Thinking about buying a telescope? Orion, Celestron, and Meade are the best telescope brands for the telescopes in the market. But which one of these brands is the best can be really difficult to determine. But as a telescope, there is not much difference between them. Although there are some features in them that could make you want to choose one brand over the other.
In general, a telescope refers to an excellent piece of tools that helps you to peak into the night sky’s beauty. Though spyglasses are another option, comparing spyglass and telescope always makes telescope the champion. There are a few other things you have to look for when it comes to buying the perfect astronomical equipment for yourself.
To take the right decision for your purchase, I will evaluate Orion Vs Celestron Vs Meade in this writing. Hope you can get a better idea at the end. You need to look through stuff like aperture, eyepieces, magnification, construction, and mount; meticulously to discover the right tool.
Orion Vs Celestron Vs Meade: A Comparison Table
| Feature | Orion | Celestron | Meade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand Reputation | Well-known in the industry | Established brand | Long-standing manufacturer |
| Product Range | Wide range of telescopes | Diverse selection | Extensive telescope lineup |
| Optical Quality | Good to excellent | Good to excellent | Good to excellent |
| Mount Types | Equatorial, Altazimuth | Equatorial, Altazimuth | Equatorial, Altazimuth |
| GoTo Function | Available on some models | Available on most models | Available on most models |
| Aperture Range | From small to large sizes | From small to large sizes | From small to large sizes |
| Price Range | Affordable to high-end | Affordable to high-end | Affordable to high-end |
| Accessories | Wide selection available | Wide selection available | Wide selection available |
| Customer Support | Responsive and helpful | Responsive and helpful | Responsive and helpful |
| User-Friendly | Generally easy to use | Generally easy to use | Generally easy to use |
| Innovation | Constantly introducing new features and products | Known for innovative technologies | Known for innovative technologies |
Orion Vs Celestron
Orion and Celestron are the two most popular brands you will find in the market if you are looking for a suitable telescope. They are really good at everything allied to astronomy. But if you are looking for the difference between them you cannot find many, because these two brands belong to the same manufacturer, Synta.
Orion is a company devoted to the community of amateur astronomy by sharing its accomplishments. They have a wide range collection of telescopes for amateur and also for experienced astronomers. Most of their collections are not only easy to use but also have a wide range of aperture to position the object.
Orion is considered to have the best customer services but it is only applicable if you buy directly new from them. It offers a money-back guarantee in 30 days for all of its goods. So, if you are dissatisfied, the return option always has for you.
These two brands are actually quite similar in terms of specifications. In comparison between these two brands, Celestron is distinctly one of the most assurance brands with too many of them are the top sellers. All their products are well-built, well-designed, and also really affordable.
If you check online, you can found the first four best-selling telescopes are all from Celestron, this bit of statistics is enough to let you know how popular Celestron telescopes are. It also gives 2 years warranty for every purchase and has a wide range of customer feedback to decide.
Purchasing a telescope is a big investment. Brands like Orion and Celestron are aware of that so they provide a good after service.
Celestron Telescopes
Celestron is one of the most respected astronomy-related brands on the market. Tom Johnson founded Celestron in 1960 for the only purpose of producing telescopes.
Celestron produced a wide variety of the telescopes in types and styles. Celestron telescopes produce the Schmidt corrector plate, a kind of aspheric lens that makes it unique and good selling equipment too.
At the process of reckoning, to haul the glass blanks a vacuum is used by them which identified as the master block. However, Celestron is such a company that can produce low-cost standardized corrector plates.
So, let’s know about some outstanding production of the telescope by Celestron.
1. Best Telescope Under $200: Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope
Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope is the best selling one of the best celestron telescope and ideal for beginners looking for a large aperture at a relatively low price (Best Telescope Under $200). Celestron categorically designed the model PowerSeeker to give a perfect combination of features, value, price, and power for the first-time buyer.
As features include the focal length of 1000mm (39.4″), an aperture of 127mm (5”) and a focal ratio of f7.87 it can give an introduction with a reflector in astronomy. The short tube which is easy to move or store and a primary mirror of full 5 inches is a great feature in a telescope. But it has only 4mm eyepieces, 12 or 15mm eyepiece are additionally needed. Another drawback is you have to learn spherical mirror collimation. If you want to more details about Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope.
2. Best Travel Telescope: Celestron 21035 70mm Travel Scope Telescope
By its name, Celestron 21035 70mm Travel Scope Telescope, it is clearly given an assumption that it is for travel and it is best too. However, the TravelScope is a special variation; it is sold as an astronomical telescope and a terrestrial or spotting scope.
