do not lend themselves to easy tracking of objects (remember, the moon and earth are moving relative to each other and will not stay centered in the eyepiece for but a few moments – this requires a constant and gentle “tracking” of objects as they move across the sky).

Mine did not come with the Barlow lens, but I have other high quality eye pieces and filters that I can use (it takes standard 1. 25″ eyepieces). The included eyepieces (10mm and 20mm) are okay for this scope.

Better eyepieces are available but won’t be of big benefit on this scope. Honestly, this would not be my first choice in a beginner telescope, as for a little more money ($150 range) you can get a much bigger/better scope that would provide better planetary viewing.

This might be a nice thing to bring along on a family camping trip to keep the kids occupied, as it is a very lightweight and compact unit, but like I said above: don’t expect greatness. I purchased this for a specific purpose of sighting in my rifle instead of a much more costly spotting scope.

This actually provides much better magnification than an entry-level spotting scope sold at sporting goods retailers for a fraction of the cost, with a trade off that this scope isn’t as “field-durable” as the more costly options.

For my purposes, this is a fantastic choice. For astronomers, this is below average. You DO get the Starry Night software included, which is a nice software package for astronomy, although I still prefer Stellarium.

There is also a free ebook download with amazing images of the moon. The cell phone adapter isn’t anything special, although it will allow you to actually take some nice pics with your phone. The cell phone mount is not capable of supporting a DSLR (nor is the scope or tripod, for that matter), so this is not an ideal setup for astrophotography aside from taking a few memento types of pics to post on social media.

The backpack is padded with a few pockets and a divider that will hold everything, but won’t provide much in the way of protection from bumps/drops/etc. My review sounds very negative but I’m trying to be honest.

it’s an okay product, and it will work as intended. Just don’t set too high of expectations and if you are looking at starting out with astronomy, I feel there are better options. Celestron is a great company and they make quality products, so this would be a better choice than an equally priced knock-off brand, but again – make sure your expectations are realistic for a sub-$100 telescope.

First telescope I buy and it has performed as expected. From my city with usually foggy skies and much light pollution I’ve been able to see Moon craters, Jupiter’s moons and Saturn’s rings. Easy to mount and use.

Also good for terrestrial observation. The only shortcoming I see is that the aim always moves down somewhat inmediately after locking the handle. Maybe the tripod isn’t rigid enough. But overall I’m happy with this purchase.

This may be the biggest tabletop of all time. It certainly performs above its weight. Very much recommended. My only problem is that it was packed for shipment overseas mounted on its single arm base.

Of course it cracked the mount. I don’t know what they were thinking over there. I decided to reinforce both sides with metal plates and paint them black. I think it may be stronger than new. But the scope does a great job for a 130.

Just what I was looking for when I don’t want to break out the big boy.

Out of the box, I rated this Zhumell z130 as a 3. 5 stars scope. The fit and finish is nice. The mirrors are fine. The mount is perfect for me. That said, this scope needed modifications. Both mirrors required alignment, easily done with a collimation laser.

The red-dot finder was replaced with a laser pointer holder. I added what’s called a ‘navigation knob” under the objective. This is a handle that makes guiding the scope an easier process. Then, there’s that plastic focuser which probably costs only a few cents to produce.

I found nothing of quality on the internet; 1. 25″ focusers are apparently passe’. I do have a JMI aluminum 1. 25 Crayford style unit, but fitting it would require using a tin snips on the Zhumell’s tube, a last resort maybe.

I found a link to a possible alternative at https://telescopeadvisor. com and used it, following the instructions for tuning-up a plastic focuser. Additionally, I drilled/threaded two holes for plastic, finger adjustable set-screws on each side of the focuser body.

They provide variable friction against the eyepiece tube. This allows for finer focusing and prevents the tube from wobbling. Too, the unit now supports the weight of even heavy eyepieces such as my 22mm Tele Vue Panoptic.

So far, so good. If you have handy-person skills, go for it. I rate this scope as a 4 star instrument, now. Labeled a “beginner’s” telescope, to that I say rubbish, I’ve used such scopes for years. I prefer smaller scopes with altazimuth mounts for their simplicity and portability (I’ve got an 8″ Dob that’s mostly been collecting dust for years).

My star-finder is the Sky Atlas 2000. 0, cheaper and lighter weight than any “go-to” scope. The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide by Terence Dickinson & Alan Dyer still serves me well. Simplify, simplify, simplify, indeed; I like it a lot, this Zhumell z130 telescope.

