10 Best Telescope Under $200 of 2023 – Top Picks & Reviews
Most users do not enjoy spending too much cash at the first phase of an amusement. Too frequently, the beginners waste hundreds of dollars in pursuit of the maximum-rated telescope.
In that case, the best telescopes under $200 can be an excellent option to begin stargazing without spending a significant financial investment. You’ll get almost every feature with these scops that offer expensive telescopes.
We have researched the market and narrowed down the 10 most powerful telescopes you can buy for under $200. Our review section will discuss their features, why we like them, why we don’t like them, and many other things.
That’s why you can make your buying decision by comparing their features and your needs. So there is no scope to invest in the wrong product. Are you ready to join us to reveal the galaxy viewing gadgets?
For more recommendations on the best telescope under $300 for you, read our guide.
Comparison Chart
| Product name | Short description |
| Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope | Amazon’s top ranking and most positive reviews have described its outstanding performance. The 1000mm focal length, 127mm aperture and the nice designing telescope is excellent to use |
| Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70AZ Refractor Telescope | The gunmetal gray finish, 2.6-inch lens, and 70mm glass optics are efficient enough to provide you with the most accurate and clear images of the night sky. |
| Celestron 70mm Travel Scope | American innovative lightweight design, objective lenses, and full glass coated optics ensure its excellent performance as a traveling telescope. |
| Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ | The exclusive design, high-quality accessories, and 114mm optics make it the best option to view the galaxy as well as nature’s wildlife. |
| Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ Telescope | You’ll love to own this telescope because of its aperture, focal length, and top-quality parts. |
| Orion 10012 Skyscanner | Small size and kid-friendly operating systems are excellent for placing it in a compact space and observing the night sky. |
| Orion 10033 FunScope | Unbelievably reasonable price, no tool assembly, and 60% better light are worth having this telescope. |
| Meade Instruments 216006 | A simple assembly system, multiple unique features, and a German equatorial mount ensure quality and durability. |
| Celestron ExploraScope 22103 | The beginner-friendly design, red dot finder-scope, 2 eyepieces with 3X Barlow lens make it easy to use. |
| ExploreOne Aurora 114MM Reflector Telescope | It is great to choose for its interchangeable eyepieces, super-fast tripod settings, and astronomy software. |
Who Are the Ideal Users of This Product?
Astronomy has become a hobby for many people, and the telescope is a tool to study the sky. Though in the past, only astronomers used the telescope to precisely observe faraway objects to research the galaxy, sky, and other things. But, now the situation is changing, and many people have telescopes.
- People highly interested in astronomy purchase telescopes to view the sky more closely. They don’t have a professional degree, but they want to explore the universe because of their high interest.
- Professional astronomers use it, but many amateur astronomers also use a telescope to view the sky and enjoy the celestial objects.
- Telescopes are also used by the people who assist professional astronomers in their analysis.
Telescopes are also used by the people who assist professional astronomers in their analysis.
Top 10 Best Telescope Under 200$
While there are many telescopes available under $200, if I wish to spend that amount of money then a most powerful telescope can be found, I would consider three choices.
1. Celestron 127EQ PowerSeeker Telescope– Best For Overall
The Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ is mainly aimed at enthusiastic amateur astronomers looking to get their first telescope. It supplies the users with a robust instrument to learn more about marvels and the beauty of the nighttime sky.
A Barlow lens magnifies the image up to three times, and an aluminum tripod stands alongside an equatorial mount with an accessory tray. Its aperture is 127 mm, and the focal length is 1000mm.
Besides optical characteristics, the 127EQ PowerSeeker is simple, no-tool assembly and simple item tracking. As the report indicates, consumers can view things like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and nebulae.
It is a high-quality scope with around $200 and just reviewing telescopes that you’d anticipate from Celestron, an award-winning brand with over 50 years of expertise in this domain.
Overall, the 127EQ PowerSeeker is among the absolute best sellers in the reflectors group using a cost of less than $200. Read the Full Review
What do we like about it?
This tremendous telescope to see planets are affordable and the best for beginners. The 127mm aperture makes it easy to view the sky more closely.
The durable scope comes with high-quality construction and design. This scope is lightweight and portable, making it easy to take it anywhere, such as your camp site or your backyard.
What Else?
With amazing features, you also get additional accessories by purchasing this telescope. It comes with a 4mm and 20mm eyepieces plus a 3x Barlow lens. The scope is backed up with a 2-year warranty and lifetime technical support from the manufacturers, which makes this scope quite an ideal choice for astronomy.
