Celestron – StarSense Explorer DX 5” Smartphone App-Enabled Telescope – Works with StarSense App to Help You Find Stars, Planets & More – Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope – iPhone/Android Compatible – For Sale – Price

8 reviews for Celestron – StarSense Explorer DX 5” Smartphone App-Enabled Telescope – Works with StarSense App to Help You Find Stars, Planets & More – Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope – iPhone/Android Compatible – For Sale – Price

1. 

   Richard M Ferko – 28 February 2025

   Excellent scope for a beginner
   I’ve always been interested in astronomy. Got a decent little refractor scope when I was in elementary school, and received a little 3″ SCT for a graduation gift because Halley’s Comet was due back the following year (yes, I’m old). Life happened and I paused that hobby, but always wanted to go back. Finally took the plunge and looked through many forum posts and pages of reviews until I settled on getting the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ as my return ticket to backyard astronomy. I am really glad I did.I live in a major city with lots of light pollution. There’s a street light right behind my house, my neighbors (all our houses are fairly close together) have high wattage security lights, etc. So I wasn’t expecting much. Figured I would need to plan some nights out at places away from the city. But of course when the scope arrived I wanted to try it out right away.Putting it together took about 30 minutes, but I was purposely going slow so that I was sure I got everything right. The only hiccup was when I was “attaching” the accessory tray to the tripod. The instructions make it seem like you’re screwing it into the cross braces of the tripod, but there are no threads or nuts in the holes. So you’re just cranking the screws all the way into the tray so that when you position the tray over the cross braces, the screws go down through those holes keeping the cross braces from closing on you unexpectedly. I’m guessing it’s designed that way so you don’t have to unscrew everything to get the tripod closed. Just lift out the tray.Getting the red dot finder sighted in was easy. I did it during the day as noted in the setup guide. The ease with which I was able to find things later that night let me know it was working perfectly.My first surprise was how much I could see even with all of the light pollution. Naked eye viewing around here I maybe see 50 or so stars. The planets from Mercury to Saturn are usually pretty visible. Since Saturn was sitting right there in the southern sky that night, I started with it. I had never seen the rings of Saturn through the dinky little scopes I’d had in the past. That night I saw them clearly for the first time (too bad they’re nearly edge-on now). It was awesome. From there I was like a kid in a candy store. Jupiter with the just-past-full moon right above it came up, so I spent a lot of time on them. And then the Pleiades. Once I put the red dot finder on something, it was in the eyepiece and the slow motion controls made it easy to keep it there.That was about the time I remembered the other major feature of this scope – the Starsense Explorer app. I opened the cover over the mirrored portion of the phone holder. Started the app and placed the phone in the holder, then followed the quick instructions on getting it setup. I pointed the scope at Vega which was shining brightly in the west, told the app that was the star I was looking at by zooming in on it on the phone, hit done and in 5 seconds the app told me it knew where it was. Testing it out, I told it to take me back to Saturn, and in 10 seconds I was seeing the ringed planet again.I went to go back to Vega and chanced across something that looked interesting. In the low power 25mm eyepiece it was a bright start that looked like it had a partner. Popped in the 10mm eyepiece and used the slow motion controls to get back on it, and saw it was a very pretty double star. One was bright orange-gold while the other was a cooler blue. I checked the app and it told me I was looking at Albireo/Beta Cygni. I hadn’t ever heard of it. Clicked on the info and there was even an audio explanation of the stars. Awesome.Figuring out I could just slew the scope around and then check the app for what was interesting in that section of sky, I was off to the races again. I forget how many things I looked at – more double stars (I definitely recall looking at the double double/epsilon lyrae), Rigel, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, and could even just make out a blurry cloud that was Andromeda. All from my very light polluted front and back yards.I did buy a phone mount to go with it, but hadn’t even looked at that mount yet. I didn’t get the scope for any kind of astrophotography, but figured I might want to take a few pix here and there. Now I wanted to show my wife and kids what I got to see, so I set about connecting it up. It’s really difficult to get it lined up correctly with the eyepiece, but I got there in the end. I attached a couple of the better photos, but they’re all terribly over-exposed and a little blurry as it was hard to get the phone camera to focus. Just know that this was done basically out-of-the-box after just a couple hours of use. No special camera or photo app or good viewing conditions. I was having a blast.The summary: This scope is perfect for a beginner (or a not-quite beginner that hasn’t done any backyard astronomy for a looooong time). The price was less than I was expecting when I started looking, but it doesn’t feel cheap. And I didn’t want to break the bank in case this wasn’t as fun as I recalled (it’s even more fun/exciting/satisfying than I remembered). And the performance to me is exceptional. I’ve had it for two weeks now and I’ve been out every night that the weather has let me. I’ve gotten a couple upgraded eyepieces and a 2X barlow, and it’s only gotten more fun. The app is extremely useful letting me get on what I want to look at in seconds, or as a source of info when I just want to start randomly touring the sky. And newtonians are a simple design, after looking over the hardware I don’t think I’ll have any problems when any maintenance (like collimation) is needed.