The Zhumell tabletop Z114 is a great package. Optics are good. I did tweak the collimation a bit upon arrival, but it wasn’t too far off. The red dot finder is the real deal. The two eyepieces seem very good as well.

I sought this as a gift for grandsons, but will keep this one with me for when they visit. It’s portability is perfect for young enthusiasts. It’s a solid and amazing value at $150.

Having been in Astronomy since 2018 I was looking for a Prtable and compact Telescope. I looked at the Orion Telescopes and Binoculars website and I found what I was looking for. So I bought the Orion GoScope III 70 mm Refractor Travel Telescope kit.

The kit included everything I need. This particular telescope has all the things and it fits nicely in the backpack, it even comes with two Eyepieces a 20 mm and a 9 mm a 45 degree diagonal and a 5 X 24 Finderscope and a Tripod.

Nothing ese to buy it’s a complete Kit. For this telescope you have to sit an a chair. when you want to observe either Astronomy Observing or Terrestrial Observing it’s very easy to set up takes only minutes.

One thing beware you will get addicted to this very nice Telescope and Telescope KIt.

I have the Orion GoScope III Telescope and will buy the 2nd Orion GoScope III 70 mm Refractor Travel Telescope. I will use this Particular Telescope because it’s always great to have a spare Telescope.

Knowing how fun and easy it is to use, I always like Orion Telescopes and I like the Company Orion Telescopes & Binoculars. I am also a big fan of the Orion GoScope III Telescope. And it will be a joy to use when I look thru this Telescope and I see the Mon, the Planets, the Stars and Star Constellation and I will use it when I do my Astronomy Observation and my Terrestrial Observation.

Let’s start with shipping was fast. 2 days early! Second it is an amazing telescope for beginners. It can see the four planets of Jupiter really good with both 20mm and the 9mm especially. It definitely keeps up with why they sent you a moon map cause you can see everything.

Going to be adding to it to go beyond the 2 eyepieces they give you with the orion premium lens kit cause it’s the same price as this kitted scope package. Which is an amazing price for it. Definitely look it up.

The look on my daughters face when she seen the moon her first time through this was priceless, and the hug and kiss I got from her right after couldn’t even match the money I paid for it. I’m super cherishing the moments.

Especially the first time seeing stuff moments. She is 6 and so inspired by space. Thank you orion and thank you walmart for the middle man. I highly recommend orion telescopes.

The mount is very sturdy for this lightweight OTA; the problem is the mount head bolt is epoxy fixed, so the head cannot be replaced. The scope itself has the longer 660mm focal length, as compared to the standard 600 of most 100mm objectives.

The doublet achro lens are single coated for anti reflections; however, this does not detract from image quality. The lens housing is plastic. The dew shield is too short to be effective at reducing light reflections.

The 2″ focuser has the longer tube, to accomodate the longer focal length; as it would seem the normal 600mm scopes actually use the same scope tube. Chromatic abberations are not bad for a semi-fast f/6.

5 telescope. Whereas an f/5 scope will give nice purple fringing on bright objects, such as Sirius; the 102AZ gave a smaller blueish fringe. The small dovetail attached directly to the scope tube is not as effective as would be an actual system of scope rings with an 8″ dovetail.

The lens quality is quite good and would benefit from upgraded rings/dovetail, double speed focuser, longer dew shield, & better lens housing.

I have owned 6” and 8” SCT telescopes and a 14” Dobsonian, but the Unistellar eQuinox had me jumping for joy. I charged it on its arrival and took it outside my condo that night in the suburbs. It was so easy to turn on, align, check collimation, focus, and take a dark frame.

I was amazed it only took 5 minutes. The software was easy to use and the connection to my iPad was stable even though I operated it from the warmth of my living room for half the cold night. The first thing I looked at was Orion’s Great Nebula.

It was amazing in the Live View and absolutely outstanding in the Enhanced Vision mode. I have viewed numerous objects thus far and am loving astronomy more than I ever have. I even viewed a dim comet and can hardly wait for the next “good” comet.

In addition to the above, this scope is design perfection. Only a tripod and the mount + scope parts. The tripod is a work of art as is the scope. They are also highly functional I have not been able to view any planets, but Uranus was pretty great and at least I was sure I was looking at it since this scope always centers the object it slews too.

I can hardly wait to try it on Saturn or Jupiter, but I am sure I will like them, but still use my SCTs to view them I love this telescope and have the highest customer satisfaction I have ever had. I do not know anyone at Unistellar or OPT and am not being paid by anyone.

This product deserves this review. There may be some astrophotographers that may dislike this scope, but I can look at new objects after every 5 minutes in the comfort of my home and not spend a lot of time assembling parts and hooking up wires.