What don’t we like?
This scope is excellent but requires more care and maintenance as it is pretty delicate. The image quality of this scope is not that impressive, so the eyepiece has to be upgraded.
2. Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70AZ Refractor Telescope– Best For Choice
The Celestron AstroMaster 70 comes in fine gunmetal blue/gray finish. This excellent finishing makes it slightly different from the rest of the black scopes you uncover in the marketplace. It is a lightweight, simple to use refractor telescope that a kid could set up.
The 2.6-inch lens of the Celestron AstroMaster 70 might appear modest when measured against the gaping maw of a giant Newtonian telescope. Still, it gets more than enough light for some fantastic lunar seeing sessions.
When it comes to eyepieces, you get two Plossl components with 45x lenses. And each lens is coated to supply transparent and vivid pictures. Both of the features help it prevent any possible problems you might have with chromatic aberration.
All in all, the Celestron 21061 telescope’s simple functionality is easy to use and kid-friendly. So anybody interested in doing a little backyard sky observing can use it. Now, it is the most popular beginner’s telescope available on the market. Read the Full Review
What do we like about it?
This scope has a simple design and is also easy to operate. The 70mm glass optics with an objective lens of the telescope helps to examine the sky more clearly with fantastic close-up views.
It is pretty light-weighted and comes with an altazimuth mount, which makes it easy for the newbies to point and view the sky smoothly. It is fun to use with family and helps improve the astronomy skills of beginners.
What else?
The reflector telescope also comes with a 20mm and 10mm eyepieces, a travel tripod, a red dot finder scope, and a starry night basic edition software to make your astronomical experience more excellent. Moreover, this telescope is backed up with a 2-year warranty too.
What don’t we like?
The telescope’s tripod is too short, so it might be difficult for long people to use this scope. It is unsuitable for seeing long-distance objects and less potent than the other scopes.
3. Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ Telescope– Best For Quality
Who doesn’t like to get a professional telescope to see planets at a minimum price? Yes, the Celestron – 70mm Travel Scope offers you this opportunity to explore the galaxy’s life, Jupiter, Saturn, and other stars of the sky.
It is designed by following American innovation to make it more beginner-friendly and a perfect scope for adults and kids. This telescope package includes everything that you need to enjoy and experience the nighttime sky. Its most mentionable accessories are 70mm objective lenses, high-quality and fully-coated glass optics, 20mm and 10mm eyepieces, a flexible tripod, etc.
The 70mm lens will help you view the sky sharply during day and night. Even the aperture offers you highly-resolution views. So you can capture nice-looking and sky-gazing photos with this super telescope.
It is only 3.3 pounds and comes with a traveling backpack. So you can carry it with the backpack where you go to navigate the sky. After reaching your destination, just open the backpack, assemble the scope with no tools, adjust its height according to your height, enter the focal lens, and view the sky. That’s a super-fast experience of your night gazing.
What do we like about it?
It is built with high-quality materials, designed by professionals, brings all the accessories, fast assembly, and free Starry Night Astronomy Software downloading advantages make it worth purchasing. You can enjoy a close life of the wild and sky with it.
What else?
You get extra accessories by purchasing this best telescope under $200. It comes with a 3x Barlow lens to triple the power, a 20mm and 4mm eyepieces, erect image diagonal, and a free astronomy software program to download. This excellent telescope is affordable and comes with a 2-year limited warranty.
What don’t we like?
The telescope The tripod is slightly flimsy, so it needs to be placed on an even space to keep it steady. Otherwise, it’s good enough, so if you carefully carry and place the tripod, you can use it for a longer time to enjoy your stargazing time.
4. ExploreOne Aurora 114MM Reflector Telescope– Best For Flexibility
Here we have the ExploreOne 114MM reflector telescope with a couple of interchangeable eyepieces. As they are changeable, you can use different eyepieces to see the objects that are not at the same distance. It gives you magnifications of 20X and 52X. Comparing the eyepieces with the price, you might never find a better one than this.
Its tripod has the settings to move the telescope side to side, up and down. This is possible because of the slow-motion controls that you have to operate manually. Once the tripod is in full size, you can adjust it anyway. There is an attached accessory tray to hold the extra eyepiece perfectly.
