Ranking The Best from 70+ Refractor Telescopes

Rank & ratings last updated by Zane Landers on Sep 15, 2025

$Refractor telescopes from Celestron, Meade, and Explore Scientific$

A few of the refractors from Celestron, Meade and Explore Scientific that we've had in our garage.

In my view, a small refractor, particularly on an easy-to-operate alt-azimuth mount, is unmatched in convenience. Even on a chilly night, I can be observing in minutes—if not seconds—since, unlike with my reflector and catadioptric telescopes, I don't need to wait for the optics to cool down to the outside temperature or perform a collimation procedure. I always keep a small refractor by the back door of my house for spur-of-the-moment observing. Even if I leave it unmaintained there, I don't have to worry about the mirror coatings degrading over time.

Finding deep-sky objects is no problem, thanks to the refractor's wide field of view. Refractors' higher visual contrast and tolerance of inexpensive eyepieces, compared to reflector or catadioptric types of telescopes, are just the icing on the cake. I've stumbled upon many deep-sky objects that are so big and low in contrast that they are only visible through my small refractor.

However, refractors are much more expensive than equivalent-aperture reflectors or catadioptrics. Additionally, due to the difficulties and costs of making a large lens and properly mounting such a massive telescope, refractors are rarely found above 6 inches in aperture. Those that do exist tend to be extremely expensive and bulky.

Throughout this list, you'll come across the term 'chromatic aberration', a key reason I don't recommend many of the cheaper refractors. This optical issue, which produces fuzzy images and purple halos around bright targets, occurs in budget refractors because refractor lenses without extra-low-dispersion (ED) glass or additional elements can't focus all colours to the same point. The problem becomes more pronounced with larger lenses and longer focal ratios.

The three commonly available types of refractors are achromats, ED achromats, and apochromatic (APO) refractors, which you can think of as the low, medium, and high-priced options on the market.

If you're a visual observer, achromats might be just what you need. These refractors are less expensive to manufacture and can be purchased for as little as £100. They work acceptably at longer focal ratios and with smaller apertures.
If you are an astrophotographer, consider the ED doublets as your entry-level models, with the APOs as the premium models. I know several people who paid five to ten thousand pounds—sometimes more—for apochromatic designs for perfect chromatic and other aberration control from brands like Stellarvue, Astro-Physics, and Takahashi.
For the hobbyist on a budget, I believe a long focal ratio achromat, an ED doublet, or an inexpensive apochromatic triplet will more than suffice for visual use and photography with a DSLR or modest CCD camera.

Achromatic refractors have objective lenses based on two elements, typically made of crown and flint glass, and exhibit varying levels of chromatic aberration depending on the aperture and focal ratio.
ED doublets, also known as ED achromats or semi-apochromats, reduce chromatic aberration to an acceptable level (but not nonexistent), although at higher prices. ED doublets use FPL-51, FPL-53, or FCD100 glass in one of the elements of the objective lens to make this possible.
Apochromats use 3 or sometimes more lens elements in their objective lenses, usually with at least 1 ED lens element. In addition to colour control, adding more lenses can lead to more pleasing astroimages with less field curvature, lesser edge-of-field aberrations, and other issues that are particularly evident with large CCD imaging chips.

We've written a standalone article on Apochromatic Refractors vs Achromatic Refractors if you'd like to read more in detail.

Rank Category: Below £175 Refractor Telescopes

Cheap refractor models have more chromatic aberration, cheaper accessories, cheaper mounts, and lower build quality than a more expensive refractor. Unfortunately, there aren't many refractor telescopes we can confidently recommend below £175, though there are plenty of options available on the market.

Bresser Classic 60 EQ Refractor

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The Bresser Classic 60EQ is well-made and includes a nice mount and accessories, but its tiny 60 mm aperture limits what you can see to little more than the Moon, planets, and double stars.