That being said, serious astrophotographers are amazing and I for one love their monumental efforts at producing the most beautiful and awesome displays of our incredible universe.

The Celestron Travel Scope 70 is a short-tube f/5 refractor, focal length is 400 mm. If all you want to do is look at wildlife or scenery, you will be pleased with this telescope. All the body parts are made of plastic to reduce weight.

Celestron has chosen to supply a flimsy tripod, again in order to reduce the weight. Let’s start with the most important part, the 70mm doublet objective lens, which gives adequate performance at this price point.

Slight purple fringing from chromatic aberation will be noticed at the highest magnification. This telescope comes with two eyepieces, a 10 mm Kellner and a 20mm Kellner, giving magnifications of 40 X and 20 X respectively.

Celestron supplies an erecting prism diagonal, with 32mm barrel diameter, which is a good choice for terrestrial viewing. This telescope is not really suited or intended for astronomical viewing. The tripod is too wobbly, and the finderscope, a 5 x 24 is very dim and blurry.

However, it could do occasional astronomical viewing of brighter objects like the Moon and planets, which are easy to locate.

I have purchased this particular Telescope before the Pandemic I have found that this particular Telescope the Celestron Travel Scope is easy to use. I also found that while I can attach the Celestorn Star Pointer Finders Scope item # 51630 I believe the one that came with the Telescope is just fine.

I know it can be raised but it is a wobbly central column but I will raise it as an option. I will also use a 90 degree Diagonal. All in all I like this particular Telescope it’s very easy to use and I have to get use to the Tripod.

I also am using the Celestron Hummingbird Tripod I am waiting for an extra Quick Release Adapter Plate from Celestron and I will attach it to my other Telescope. All in all it’s a Great Little Telescope and I love how it looks I strongly recommend this Particular Telescope.

I recently purchased the Stellina. I also have the Celestron Nexstar 8 SE, which I absolutely love however I have a very difficult time “like many others I’m sure” at understanding the whole processing and stacking with PC or Labtops part of astrophotography.

Lucky Stellina takes away that headache. I have a brain injury which make it very difficult to learn new things that I didn’t know prior to my accident. And trying to figure out astrophotography was especially hard being that I have such a passion for it.

With the Stellina any image I view it has all the info about it right there on the screen. So it’s less I need to try and remember. The only reason I give Stellina 3 out of 5 stars is because 1, with todays technology along with the price tag of this scope you would think you would be able to view planets as well as DSO’s.

And 2ndly, there should be a way to move the telescope manually. I don’t mean having to enter the coordinates, there should be something like arrow keys in the Stellina app that allow you to move the telescope in any direction.

Other that those two things that I feel could be very easily addressed I highly recommend this telescope to both the beginners and seasoned stargazer’s.

Is a gift but we had a quick play with it beforehand. Was very pleased, could see the full moon very clearly including some craters etc. haven’t heard from my Niece / Nephew further feedback since gifting and didn’t have a chance to look further for other planets etc.

I don’t think it’ll be quite strong enough for that but would be with some add ons I think. It was very clear and easy to set up. Perfect for children as it’s table top and can be put in and out of a cupboard when they fancy having a play rather than involving a complex 30 minute set up and taking up loads of floor space (by which time they’ve moved onto something else).

Ideal for children (or adults) to dabble in astronomy I’d say.

I am amazed at the image quality and level of magnification of such a compact and economically priced telescope. Being a table top model already fixed to its fully orientation adjustable mount, the only thing I had to do when I took it out of the box was attach the spotting scope to the front of the telescope cylinder, a very simple operation involving only the tightening by hand of a couple of thumb nuts.

The two viewing lenses supplied that provide varying levels of magnification are crystal clear and good quality. Great value for money.

The box had been opened, possible returns,there’s no star guide dvd as it states, not great details viewed of moon craters like summary states, its ok for a cheap first for beginners

This is my first scope and I could not be more pleased with it. After researching, it seems all reflectors in this price range have identical optics. What sets the Z130 apart from other tabletop reflectors are the little extras.

The 2 handles on the mount, the eyepiece caddy, and the ring/dovetail mount. With the rings and dovetail you could move it to a different Alt/Az or EQ mount later. Personally I prefer the black color as well.

One shortcoming of any scope in this range is the plastic focuser. It has a bit of rollback when you let go of it. I can’t evaluate eyepiece quality so all I will say is I found a significant improvement when I bought a few mid-range Plossl EPs over the very serviceable KE ones that came with the scope.

