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I Tested EVERY SMART Telescope on the Market...These are the results!🤔🤯🔭

Damon Scotting

160,856 views

Eight of the most popular smart telescopes on Earth. 🔭

🛒 GEAR IN THIS VIDEO (affiliate links - they support the channel at no cost to you)

🔭 OFFICIAL STORES - the best way to support the channel:
⭐ Seestar official store (all Seestar scopes): https://store.seestar.com/DAMON
• Seestar S30 Pro: https://www.zwoastro.com/product/sees...
• Seestar S50: https://www.zwoastro.com/product/sees...
• Seestar S50 Pro: https://www.zwoastro.com/product/sees...
⭐ DWARFLAB official store:
• DWARF mini: https://dwarflab.com/en-gb/products/d...
• DWARF 3: https://dwarflab.com/en-gb/products/d...
⭐ Vaonis official store (both Vesperas): https://vaonis.pxf.io/554EP9

🇬🇧 UK BUYERS - FIRST LIGHT OPTICS:
• Seestar S30 (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/begi...
• Seestar S30 Pro (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/smar...
• Seestar S50 (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/smar...
• Seestar S50 Pro (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/smar...
• DWARF mini (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/begi...
• DWARF 3 (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/begi...
• Vespera 3 (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tele...
• Vespera Pro 2 (UK): https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tele...

🇺🇸 US BUYERS - AGENA ASTRO:
• Seestar S30 Pro (US): https://agenaastro.com/zwo-seestar-s3...
• Seestar S50 (US): https://agenaastro.com/seestar-s50-al...
• Seestar S50 Pro (US): https://agenaastro.com/zwo-seestar-s5...
• DWARF mini (US): https://agenaastro.com/dwarflab-dwarf...

⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 The wager: price does not equal results
0:18 Meet the contenders: DwarfLab, Vaonis, Seestar
0:42 Why smart telescopes beat a $2,000 DIY rig
1:00 Every spec, side by side
1:14 The sensor that rules them all (and the S50 Pro mystery)
2:06 Storage and battery: surviving a UK winter night
2:37 What each "Pro" upgrade actually changes
2:53 Fields of view: why fair comparisons are hard
3:14 How every comparison works (raw → aligned → processed)
3:20 Round 1 - Eagle Nebula, six telescopes
4:31 Round 2 - Dumbbell Nebula (and Vaonis filter prices)
5:35 Round 3 - Andromeda: Seestar Pro vs DWARF
6:16 Round 4 - Orion Nebula core
6:40 Round 5 - Swan Nebula mosaics + why sky darkness matters
7:31 Round 6 - North America Nebula, my favourite of the set
8:12 The shots I did dirty (Helix confession)
8:37 STARS FOR BUCKS: ranking all eight
9:57 The catch: the #1 spot expires on 15 September
10:42 Your verdict + what is next

⚔️ THE CONTENDERS
• Seestar S30 - $399
• DWARF mini - $419
• Seestar S50 - $549
• DWARF 3 - $549
• Seestar S30 Pro - $699
• Seestar S50 Pro - $899 (rises to $999 on 15 September - and yes, that changes the ranking)
• Vaonis Vespera 3 - $2,490
• Vaonis Vespera Pro 2 - $2,990

🌌 THE TARGETS
Eagle Nebula (M16) · Dumbbell Nebula (M27) · Andromeda Galaxy (M31) · Orion Nebula (M42) · Swan Nebula (M17) mosaics · North America Nebula (NGC 7000) · plus the Helix Nebula shot I'm too ashamed of and a Heart Nebula finale.

Every scope gets its full spec breakdown too: the sensor hierarchy (why the IMX585 still rules, and the strange OmniVision mystery inside the S50 Pro), storage, battery life through a 12-hour UK astro-dark, and what each Pro model actually changed over its predecessor.

By the end you'll know which telescope wins my Stars-for-Bucks rating, which $2,990 scope got humbled, why the DWARF mini beat its bigger sibling, and which telescope I'd spend my own money on, especially if you're choosing between the $699 and $999 Seestars.

📸 All astrophotography captured on the telescopes shown, from my UK garden (Bortle 6.8) and a darker site further south (Bortle 4). Processing: stacking, GraXpert, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, Photoshop.

💬 Disagree with my scores? Good. Drop your own ranking in the comments - if you own any of these scopes, share your honest experience for the thousands of stargazers reading.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly deep-dives on what YOU can see through a telescope tonight.