Rank 2	Bresser Messier AR-70	3.2
Rank 3	Skywatcher Mercury 707	3.1
Rank 4	Celestron Inspire 70AZ	3
Rank 5	Bresser Sirius 70/900 AZ	3
Rank 6	Vixen Space Eye 70mm	3
Rank 7	Celestron PowerSeeker 70EQ	3
Rank 8	Skywatcher Mercury 705	3
Rank 9	Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ	3
Rank 10	Bresser Classic 70 Refractor	3
Rank 11	Celestron AstroMaster 70EQ	2.9
Rank 12	Skywatcher Mercury 607	2.9
Rank 13	Omegon 60mm AZ1	2.8
Rank 14	Celestron PowerSeeker 80AZS	2.6
Rank 15	Skywatcher Capricorn 70 EQ1	2.5
Rank 16	Bresser Night Explorer 80	2.5
Rank 17	Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ	2.5
Rank 18	Bresser Skylux 70/700 mm	2.5
Rank 19	Celestron Travel Scope 80mm	2.5
Rank 20	National Geographic 60	2.5
Rank 21	National Geographic 70	2.5
Rank 22	National Geographic Smart AR Children's Telescope	2.4
Rank 23	Celestron PowerSeeker 70AZ	2.2
Rank 24	Celestron Astromaster LT 76AZ	2
Rank 25	Celestron Telescope Astromaster 70AZ	2
Rank 26	Celestron Telescope Astromaster 70AZ LT	2
Rank 27	Celestron PS70/700	2
Rank 28	Celestron Travel Scope 70 DX	1.9
Rank 29	Celestron Travel Scope 70	1.9
Rank 30	Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ	1.9
Rank 31	Celestron PowerSeeker 60EQ	1.9
Rank 32	Celestron Travel Scope 60mm DX	1.8
Rank 33	Celestron AstroMaster LT 60 AZ Refractor	1.7
Rank 34	Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ	1.4
Rank 35	Celestron Travel Scope 50	1.3
Rank 36	National Geographic 50	1

Rank Category: £175-£300 Refractor Telescopes

Sky-Watcher Evostar-90/660 AZ Pronto

£245 at FLO

The Sky-Watcher Evostar-90/660 AZ Pronto is one of the better cheap 90mm telescopes out there, if a bit lacking in accessories. It’s hard to argue with its good optics, simple and sturdy mount, and almost unmatched convenience as a great “grab n’ go” scope.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ Refractor

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The StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ gets you a lot for your money, bearing in mind that it’s still a mediocre 80mm refractor. While it has decent optics and a fairly acceptable set of accessories, it's mounted on a poorly constructed alt-azimuth fork mount.

It’s very easy to aim, thanks to Celestron’s unique StarSense Explorer technology, which uses only a smartphone app and a special phone-mounting adapter to assist us in pointing the telescope at faint deep-sky objects without any additional hardware, alignment, or power.

Given its small 80mm aperture and narrow field of view due to the long f/11 focal length, we still question its purpose since there are probably only a dozen practical targets where the StarSense Explorer app might be of any benefit. However, it is nonetheless a pretty good deal for the price, and we're impressed with how the StarSense Explorer system actually manages to work.

Rank 3	Bresser Messier AR-90 AZ NANO	3.6
Rank 4	Bresser Polaris 102/460 EQ3	3.5
Rank 5	Skywatcher StarQuest 102R	3.5
Rank 6	Bresser Messier AR-80	3.5
Rank 7	Skywatcher Startravel 80 EQ1	3.5
Rank 8	Skywatcher Startravel 80 AZ3	3.5
Rank 9	Celestron Astro Fi 90	3.4
Rank 10	Celestron Inspire 80AZ	3.4
Rank 11	Celestron Inspire 100AZ	3.4
Rank 12	Celestron Inspire 90AZS	3.4
Rank 13	Celestron AstroMaster 80EQ MD	3.4
Rank 14	BRESSER SpaceExplorer 90/900 EQ3	3.2
Rank 15	Skywatcher Startravel 102 EQ1	3.2
Rank 16	Skywatcher Evostar 90 EQ2	3.2
Rank 17	BRESSER Taurus 90/900 MPM	3
Rank 18	Bresse Quasar 80/900 EQ	3
Rank 19	National Geographic 90 EQ3	3
Rank 20	Skywatcher Evostar 90 AZ3	3
Rank 21	Celestron Astromaster 90EQ	2.9
Rank 22	Celestron Astromaster 102AZ	2.8
Rank 23	National Geographic 70 AZ	2.8
Rank 24	Celestron Astromaster 80AZ Short	2.6
Rank 25	Skywatcher Startravel 102 AZ3	2.5
Rank 26	Celestron AstroMaster 90AZ	2.5
Rank 27	Celestron Ambassador Executive 50	1

Rank Category: £300-£500 Refractor Telescopes

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor

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The StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ fixes many of the issues of its smaller cousin, the StarSense LT 80AZ, and it’s one of our favourite grab-and-go refractor telescopes. It has great optics (albeit with slight chromatic aberration expected at the focal ratio of f/6.5), an easy-to-use alt-azimuth mount, a sturdy tripod, and a decent supplied eyepiece and finder.