The included ones are not bad, I was able to see Saturn’s rings with the 10mm from my apartment window. But you can really unlock the power of the scope with a few well-chosen upgraded EPs. Aligning the red dot finder was easy.

Collimating the scope was a bit trickier and requires a collimation EP, but it’s not hard. You access the collimation screws by removing a rear metal cover. Once collimated the view is excellent. “First light” of the scope was at a national park campground with a dark sky.

It was easy to transport in my car, then I set it up on the campsite picnic table. Using mostly 36x (18mm) and 54x (12mm) power I observed the rings of Saturn and could see the Cassini division of the rings.

Many features of the moon were visible in sharp detail (used a moon filter. ) Antares looked amazing. After the moon set I went after a few deep space objects. I first observed the globular cluster M4.

Then found M19 and M6. Lastly I pointed the scope toward Lyra at the zenith and found M57 the Ring Nebula. Because I was only using low power I could not see much detail, but could tell it was darker in the center.

Still- wow! Awesome that this little scope can find these objects. Planning to get a 5. 5mm wide field EP to see the smaller DSOs. This simple tabletop reflector on Dobsonian base is ideal for a beginner.

It has enough aperture to view DSOs. The base is simple- just point it at what you want to see. No polar alignment to worry about. But remember the higher the magnification, the faster objects move out of the field of vision.

Tracking with a Dob is a bit trickier than I expected but with practice I’m getting better at it. With this scope and some upgraded EPs you can really unlock the night sky. Awesome!.

I was happily surprised when using my 4mm plossl with this telescope showing cloud features on Jupiter and quarter phase of Venus and rings of Saturn and mottled appearance of M 13 showing pinpoint stars in the outer halo at 100X.

Meanwhile my 32mm plossl gave beautiful wide field views on the Pleiades and the Perseus double cluster. I highly recommend this beginner scope as good quality for the money and its size.

We bought this telescope for the deck on our new home. We are away from all the lights of town/the city and our boys wanted to get one. This one was so easy to get together, easy to find stars and other objects in the sky and the lenses work great.

I was a little skeptical because the price was low but I am more than happy we chose this product. The kids use it all the time and the adults do too!!.

The telescope is way better than expected. Though it’s cheap, it can show great views of planets like Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. The moon looks beautiful with it. Only thing being that it has to be viewed on a very low magnification since the image becomes blurry with higher magnification.

It’s great for beginners a.

This is a great telescope for kids, as the tripod adjust short enough for little legs, and the tripod itself is sturdy (no accidental tipping). The three eyepieces can just be rotated through, so there is no time wasted screwing in a different one like with some telescopes, and it has a phone holder.

I like that this telescope came with a bag for storage and transport.

The telescope was easy enough to assemble. I say easy enough because some directions weren’t clear. Like there’s two nob things that I wasn’t sure fit where. Otherwise it was pretty easy to use. I would recommend you read up on telescopes and make sure to adjust your expectations before investing in one.

Because you won’t see giant planets or stars or galaxy’s or have picture quality of far planets like our space probes produce. I posted a picture above of what you can expect and it’s remarkable. Me and my family loved this telescope! I recommend it to anyone who really wants to do stargazing regularly.

This is a really great small telescope for young kids to take a closer look at moon. we have had great views of the moon and are waiting for the next full moon. And we can easily find Venus too. My kids really like this telescope as it’s light and they can carry it themselves to find the best spot around the house.

The tripod is short, and we have to put it on the desk or something by our windows, or patio table outside. our next task will be Mars or Jupiter.

It arrived in a very timely fashion and the packaging insured it wouldn’t be undamaged. There were adequate instructions but the assembly was very intuitive and didn’t take long. Wow. We can see all sorts of items in the night sky, it allows us to share our sightings with family living in a State that doesn’t have as many clear nights and does have way more light pollution.

It’s a great companion to the astronomy mobile apps we have.

This is a great telescope for beginners. I assembled it with my 13YO nephew in about 15 minutes, and he was running it by himself in no time. Finding planets, adjusting aim, changing eyepieces, everything.

We’ve gotten great views of the moon and a look at Saturn that rivals open night at the local observatory. It’s amazing to watch it orient itself. Just press one button, stand back, and watch it look around for a few minutes.

It recognizes constellations, and then calculates the entire sky from there. Once oriented, a few simple button pushes will get it to point itself at the celestial object of your choice. You can select from among the currently visible planets, a vast catalog of stars, or an automatically generated list of the most interesting objects visible that night from that location.

You can also point the telescope at an object and ask it to identify what’s in that vicinity. The one problem is that orientation is done with a camera attached directly to the tripod, not the telescope’s own optics.

