Best Coated Telescopes of 2026
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Coated telescopes are a type of optical telescope that feature a special coating on the lenses and mirrors to enhance the image quality. This coating reduces the amount of reflection and increases the amount of light that passes through the telescope, resulting in brighter and clearer images. Coated telescopes are available in a range of sizes and styles, from small portable models to large, professional-grade telescopes designed for advanced astronomy. They are a popular choice for both amateur and professional stargazers alike, providing a reliable and high-quality viewing experience.
At a Glance: Our Top Picks
Top 10 Coated Telescopes
Gskyer Telescope 70mm Aperture 400mm AZ Mount
The Gskyer Telescope 70mm Aperture 400mm AZ Mount is a great entry-level telescope for beginners and kids. It comes with two replaceable eyepieces, a 3x Barlow lens, a 5x24 finder scope, a wireless remote, and an adjustable aluminum alloy tripod. It has a 70mm aperture and 400mm focal length, which is enough to explore stars and moon. Customers have praised its solid mount and easy setup, but have noted that it can be difficult to use and that the position locking is not ideal.
Celestron 70mm Travel Scope
The Celestron 70mm Travel Scope is an ideal telescope for beginners, offering fully-coated glass optics, a large 70mm aperture objective lens, and two high-quality eyepieces for low- and high-power views. The telescope comes with a full-height tripod, a custom backpack for easy portability, and a bonus software package for astronomy enthusiasts. The Travel Scope's superior optics and unbeatable warranty make it a top choice for amateur stargazers.
HEXEUM Telescope 70500
The HEXEUM Telescope 70500 is a great choice for amateur astronomers and kids alike. It features a 70mm aperture and 500mm focal length, providing stunning views and protecting your eyes. It comes with two excellent-quality eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) and a 3x Barlow lens, trebling the magnifying power of each eyepiece. It also includes a phone adapter and an adjustable aluminum tripod, as well as a wireless remote control and carrying bag for easy portability. With its lifetime maintenance and great customer reviews, this telescope is a great gift for beginner astronomers.
Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ Telescope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ Telescope is a smartphone app-enabled telescope that comes with a 114mm Newtonian reflector optical tube, 25mm, and 10mm Kellner eyepieces, a 2x Barlow lens, and a red dot finderscope. It features a manual altazimuth mount with slow motion control rod, full height tripod, and an accessory tray. The patent-pending StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate its position in real-time. The manual altazimuth mount with smooth dual-axis slow-motion controls makes it easy to follow on-screen arrows to your desired target, and when the bullseye turns green, it's ready to view in the telescope's eyepiece.
HEXEUM Telescope 80mm Aperture 600mm
The HEXEUM Telescope 80mm Aperture 600mm is an excellent choice for amateur astronomers. It features an 80mm aperture to capture more light and multi-fully high transmission coated all-optical lens for enhanced image brightness and clarity. It comes with two replaceable eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) for 24X and 60X magnification, and a 3x Barlow lens for trebling the magnifying power. It also includes a 5x24 finder scope, a phone adapter, an adjustable aluminum tripod, a wireless remote control, and a carrying bag for easy portability. Setup is quick and easy with no tools required.
HEXEUM Portable Telescopes
The HEXEUM Portable Telescopes is an excellent choice for amateur astronomers and kids alike. It features a 70mm aperture and 500mm focal length, providing stunning views and protecting your eyes. It comes with two eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) and a 3x Barlow lens, trebling the magnifying power of each eyepiece. It also includes a phone adapter and an adjustable aluminum tripod, as well as a wireless remote control and carrying bag for easy portability. Customer reviews are generally positive, with some noting that the tripod stand could be more robust and that it can be difficult to find stars in the scope.
EACONN 80mm Refractor Telescope
EACONN 80mm Refractor Telescope is a perfect choice for astronomy beginners and kids. With its true 80mm aperture and fully coated green optics glass lens, this telescope captures more light and delivers bright and clear images. The rough adjustment and positioning gimbal with scale make it easy to adjust the altitude and azimuth, allowing you to point the telescope wherever you want. It comes with all the necessary accessories, including two eyepieces with different magnifications, a finder scope with a crosshair, and a customized mobile phone adapter. The telescope is easy to assemble and carry, with a bag and an adjustable tripod included. Whether you want to observe the moon, view planets, or indulge in bird watching and landscape viewing, this telescope is a great gift that will bring you and your family endless fun times.
Celticbird 80mm 600mm AZ Refractor Telescope
The Celticbird 80mm Telescope offers bright and clear views thanks to its large 80mm aperture and high-quality coated lenses that let in more light and reduce glare. It comes with a sturdy, adjustable aluminum tripod that can be set between 17.7" and 52", making it comfortable for both kids and adults. You’ll find it easy to carry and store since all parts fit neatly into the included backpack. Plus, the upgraded phone adapter lets you capture amazing photos of your celestial discoveries. With two eyepieces for different magnifications and a moon filter to enhance contrast, this telescope is perfect for exploring the moon and planets like Saturn and Jupiter.
EACONN 80mm Aperture 600mm Refractor Telescope
The EACONN 80mm Refractor offers an 80mm aperture with fully coated optics that let you see brighter and clearer images by capturing more light and reducing glare. It features an easy-to-use rough adjustment and a positioning gimbal with a scale, allowing you to smoothly move and aim the telescope exactly where you want. This model comes with two eyepieces providing 30x to 66x magnification and a 5x24 finder scope to help you quickly locate objects in the sky. Plus, a mobile phone adapter lets you attach your phone for easy photo capture. It’s simple to assemble and portable, making it great for beginners and travel.
Koolpte 70mm Refracting Telescope
Koolpte Refracting Telescope is a superior quality telescope that offers bright, clear, and high-contrast images. With its 70mm large aperture and 400mm focal length, it provides excellent light collecting ability and is perfect for exploring the night sky. The telescope comes with 3 eyepieces and a 3X Barlow lens, offering magnification options from 20X to 200X, making it suitable for both kids and adults interested in astronomy. Its portable design, including a phone adapter and adjustable aluminum tripod, allows you to easily capture photos and videos of celestial objects. The wireless remote and 5x24 finder scope make it convenient to locate and explore objects in the sky.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What are telescopes coated with?
According to Phillips, most astronomical telescope mirrors use aluminum for the reflective layer, despite the superior reflective properties of silver. "Silver is the most reflective material, but it is finicky to work with, and it tarnishes and corrodes easily," he said.
2. What are the 3 main types of telescopes?
There are three main types of telescope. These are refracting telescopes, Newtonian telescopes and Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
3. Why are reflective telescopes better?
Reflecting telescopes have many advantages over refracting telescopes. Mirrors don't cause chromatic aberration and they are easier and cheaper to build large. The are also easier to mount because the back of the mirror can be used to attach to the mount.
During our coated telescope research, we found 16 coated telescope products and shortlisted 10 quality products. We collected and analyzed 231,250 customer reviews through our big data system to write the coated telescopes list. We found that most customers choose coated telescopes with an average price of $74.78.
The coated telescopes are available for purchase. We have researched hundreds of brands and picked the top brands of coated telescopes, including Gskyer, Celestron, HEXEUM, EACONN, CELTICBIRD. The seller of top 1 product has received honest feedback from 384 consumers with an average rating of 4.7.
Alan Eaton is a seasoned writer whose expertise is in anything related to electronics, such as headphones, monitoring equipment, computer, and so on, built over a 15-year career in the technology industry. Working in the trade during his youth, he accumulated a great deal of knowledge about machinery.