As a beginner, you might have difficulty locating the objects in the sky. This telescope has included astronomy software to help you find moving objects. To be precise, the red dot finder can come as a great help with moving objects.
What Do We Like About It?
This telescope is an excellent starter for kids. Though its features are not that advanced, it will give you a great view of the galaxy. The eyepieces are too good to see, and you will have a great viewing experience. You can own it by spending less than $150 to see the actual image of the Moon and stars.
What Don’t We Like?
The instructions for using this telescope are not well briefed. So, it is necessary to have some basic knowledge of assembling this thing that you haven’t seen before. Another issue that people talked about is its manual operation. But we didn’t find it too difficult.But we didn’t find it too difficult.
5. Celestron ExploraScope 22103-Best For Beginners
Now you can observe details of the Moon or deep space objects with the Celestron Explorascope 22103 telescope! It has been perfectly designed with the novice in consideration. With it, you can take a close look at the moons of Jupiter, rings of Saturn, and all other celestial objects that are up there in the sky.
You do not have to look at the whole surface to find the objects you want to see. A red dot finder-scope is activated in it that works automatically and helps you sight the objects in the sky.
You might have thought about how to follow the moving objects in the sky. For this, you can utilize the slow motion rod for following objects and precise pointing properly.
The ExploraScope has everything that an amateur astronomer may need. It comes with a 3X Barlow lens, 2 eyepieces to enhance magnification power, a straight image diagonal, and an aluminum tripod. Moreover, Celestron’s SkyPortal app will help you learn everything you need to know about the mighty sky for a guided tour.
What Do We Like About It?
As a beginner telescope, the Celestron ExploraScope is perfect. It includes everything that you may need for proper sky viewing. Its durability ensures a long time of use without any damage. As its size is small, you can carry it for night camping or outdoor parties.
What Don’t We Like?
Almost everything in adjusting this telescope is manual. So, before you start seeing the planet, you have to spend time assembling it. Thus, it takes some time to give you the pleasure to view the sky.
6. Celestron 70mm Travel Scope – Best For Travelers
Who doesn’t like to get a professional telescope to see planets at a minimum price? Yes, the Celestron – 70mm Travel Scope offers you this opportunity to explore the galaxy’s life, Jupiter, Saturn, and other stars of the sky.
It is designed by following American innovation to make it more beginner-friendly and a perfect scope for adults and kids. This telescope package includes everything that you need to enjoy and experience the nighttime sky. Its most mentionable accessories are 70mm objective lenses, high-quality and fully-coated glass optics, 20mm and 10mm eyepieces, a flexible tripod, etc.
The 70mm lens will help you view the sky sharply during day and night. Even the aperture offers you highly-resolution views. So you can capture nice-looking and sky-gazing photos with this super telescope.
It is only 3.3 pounds and comes with a traveling backpack. So you can carry it with the backpack where you go to navigate the sky. After reaching your destination, just open the backpack, assemble the scope with no tools, adjust its height according to your height, enter the focal lens, and view the sky. That’s a super-fast experience of your night gazing.
What Do We Like About It?
It is built with high-quality materials, designed by professionals, brings all the accessories, fast assembly, and free Starry Night Astronomy Software downloading advantages make it worth purchasing. You can enjoy a close life of the wild and sky with it.
What Don’t We Like?
The tripod is slightly flimsy, so it needs to be placed on an even space to keep it steady. Otherwise, it’s good enough, so if you carefully carry and place the tripod, you can use it for a longer time to enjoy your stargazing time.
7. Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ – Best For Versatility
Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ is a superb versatile stargazing gadget that you can easily use for land and astronomy. Though most of the users’ primary purpose is to use it for astronomy, it can also be an excellent choice to see distant boats if you live near the water.
Its 20mm and 10mm eyepieces come with 100x and 50x magnification for exceptional viewing of the sky. It also has heavy-duty 114mm optics, which are fully mirror coated. There are two slow-motion controlling knobs on the telescope to precisely adjust the terrestrial and celestial viewing objects.
However, the exclusive design of the telescope ensures its portability to carry everywhere to take your astronomy experience to the next level. The tripod is super sturdy and flexible to adjust your height.
The company is always with you by providing manual and software that helps to identify constellations, stars, and planets. You can choose it as the best telescope for viewing planets and galaxies for your beloved person as a surprise gift.
What Do We Like About It?
