Smart telescopes: what they can and cannot do
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. We have not tested these telescopes ourselves; specifications are from the sources listed below.
A smart telescope is a small telescope, a camera and a motorised mount in one box, run from a phone app. You choose a target, it finds it, and over a few minutes it builds up an image on your screen. It is a different thing from looking through a traditional telescope, and worth understanding before you spend the money.
What they do well
- Faint things in colour. By adding up many short exposures, they show galaxies and nebulae in colour that your eye would never see through an eyepiece of the same size.
- Setting up in minutes. No star charts or alignment by hand: the app finds where it is pointing by itself.
- Sharing. Everyone looks at the same image on their phones, which makes them popular for families and groups.
- Travel. The smallest weigh about a kilogram, easy to take to a dark-sky destination.
Where they fall short
- Planets look small. Short focal lengths, typically 150 to 450 mm, suit wide nebulae better than close-ups of Jupiter or Saturn.
- It is a screen, not a view. Even models with an eyepiece show you a digital image, not light straight from the sky.
- Light pollution still matters. Stacking and filters help, but a dark site still gives a far better result than a city balcony.
- You depend on the app. Updates, phone compatibility and the maker’s support become part of owning the telescope.
The main models compared
| Model | Aperture | Focal length | Weight | Eyepiece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DwarfLab Dwarf 3Two lenses (telephoto and wide). Clip-on solar filters included. | 35 mm | 150 mm | 1.3 kg | No |
| Unistellar OdysseyBattery about 5 hours. | 85 mm | 320 mm | 4 kg | No |
| Unistellar Odyssey ProBattery about 5 hours. | 85 mm | 320 mm | 4 kg | Yes (digital) |
| Unistellar eVscope 2Battery about 9 hours. | 114 mm | 450 mm | 8.9 kg | Yes (digital) |
Aperture, the width of the main lens or mirror, decides how much light the telescope collects; the eVscope 2 collects about ten times more than the Dwarf 3. The trade-off is size: it weighs almost seven times as much. Prices differ a lot too. Sky at Night Magazine reviewed the Dwarf 3 at about £500, while the Unistellar models cost thousands of dollars. Check current prices with the maker or a dealer.
Which kind suits you
- Travelling to dark skies, or just curious: a light, small-aperture model is easy to carry and a modest outlay.
- Showing the sky to groups or children at home: a larger model with an eyepiece gives a more “telescope-like” experience and brighter images.
- Mainly the Moon and planets: a traditional telescope with a longer focal length may suit you better than any smart telescope.
More guides
- How to watch a meteor shower
- Eclipse glasses: how to tell if yours are safe
- How to read an aurora forecast
- Northern lights: where and when it is worth going
- Northern lights tours: what to check before you book
- Stargazing trips: the darkest skies, and when to go
- Planning a trip for the 2027 eclipse
- Every eclipse to 2030, and what your city sees
Sources
- Sky at Night Magazine, Dwarflab Dwarf 3 smart telescope review: aperture, focal length, weight, filters, price.
- Skies and Scopes, eVscope 2 vs Odyssey and Odyssey vs Odyssey Pro: Unistellar specifications.