The StarSense Explorer technology, which helps you point the telescope using a smartphone and a phone bracket, is a nice bonus that’s included for essentially no extra cost. We've also noticed that the smartphone mounting bracket on the DX mount is a little better designed than what’s provided with the StarSense LT 80AZ telescope, and so the StarSense Explorer tech works a little more accurately.

While the DX 102AZ technically includes a fairly good 2" metal focuser, in our experience, the included mount is not exactly up to the task of handling heavy 2” eyepieces and a beefy diagonal.

However, with a price tag big enough to obtain a larger and/or fully computerised non-refractor, the DX 102AZ is not the most economically justifiable scope unless you specifically want a refractor.

Rank 2	Bresser Messier AR-102 EXOS-1	3.5
Rank 3	Skywatcher Evostar 90 EQ3-2	3.5
Rank 4	Skywatcher Star Discovery 90i	3.5
Rank 5	Skywatcher Evostar 102 EQ3-2	3.4
Rank 6	Skywatcher Startravel 120 EQ3-2	3.4
Rank 7	Skywatcher Evostar 120 EQ3-2	3.3
Rank 8	Skywatcher Startravel 102 AZ-GTe	3.3
Rank 9	Skywatcher Startravel 102 AZ5	3.3
Rank 10	Bresser Messier AR-102L EXOS-1	3.2
Rank 11	Skywatcher Mercury 707 AZ-GTi	3.2
Rank 12	Explore FirstLight 102mm with EXOS EQ Nano	3.1
Rank 13	Bresser AR-102/600 EQ-3	3
Rank 14	Vixen Mobile PORTA-L70Lf	3
Rank 15	Skywatcher Startravel 120 AZ3	3
Rank 16	Bresser First Light AR-102 EQ3	3
Rank 17	Bresser Automatik 80/400 GoTo	2.8
Rank 18	Celestron NexStar 102SLT Telescope	2.7
Rank 19	National Geographic 70 Refractor GoTo	2.5
Rank 20	Celestron Ambassador Executive 50	1

Rank Category: £500-£1000 Refractors

Takahashi Starbase 80

£649 at FLO

The Takahashi Starbase 80 is an extremely high-quality achromatic refractor. It’s great for beginners, and it is probably one of the highest-quality achromats on the market today. However, for a bit more money, you could just get an apochromat, which is more compact and suitable for imaging, though Takahashi’s products in this category are equally extremely expensive for what you get.

Rank 2	Skywatcher Startravel 150 EQ5	3.6
Rank 3	Skywatcher Evostar 150 EQ5	3.6
Rank 4	Bresser Messier AR-127S EXOS-2	3.5
Rank 5	Bresser Messier AR-127S EXOS-1	3.5
Rank 6	Bresser Messier AR-127L EXOS-2	3.5
Rank 7	Skywatcher Evostar 120 EQ5	3.5
Rank 8	Vixen A80MF Porta II	3.5
Rank 9	Bresser Messier AR-152S EXOS-2	3.4
Rank 10	Skywatcher Evostar 120 EQ5 Pro GoTo	3.4
Rank 11	Bresser Messier AR-152L EXOS-2	3.4
Rank 12	Bresser Messier AR-102S EXOS-1	3.4
Rank 13	Skywatcher Evostar 120 EQ3 Pro GoTo	3.3
Rank 14	Bresser Messier AR-102S EXOS-2 GoTo	3.3
Rank 15	Bresser Messier AR-127L EXOS-2 GoTo	3.2
Rank 16	Bresser Messier AR-90 EXOS-2 GoTo	3
Rank 17	Celestron Ambassador 80 AZ Brass	1

Rank Category: Above £1000 Refractors

Unfortunately, there are no all-in-one telescopes on this list that we can say with confidence are capable of serious deep-sky astrophotography right out of the box.

Skywatcher Evostar 150 NEQ6 Pro GOTO Telescope

£1,949 at Altair

Rank 2	Skywatcher Evostar 150 NEQ6 Pro GOTO Telescope	3.9
Rank 3	Skywatcher Evostar 150 HEQ5 Pro GOTO Telescope	3.9
Rank 4	Bresser Messier AR-152S EXOS-2 GoTo	3.5
Rank 5	Skywatcher Evostar 120 HEQ5 Pro GOTO Telescope	3.5
Rank 6	Skywatcher Evostar 150 EQ5 Pro GOTO Telescope	3.5
Rank 7	Bresser Messier AR-152L EXOS-2 GoTo	3.5
Rank 8	Bresser Messier AR-127S EXOS-2 GoTo	3.5

Rank Category: Imaging Refractors

We have a separate ranking page for optical tube assemblies (OTAs), which also includes refractors—these are geared more toward imaging, unlike the visual-focused refractors listed above.