We like its quality, easy installation, and other features. You can see the Moon in detail, Saturn with rings, Mars and Venus as small featureless discs. It doesn’t require any pricy equipment like Star Finder calibration to capture gorgeous Moon images.
It offers you 2 years limited warranty to cover any damage and defects due to normal wear and tear. So your investment will be secured for this time.
What Don’t We Like?
The declination cable of this telescope is slightly wobbly, and it is not computerized. Some of the users also feel light improvement is needed. Otherwise, it’s good.
8. Orion 10012 SkyScanner – Best For Kids
Do you like a small but ideal desktop reflector telescope instead of a large amount for your kids? If so, you can choose the Orion 10012 SkyScanner and later thank me for recommending this little cute gadget.
Basically, it is designed by considering a child’s needs, and at first glance, it may seem like a toy. But interestingly, it can surprise you, your child, and your whole family with gorgeous, exclusive, and detailed night sky and galaxy views.
It comes with a 100mm aperture parabolic primary mirror boosted by the 400mm focal length to see the bright planets like Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars shine.
This telescope package includes a 20mm eyepiece with 20x and a 10mm eyepiece with power magnifications so that you won’t face any challenges to observe the sky even on a dark and cloudy night.
It needs less time and effort to set up, it is easy to use, and includes EZ Finder II aiming device Starry Night astronomy software. So we can say it can be one of the best telescopes for beginners who’re first willing to experience the visual adventures of the night sky to explore the unknown things of the galaxy.
What Do We Like About It?
This lightweight telescope is perfect for camping and viewing the Moon in detail. The Red dot is right on the target point with two 1.25″ telescope eyepieces and 15.7″ tube lenses. It won’t break your bank but meet your plenty of expectations.
What Don’t We Like?
The lack of using information forces you to watch some YouTube videos to use it. There is a little bit of poor engineering. However, if you watch the video and be careful to handle it, it is great to use.
9. Orion 10033 FunScope – Best For Budget
Do you have an extremely tight budget, but your kid needs a telescope for educational purposes? Then we suggest you choose the Orion 10033 FunScope tabletop telescope, as it is the cheapest one on our list.
However, it is easy to assemble without any tools. So you can grab this scope and go for camping, adventures, nighttime backyard outing, field trips, or any observing sessions.
When we compare it with 60mm beginner telescopes, we have found its 76mm-diameter optics can easily collect 60% more and better light. As a result, no matter if the night is dark or cloudy, you’ll get a better viewing experience with this little scope.
Moreover, its 2x Barlow lens, two 20mm and 6mm eyepieces, and various magnifications make it easy to use. So you can closely see the Nebulae as a bit of smoke smudge, Jupiter with color bands and its four moons.
If you’re still not sure astronomy will become the love of your own life, we urge you to buy this product. Still, you enjoyed giving it a go with a safe monetary investment while also finding out the best way to make use of complex, mid-level astronomer technology.
What Do We Like About It?
Its super affordable price, tool-free assembly, 15x, 50x magnifications, and Altazimuth mounting type are the most important factors to choose it. Plus, you’ll get a moon map to know the exact locations of the stars.
What Don’t We Like?
It has no parabolic mirror, so the image quality is not as good as other scopes. It is not very powerful and prominent for adult use but quite perfect for children.
10. Meade Instruments 216006 – Best For Durability
Our next pick is the Meade Instruments 216006 telescope with various unique features. It’ll provide you with additional accessories, including 130mm and 650mm focal length and a 2x Barlow lens.
The focal length is rotated by f/5 angled, so you can easily set the circle and view the Moon closely how you want to look. However, the red dot viewfinder of this telescope will assist you in pointing your scope to the objects that you wish to observe. You can also keep the accessory on the tray when observing the sky and its beauty.
On top-notch, its assembly is simple and doesn’t need any tool. The German equatorial mount of the scope helps in accurate and smooth pointing with the help of its slow-motion control rod. You can mount it anywhere without any trouble by tightening its cross knobs.
It’s all coated glass optical components ensure an enhanced and bright image. The scope is backed up with a 1-year warranty, making this scope an ideal choice for astronomy.
What Do We Like About It?
It is designed and developed by considering amateur astronomers or people curious about astronomy. The Meade Polaris Series telescope is excellent for delivering an outstanding experience about observing the nighttime backyard sky. Lastly, it is surprisingly a good package at a low price.
What don’t we like?
