Smart telescopes are the most exciting development in amateur astronomy in a decade. Instead of hunting for a faint smudge through an eyepiece, you tap a target in an app and watch a glowing nebula build up on your phone — color and detail your eye can’t see, even from a city balcony. They’ve also become affordable. Below we compare the leading models so you can match one to your budget and your skies. For how they fit into imaging generally, see our astrophotography guide.
Best smart telescopes at a glance
| Smart telescope | Best for | Aperture | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZWO Seestar S50 | Best overall | 50mm | ~$499 | ★★★★★ |
| DwarfLab Dwarf 3 | Best wide-field | 35mm dual-lens | ~$599 | ★★★★½ |
| ZWO Seestar S30 | Best budget / portable | 30mm | ~$349 | ★★★★½ |
| Unistellar eVscope 2 | Best premium experience | 114mm | ~$2,499 | ★★★★☆ |
| Vaonis Vespera II | Best design / premium | 50mm | ~$1,590 | ★★★★☆ |
1. ZWO Seestar S50 — Best Overall Smart Telescope
ZWO Seestar S50
- Outstanding deep-sky results for the price — the model that mainstreamed smart scopes.
- Fully automated: finds, tracks, and live-stacks nebulae and galaxies to your phone.
- Has a solar mode (with the included filter) and can shoot the Moon too.
- Fixed 50mm optics; narrow-ish field compared with the Dwarf 3.
The Seestar S50 is the smart telescope we recommend first. It nails the fundamentals — reliable plate-solving, solid tracking, and genuinely impressive stacked images of the Orion Nebula, Andromeda, and dozens of other targets — at a price that undercuts the premium players several times over. The app is mature and the community is huge, which means plenty of help and target lists. For most buyers, it’s all the smart scope they’ll ever need.
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2. DwarfLab Dwarf 3 — Best Wide-Field
DwarfLab Dwarf 3
- Wide field frames large nebulae like the North America and Veil beautifully.
- Versatile app with strong daytime, panorama, and wildlife modes.
- Compact and quick to set up.
- Wider field means less reach on small galaxies than the Seestar.
The Dwarf 3 is the Seestar’s closest competitor, and the pick if you love big, sprawling targets or want a device that doubles as a daytime camera. Its wide field captures nebulae that overflow the Seestar’s frame, and the app is impressively flexible. Choose it over the Seestar for framing and versatility; choose the Seestar for slightly tighter reach and the larger user community.
3. ZWO Seestar S30 — Best Budget & Most Portable
ZWO Seestar S30
- Palm-sized, lighter, and cheaper than the S50 — great for travel and gifting.
- Same easy app and workflow as its bigger sibling.
- Wider field than the S50, nice for large targets.
- Smaller aperture gathers less light, so detail on faint objects is reduced.
The Seestar S30 brings the same beginner-proof experience in a smaller, cheaper package. Its 30mm aperture gathers less light than the S50, so faint targets need longer to build up, but the wider field is lovely for big nebulae and the portability is unbeatable. It’s the best entry point if the S50’s price gives you pause, and a top pick as a gift.
4. Unistellar eVscope 2 — Best Premium Experience
Unistellar eVscope 2
- Larger 114mm optics and a built-in electronic eyepiece for a shared live view.
- Strong light-pollution reduction for city observers.
- Citizen-science campaigns built into the app.
- Several times the price of a Seestar for a modest image-quality gain.
The eVscope 2 is for buyers who want the premium end of the category: bigger optics, an actual electronic eyepiece so a group can gather around and look, and a polished citizen-science program. Image-for-image it isn’t dramatically ahead of a Seestar, so the value proposition is really about the shared experience and ecosystem — worth it to some, hard to justify for others.
5. Vaonis Vespera II — Best Design
Vaonis Vespera II
- Gorgeous, sculptural design that packs into a small case.
- Mosaic mode stitches wider, higher-resolution images.
- Polished, beginner-friendly app.
- Premium price for 50mm optics you can match for far less in raw capability.
Vaonis makes the most beautifully designed smart telescopes, and the Vespera II is the most accessible of its line. Its mosaic mode cleverly builds wider, more detailed images than its 50mm aperture suggests. You pay a premium for the industrial design and software polish — if those matter to you, it’s a lovely object; if you only care about images per dollar, the Seestar wins.
How to choose a smart telescope
- Set your budget honestly. The Seestar S30/S50 and Dwarf 3 deliver 90% of the experience for a fraction of premium prices.
- Think about framing. Wide-field models (Dwarf 3, S30) suit large nebulae; the S50 reaches a bit tighter on compact targets.
- Remember what they’re for. Smart scopes shine on deep-sky objects, not planets — for Saturn and Jupiter, see our Saturn viewing guide.
- Accept the screen. If looking through an eyepiece is central to your idea of astronomy, a traditional scope from our main guide may suit you better.
The bottom line
The ZWO Seestar S50 is the best smart telescope for most people — superb automated images at a breakthrough price. Go wider with the DwarfLab Dwarf 3, save with the pocketable Seestar S30, or step up to the Unistellar eVscope 2 or Vaonis Vespera II if you want a premium, shareable experience and will pay for it.