Celestron vs Meade: Which is Better? [Comparison]

The Infinity Portable refracting telescope is one of the finest beginner telescopes in the market. It comes with a focal length of 70mm and an aperture of 70mm which makes its focal ratio f/10. You might think that the most you could see with this Meade Telescope is the moon as it is a beginner’s telescope. However, that is not the case and you might be heavily underestimating how good this 70mm Meade Telescope is. You can see the clouds of Jupiter and its four major moons with this telescope.

The Meade Infinity telescopes are specifically designed for viewers who love to watch both astronomical and terrestrial objects. They come equipped with a high-quality Altazimuth mount with a slow-motion control rod to efficiently track celestial objects both days and nights. The Infinity 70mm refracting telescope is shipped with 3 different eyepieces for different magnifications. These eyepieces include one 9mm and 26mm and 2x Barlow lens. The Barlow lens doubles the magnification of any eyepiece so you can see more clearly and more deeply into the night sky.

The red dot viewfinder helps you locate objects that you want to view more easily. It also comes with a bonus Audiostar Suite Astronomy DVD that has information about over 10000 celestial objects. The preassembled stable aluminum tripod is another great feature of this best Meade telescope. We definitely recommend giving it a try if you are a beginner and want to start your astronomical journey with a great telescope.

The 8″ f/10 LLX90 ACF Telescope is a great intermediate-level telescope manufactured by Meade. This telescope has an exceptional focal length of 2000mm. It has an aperture of 8 inches or 200mm in other words. The beginner telescope that we discussed above has an aperture of 70mm. You can see the rings of Saturn and four of its moons with a 70mm telescope.

Now imagine the depth you will be able to see at with a 200mm telescope. But with increased aperture and increased magnification comes the increased difficulty of operation. This is an intermediate-level telescope and it requires some basic knowledge of telescopes to use it to its full extent and make the most out of it. Even so, it is a great choice for beginners as well if they are willing to spend some learning how to operate this telescope properly.

The Meade 8″ telescope comes equipped with ACF optics coated with Ultra-high transmission coatings. What these two things do is that they show you images with a flatter field and eliminate astigmatism and reduce diffraction spikes. This catadioptric Meade telescope is one of the best Meade telescopes for planetary astrophotography. It comes with an Audiostar hand controller that lets you locate and track objects you want to see in the sky. The Audiostar controller has a database of over 30000 celestial objects and it is really easy to operate as well. However, the Meade telescope manuals are a little tricky to understand and need some level of expertise.

Also, take a look at our article on the finest Dobsonian telescopes. 

Here is Celestron’s best 70mm beginner refracting telescope that is the rival of Meade’s 70mm telescope. Both of these scopes are refracting telescopes and work on the same mechanism. There are some features in the Meade 70mm refracting telescope that excel over Celestron’s 70mm refracting telescope and there are some features in Celestron’s 70mm refracting telescope which excel over Meade’s 70mm telescope. So let us give you a detailed review of their differences.

For starters, Celestron’s 70mm travel scope is lighter as compared to Meade Infinity 70mm telescope. The Celestron scope weighs about 3.3 pounds and the Meade telescope weighs around 7 pounds. That is more than double Celestron’s 70mm travel scope. Secondly, there is a significant difference in the prices of both scopes. That is because of the different quality of materials used in the construction. There is no doubt that the Celestron scope is a great bang for the buck but the overall build quality of the Meade telescope excels.

The Celestron scope comes with 20mm and 10mm eyepieces whereas the Meade telescope comes with 26mm and 9mm telescopes for low and high magnification. If we do a Meade vs Celestron eyepieces comparison in terms of both low and high magnification, the Meade eyepieces are overall a better buy. But you do not have to spend the extra amount of money if you either want a scope you can travel with or if you are a casual astronomer and do it as a hobby.

You might also want to read about the finest telescopes under $1000.

The Celestron NexStar 102SLT computerized telescope is an intermediate-level telescope that requires a bit of skill to operate to its fullest. But if you do get the hang of it, you can do wonders with it. It comes with everything you need to take your astronomical journey one step ahead. It is compact and portable so you can easily carry it from terrain to terrain. You can see Saturn rings, Jupiter’s cloud bands, and the moon in bright detail with this telescope.

The Celestron NexStar’s Staralign setup will have you ready to view in a matter of a few minutes. You just need to align three bright objects in the eyepiece and NexStar SLT aligns to the night sky. You will also get a two-year warranty with this telescope so you can buy it without worry in the world. Even if we look at this telescope from the Celestron vs Meade Telescopes point of view, this telescope is a rival to some of the best Meade telescopes.