Most users complain about old DVDs. They suggest updating the DVD and instructional manual. As they found, both of them are a little confusing to understand. If the Meade updates them, that will be definitely more beginner-friendly.
Things to Consider Before Buying the Best Telescopes Under $200
It isn’t always true that an expensive telescope is suitable for stargazing. If you can check some basic features before buying your telescope, you can also choose the best telescope for deep space within a limited budget. In that case, you must consider the essential features of your gadget. Here are some features that you have to check
Type of Telescope: There are various telescope types available, and all of them have distinct designs with different optics to view the sky. Some of the common ones are refractors, reflectors, and compound telescopes.
The reflector telescope is very common. It is featured with an eyepiece at the end of the telescope and uses mirrors to concentrate incoming starlight. Refractor telescopes use lenses instead of mirrors to focus on the incoming light.
A compound telescope combines reflector and refractor telescopes to feature both mirrors and lenses. Choose the telescope that will be perfect for you to observe the sky.
Portability: If you are fond of taking your telescope to various places for study or examining the sky, it is recommended to purchase a lightweight and portable telescope. They are pretty easy to carry, and you don’t face hand fatigue if you carry for a longer time. Not only that, its lightweight design, flexible tripod movement, and placement help you to position it perfectly to the sky.
Aperture size: The aperture size of the telescope is one of the significant factors to consider while buying a telescope. The diameter of the lens or mirror is the aperture of the telescope. A larger aperture helps to give a better resolution, and you can view the celestial images in the sky more easily.
Mount: Mounts help to navigate the sky without any hassle. There are two types of mounts. One is an equatorial mount, which is best for professional astronomers, and another one is an altazimuth aperture, which is suitable for beginners. So, if you are a beginner, then an altazimuth aperture will be perfect for you.
Easy assembly: If your telescope is difficult to assemble and needs a lot of tools, then it’ll reduce your interest to see the nighttime sky, galaxy, or stars. You have to choose a telescope that requires minimum time and energy for assembly. So you can invest much time to enjoy your galaxy supervision.
Essential accessories: Some of the telescopes come with DVDs and other accessories to attract users and improve their astronomy skills. So, if you are a novice sky gazer, then it’s better to choose a telescope that offers you videos to inform you of simple instructions to use it.
Warranty: If the telescope is backed-up with a lasting warranty, then you can use the telescope for a long time without any worry. So you can check whether the telescope comes with a warranty or not.
Other Features: Telescopes also come with more features like DVDs, accessories, and warranty. If the telescope is backed-up with a lasting warranty, then you can use the telescope for a long time without any worry. Some of them also come with DVDs and other accessories to attract users and to improve their astronomy skills.
FAQs
What is Collimation in a telescope?
By which process the users align all the telescope components to get the best focus is called Collimation. If the mirror, focal lens, and other parts of the telescope aren’t placed correctly, then you have to collimate the telescope mechanically.
How to calculate Field of View (FoV)?
You have to divide the Field Number (FN) by Objective Magnification to calculate the Field of View (FoV). Suppose your eyepiece reads are 20X/44 and objective magnification is 80. So first multiply 20 and 80 to get 1600. Next, divide 44 by 1600, and your FOV diameter will be 0.0 275 millimeters.
How to calculate the Focal Ratio?
To get the Focal Ratio, you have to divide the mirror or lens focal length by its aperture. For example, your telescope has an 80mm lens and 400mm focal length. In that case, your telescope focal ratio will be 400/80 or f/5.
How to calculate Magnification?
By dividing your telescope’s focal length by its eyepiece’s focal length, you will get the Magnification size of your telescope. Let’s clearly understand the math with an example.
Suppose the telescope’s focal length is 1000mm focal and aperture is 127mm.
Magnification = Focal length ÷ aperture length
= 1000 ÷ 127 (mm)
= 7.87 (mm)
How to calculate Resolution?
The formula for calculating the resolution of an image for a telescope is 11.25 seconds of arc/d. Here d represents the object’s diameter, and mostly the diameter is counted by centimeters.
All in all
So the best telescopes for under $200 are really quite good ones for beginners, just lacking in a few useful features like computer control or setting circles that make finding and tracking objects that much easier. But these are not essential items to start you off, and if you enjoy astronomy as much as many people do, then you can upgrade as and when you can afford it.
Hi, Daniel Here! When I’m not busy working at my own startup, you may find me roaming around the Univers and whats beyond our sky, telescope is a must.