It is best for traveling astronomers who used to travel with the telescope for its being lightweight. It has a refractor of 70mm, an aperture of 2.76 inches, eyepieces of 10mm and 20mm, a focal length of 40mm, a focal ratio of f/5.7, and an additional padded backpack case. With all those features it has drawbacks too its mount and finder are not that useful.
3. Celestron NexStar 5 SE Telescope: Best For Beginner level Telescope
As a totally computerized telescope, its feature also includes an aperture of 125 mm (5”), eyepieces of 25m with magnification as 50x, focal ratio of 10(f/10), the focal length of 1250mm, Altazimuth type single Fork mount, optical tube length of 280mm(11”), 17.6ib (7.98kg) of weight and a star pointer finder scope.
The Portability of this telescope is quite light because of weight and has a good eyepiece too. It is easy to use and mount. But it is a little bit expensive compared to other telescopes with a similar aperture. If you want to more details about Celestron NexStar 5SE.
Celestron Vs Meade
In the last few years, Celestron has become quite popular but Meade is the biggest producer in the world for the telescopes. Both come from the same manufacturer Synta, thus have not much difference among them as the producer of astronomy equipments.
Telescope from Meade can offer a large viewing array from the moon to bright planets or a powerful view of 145,000 space objects. But with compared to Celestron it cannot give the sharp and best quality of images that Celestron can give.
You can get 1 year of warranty with all of Meade’s telescopes but Celestron can give you 2 years of warranty for every purchase.
Meade Telescopes
Meade is, in fact, a popular one and revolutionary manufacturer. The company was initially specialized for small refractor telescopes but now is very successful in the production of personalized products of quality.
If you are interested to buy a Meade instrument telescope I can recommend you, two models, specifically. Both of these two telescopes are best to depend on as their features.
Best Telescope Under $300: Meade Infinity 102mm AZ Refractor Telescope
Meade Infinity 102mm AZ Refractor Telescope is the largest aperture telescope produced in Meade instruments. If you have a high budget, you can take it as it is slightly high in price but good with quality accessories and many eyepieces. As a first telescope, it is the best for beginners or children.
As it features, it contains an aperture of 102 mm (4.02 inches), the focal length of 600 mm, 3 eyepieces with 2 x Barlow lens, and accessory tray and mount of alt-azimuth.
Being a lightweight telescope, it is easy to use and transport. It can give a quality image for the basic view. But with an alt-azimuth mount, you cannot use it for astrophotography and the Barlow lens is not in high quality. But you can compromise these lacking with the price, it is really an inexpensive one.
Best Cheap Telescope: Meade Infinity 70mm AZ Telescope
Meade Infinity 70mm AZ Telescope is another one I would like to recommend in the Meade instrument brand. It is a mid-range telescope that comes as a full set explaining astronomy to the consumer. To show the moon, stars, planets and also animals, you can use it.
As for accessories, it includes 70mm of aperture, 700mm of the focal length, 2 eyepieces with a 2X Barlow lens, a double-fork altazimuth as the mount, and an additional accessory tray with stainless steel tripod.
As a beginner telescope, it can give high-quality images, and images are positioned correctly. It is easy to set up with stainless steel tripod and for focusing too. But the only drawback is it is relatively heavy.
Meade Vs Orion
Telescopes from Meade are suitable for the expertise and budget of every amateur astronomer because of its low price. The brand’s telescopes display viewing ranges from the moon and bright planets to more than 145,000 celestial object being vividly observed.
It provides good customer service. You can get a one year warranty from the purchase date for telescopes and parts. Customers must receive a Return Merchandise Authorization, or RMA, a number from the customer service department of the retailer before a customer can return a product.
Telescopes from Orion are also low in price and lightweight that suitable for travel especially. Orion telescopes offer viewing options from the casual moon and bright planets to the intense view of more than 42,000 faint-sky celestial objects.
It offers a money-back guarantee in 30 days for all of its goods. So, if you’re not satisfied, return option always has for you. But you have to buy directly from them.
Orion Telescopes
Orion, an American brand is one of the biggest telescope producers in the world. If you are searching for astronomy equipment Orion has a wide range of those. An amateur can buy telescope, eyepieces, filters or cameras all from the brand Orion. Nowadays Chinese company Synta produced a big proportion of products for the Orion brand.
A large proportion of its products are manufactured for the brand name of Orion by the Chinese company Synta. But it was originally founded in America in 1975.