With magnification that high, even a minute variance in angle can make miles of difference. So, while the computer can get you in the right ballpark, you’ll probably need a few minutes of fine tuning to actually get the view lined up.

(Again, my 13YO nephew can do this by himself. ) The telescope computer does have a calibration option. It will point at a bright star, center it in the camera, and then ask you to center the star in the telescope’s field of view.

We haven’t tried that yet, so I don’t know how much it helps and whether or not it’s necessary to redo the calibration every night. I should note that I went ahead and splurged on the accessories kit.

We haven’t had use yet for any of the color filters, but the Moon filter is a must, as is the 6mm eyepiece (for closer magnification on planets). Lunar observation is both easy and breathtaking, but it’s painfully bright to look at without the filter.

This telescope is a great value. Its 70mm lens is much better than the 60mm usually found in a telescope in this range. People generally focus on magnification in evaluating a telescope, but the size of the objective lens is just as important.

As a practical matter, useful magnification is about 50 to 60 times per inch of objective lens; there are 25mm to an inch. Any magnification above that is largely useless. This telescope has a useful magnification of about 175x, achievable with its included 4mm eyepiece.

This is enough for most observation needs. You do not need to use the included Barlow Lens. Even an expensive instrument can only rarely benefit by much higher power, due to atmospheric conditions. Another thing I like about it is that it uses an Azimuth mount, not an Equatorial.

An Equatorial is a pain to set up and use, and it must be set up EXACTLY right to work or it is useless. This is only for the serious amateur. Another point is that an Equatorial will not track the moon and planets, it is used only for the “fixed stars”.

If you just want to look at the moon or planets or Orion as well as use it for terrestrial observation, you are much better off with an Azimuth mount that this telescope has. This is particularly true if it is meant as a gift to a juvenile.

If you give such a person a telescope with an Equatorial mount, you are likely to turn him off from Astronomy for good. This is a good telescope for a juvenile. The laser finder provided with it works quite well for getting visible objects in the field of view of the eyepiece.

The mount is sturdy and the three eyepieces give a good range from 35, 70, to its its maximum useful 175x. All in all, an excellent value.

This is the telescope you are looking for. You are searching for the right telescope, so many options, so many things you don’t understand about telescopes. This is what you want. Great optics, easy to set up, affordable.

Buy this one, you will not regret it. I bought this telescope for $40 on sale during Christmas several years ago. I have carried it everywhere since. This scope, the price, the experiences with it are what made me love star gazing! I knew nothing about telescopes before I bought this one.

After several years of star gazing, this is my go-to scope, everytime. I own several more expensive telescopes that are just too complicated and tedious to set up and don’t deliver. Please don’t spend a ton of money on a telescope that you won’t use because it’s too difficult to set up.

This telescope can go anywhere and take a beating. You can clearly see Saturn’s rings and moons, Jupiter’s colors and moons and so many other awesome nebulas, star clusters and other space objects. The upgrades (i.

e. lenses, filters etc. ) are so affordable and worth it. Just buy this telescope and get on with it. After buying “stronger” scopes, you will return to this one time and time again. Trust me. Hope this helps.

Enjoy!.

Bought this upgrade for the standard AVX saddle because I was having issues balancing my new Sharpstar 61EDPHII in DEC on the standard saddle. This saddle is so much better! I can now mount the scope in a forward enough position so the center of gravity of my setup is over the center of the axis.

It also feels more secure than the standard saddle, and it’s not leaving bite marks on my dovetails. This will work for all the scopes I mount on my AVX: the Sharpstar, my Coronado Solarmax, and my C11.

Why the AVX doesn’t come with a saddle like this to begin with is beyond me. Installation was a breeze, took just a couple minutes. The hardest part was getting the bolts loose to take off the original saddle.

I recently bought this to compliment the deluxe ADM knob kit for my AVX. It provides a solid mount for my 9. 25 SCT. There’s are great products and quality/craftsmanship is superior. With the clutch levers in the knob kit I was having an issue with the dec.

motor clutch contacting the dec. motor housing and releasing the clutch while slewing. With the addition of this ADM saddle the issue is no more as it allows me to tighten the clutch in a position that won’t cause contact.

Bravo ADM. Also, I lost one of the threaded stainless steel grommets used to tighten the clutch levers. A quick email to Highpoint and ADM and 48 hours later replacements arrived in the mail from ADM.

…. exceptional customer service!!! (from both HP & ADM) If you want to make your AVX look awesome then I highly recommend the replacement saddle (& knob kit).