#smarttelescope #seestar #dwarf3 #vespera #astrophotography #telescope #nightsky #eaglenebula #andromeda #zwo

20 Comments

@DamonScotting Creator 1 month ago Pinned

So, do you agree with my Stars-for-Bucks scores? 🤔🤔🔭

Drop your own ranking below, and if you actually own any of these scopes, share your honest experience. There are thousands of stargazers reading these comments trying to decide which one to buy, and your two sentences might be worth more to them than my whole video.

Also, be brutally honest about the comparison animations. Too slow? Too repetitive? Exactly right? I'm trying to build the gold standard for showing what these telescopes can really do, and I can only do that with your feedback.😁👍🏼

🛒 Affiliate links (they support the channel at no extra cost to you):
⭐ Every Seestar (official store): https://store.seestar.com/DAMON
⭐ DWARF mini (official): https://dwarflab.com/en-gb/products/dwarf-mini-smart-telescope?aff=37
⭐ DWARF 3 (official): https://dwarflab.com/en-gb/products/dwarf-3-smart-telescope?aff=37
⭐ Vespera 3 + Pro 2 (official): https://vaonis.pxf.io/554EP9

Clear skies! ✨
– Damon

@marlborolvr 1 month ago

Looking forward to the comparison when the 90mm DwarfLab Draco comes into play.....soon!

@garyjoaquin 1 month ago

This presentation is a master class in professional visual comparative analysis. All too often, I watch videos reviews emphasizing verbal communication which make me immediately look for their YouTube description table of contents or transcript. Your presentation of comparative tabular data coupled with simulaneous comparative animation is like the holy grail. I really enjoyed and was informed by pausing the video to read and absorb the detail, compare the graphic images, and rewind and repeat. This is amazing work. I hope that you have a sufficient revenue stream to enable you continue to do this kind of work.

@ultrastoat3298 1 month ago

3:26 This guy has some pretty good editing chops.

@nathanielscreativecollecti6392 1 month ago

This was the exact comparison video I wanted.

@kellyb3375 1 month ago

Ive waited buying a telescope for several years and finally pulled the trigger on the Seestar S50 Pro, I believe the best for the money. Cant wait for it to arrive.

@lucienrambert9276 1 month ago

03:25 The same exposure time for the raw capture and the same editing settings would have been required for an objective comparison. And, apparently, not all the observations were made on the same night.

@michalBakus 1 month ago

This was an absolutely excellent video.I can't think of any better comparison video than this. It is TV production quality.

@DevanSabaratnam 1 month ago

Total rank beginner to astro-gazing here, and I really appreciate the effort you took here, to do these comparison images and animations. Absolutely the most useful telescope comparison I have come across anywhere. Thank you.

@MD-pb8gr 1 month ago (edited)

I think you need to do a run off between the S30 Pro and S50 Pro. Run both scopes on the same day on the same targets for the same exposure time. Then make your comparison. Also bearing in mind the hysteria going round regarding the sensor in the S50 Pro, its good that if nobody told you it was the Omnivision and not the IMX 585, the images were still what you would expect if it was.

@chefmikebenninger481 1 month ago

For me that clear winner will be the S 50 Pro, it has an amazing bang for the buck, and being the newest of the line will likely get the longest update cycles to keep it relevant for years to come

@jg3818 1 month ago

I have the S30P and I love it but I will say one big advantage the S50P has over the S30P is the integration time due to it's aperture being larger. I would love to see how much more detail there would be with 45min additional time the S50P could have against the S30P. But, I am waiting to hear more about this Draco project.

@GhastWithAimbot 1 month ago

This was the video I was looking for a long time, thanks a lot!

@akaoveve 1 month ago

You asked! I really like the comparison and annimations. The videos seem interactive, engaging! Thank you for your wonderful work!

@ronmay2833 1 month ago

Thank you for a very nice and well thought out test of these smart scopes. As an S30 Pro owner I see no reason to get the 50 Pro - yet. My enthusiasm still far outweighs my expertise.

@aranthos 1 month ago

Best video yet demonstrating the different products and the s50p

@mickue 1 month ago

Awesome video. Thanks for the comparison. Really curious what the DRACO will produce.

@60hz-4k 1 month ago

Yet another one Damon has done it yet again ❤

@busload_uk 3 weeks ago

The fact that the images were captured with differing integration times and on different nights makes this whole exercise kinda redundant.

@JakesAstroAdventure 1 month ago

I've not yet to try any of the seestar products but I'm really hoping to get my hands on one and this has really helped me decideding on which one to get, also I love the way you are presenting the videos