They have a wide range of telescopes and devices appropriate for all age ranges and levels of experience. Orion StarBlast 4.5 EQ Reflector telescope is the best Orion telescope for beginners and I would like to mention it.
Best Professional Telescope: Orion 09798 StarBlast Reflector Telescope
For beginners and even experienced professionals, Orion StarBlast 4.5 EQ Reflector telescope is an excellent telescope for the best orion telescope. It can be a perfect one for those who are searching for a smaller and lighter device to complement a larger telescope.
It comes with an aperture of 4.5 inches, the Focal Length of 450mm 18 x 10 x 54.8 inches in dimensions and two eyepieces. Also, it has the EQ-1 mount which is small and lightweight to work easily. The 4.5 inches aperture telescope with short focal length can view a large portion of the sky to examine with its eyepieces. As a beginner to examine celestial objects it is easy to use.
With compare its price it is compatible with accessories of high quality. Anyone can experience the view of wide field and get clear, sharp images by Orion StarBlast 4.5. It is easy to use and perfect for astrophotography. But it needs extensive assembly which is quite troublesome. Users can not focus adequately by its 10mm eyepiece and are not perfect for daylight.
Meade Vs Skywatcher
Skywatcher is also a brand produced by the same company Synta. It was founded in 1999 and first marketed its Apochromat ED-APO refractor telescopes.
Skywatcher has some lowest price apochromatic (APO) refractors telescopes. The APO is a commodity that is looking for by many astrophotography experts due to its ability to correct color fringing or any thick marks in your desired area. Although for astronomy this function is not so significant, it is essential in astrophotography.
Therefore, any Skywatcher telescope is more acceptable for photography rather than regular observations of astronomy. But Meade telescopes show viewing ranges from the moon and bright planets to over 145,000 vividly observed celestial objects.
Related Questions
Which brand offers the best quality telescopes for beginners?
Celestron and Orion are often considered the top choices for beginners due to their user-friendly features and affordable options.
What factors should I consider when choosing between Orion, Celestron, and Meade telescopes?
When choosing between Orion, Celestron, and Meade telescopes, consider factors such as your budget, observing goals, and desired features.
Do all three brands offer telescopes for both amateur and professional astronomers?
Yes, all three brands offer telescopes suitable for both amateur and professional astronomers.
Are Orion, Celestron, and Meade telescopes suitable for astrophotography?
Yes, Orion, Celestron, and Meade telescopes are suitable for astrophotography, with specific models catering to different levels of expertise.
Are the accessories and additional equipment compatible between these brands?
Accessories and additional equipment may have compatibility differences between these brands, so it’s important to check for compatibility before purchasing.
Are there any notable differences in the design and build quality among these brands?
Design and build quality can vary among these brands, with each brand having its own unique style and approach.
What are the most popular telescope models from each brand, and what are their features?
Popular telescope models from each brand include the Orion SkyQuest XT8, Celestron NexStar 8SE, and Meade LX90, each with their own set of features.
Do Orion, Celestron, and Meade offer computerized or GoTo telescopes?
Yes, Orion, Celestron, and Meade offer computerized or GoTo telescopes that make locating celestial objects easier.
Are there any notable differences in the mount systems provided by these brands?
Mount systems can differ between these brands, and each brand may have its own proprietary mount designs.
Can I find telescopes with motorized tracking capabilities from Orion, Celestron, and Meade?
Yes, you can find telescopes with motorized tracking capabilities from all three brands.
Are there any specific accessories or features that make Orion, Celestron, or Meade telescopes stand out?
Each brand may have unique accessories and features, such as advanced imaging options or specialized eyepieces.
Can I find portable and compact telescopes suitable for travel from these brands?
Yes, you can find portable and compact telescopes suitable for travel from Orion, Celestron, and Meade.
Are there any user reviews or comparisons available online for Orion, Celestron, and Meade telescopes?
Yes, there are many user reviews and comparisons available online for telescopes from these brands, which can provide valuable insights.
Which brand has been in the market for the longest and has a better reputation?
Meade has been in the market for the longest time and has a strong reputation, but Orion and Celestron are also highly regarded by astronomers.
Final Verdict
These brands are all making outstanding telescopes. It is not easy to differentiate them because there is not much difference between them. Orion has well customer service, Celestron has excellent-quality telescopes, and Meade has affordable options.
Although Orion and Celestron are also not expensive too. It depends on you, which model you are searching for rather than the brand. But however, you will not be disappointed by any of these brands.
I’m Ali. BestTelescopeReview.com is my little place on the web to express what I’ve learned first-hand, specially about the telescope part. I am writing these articles to share my love for astronomy with you.
