Sky-Watcher Heritage 150 Tabletop Dobsonian Telescope - Perfect for Beginners, Easy Setup, Portable, and Fun (S11710)

Why it's worth it

A 150mm Dobsonian on a simple rocker box that collapses down small enough to carry in one hand. You get more aperture than the top pick for less money, but you'll be finding every object yourself with a chart or a phone app.

You're buying aperture, and that's the right thing to buy. Most inexpensive telescopes hand you a 60mm or 70mm refractor that shows dim, mushy planets. This one gives you a 150mm parabolic primary mirror instead — several times the light-gathering area. The practical result is that globular clusters start to look grainy rather than blank, and the Moon and planets carry real detail. If you only optimize one spec, make it this one.

The collapsible tube makes it genuinely portable. Sky-Watcher's strut design lets the tube slide down for storage and pop back up for use, and the company says it holds collimation through the process. Collapsed, it's small enough to sit on a shelf or ride in a footwell. That matters more than it sounds — the scope you can grab in thirty seconds is the scope you'll actually use on a Tuesday night.

From our review of 5 telescopes for beginners, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +You're buying aperture, and that's the right thing to buy
• +The collapsible tube makes it genuinely portable
• +Nothing about it can fail in the field
• +It rewards learning the sky

What to know

• –You need a table
• –Finding things is entirely on you
• –The bundled eyepieces are basic