2. 

   DogLover – 28 February 2025

   So easy to use!
   As I approached a milestone birthday (I won’t tell you which milestone though), I found myself wanting to fulfill my childhood dream of owning a nice telescope. After much deliberation, I decided to treat myself to the Celestron StarSense Explorer 5″. It felt like a nod to that starry-eyed kid within me, yearning to explore the mysteries of the cosmos. All my research and effort paid off…and hopefully it helps others out there too. (This scope rocks, go for it!!)Given the budget I had in mind, I quickly stumbled into the world of electronic telescopes with motors and little remote controls that steer themselves to things in the sky. I must have watched 30 YouTube videos on these types of scopes. While they seemed cool, I got the impression that I would be spending more time fumbling with the electronics than actually enjoying the stars. I have enough stress in my real life, and I wanted this scope to be simple and hassle free to use, just grab and go. No fumbling looking for batteries or doing a long set up process.The Celestron StarSense Explorer 5″ caught my attention because it promised to be a telescope that didn’t require a PhD to operate. Instead of a robotic telescope that steers itself to objects, you place your phone into the dock and move the telescope yourself. It made big promises of being equally as accurate as the electronic version, but simpler because you are moving it manually.There are a lot of StarSense models to choose from, but for me, the 5” is the best blend of quality and “grab and go” I was looking for. I live on a few acres of land, and I didn’t want to have to haul a large and bulky Dobsonian out to my astronomy spot. This 5” is the largest one that is still more of a traditional telescope. It also has the sturdier base and fancier controls compared to the budget models.When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the telescope’s sleek and sturdy construction. It looks good enough to keep assembled near my back door so it’s always ready when I am. I actually followed the instruction manual step by step (not normal for me) and found that setting it up was a breeze. After a certain point, I didn’t need the manual because the app guided me through matching up the telescope with my phone. This was the part I was most nervous about, but it honestly took less than 5 minutes. And now that I have done it before, it takes me about 20 seconds.One feature that really got me excited was the smartphone app. I have some familiarity with the big constellations and brighter stars in the sky but I’m no expert by any means. So having the phone was like a cheat code to help me find things I am sure I could not find on my own. With the app, finding things with my scope became as easy as ordering a pizza. There’s even an audio feature to listen to info about what you are looking at. I like to pop in my earbuds and listen as I look in the eyepiece.Speaking of which, let’s talk about the real highlight—the views. From the rings of Saturn to the tiniest little galaxies and star clusters, each observation left me in awe. Although I am not in the middle of the city, there’s still some light pollution from the town and neighboring medium sized city. The scope cut through all that light pollution. I could see things in the eyepiece when it looked to my naked eye that there was nothing there.Of course, no product is without its imperfections. The main limitation I have with this scope is that I can’t do celestial photography. You need one of the electronic ones to track the sky so you can hook up a camera. But that’s a small price to pay for the simplicity of the StarSense Explorer. And I still have gotten some pretty great images of the moon by just holding my phone up to the eyepiece. I honestly have been using this scope regularly for months now, and now with warmer weather coming I am looking forward to a summer of stargazing every chance I get.In conclusion, the Celestron StarSense Explorer 5″ is a solid choice for anyone looking to dip their toes into the world of stargazing. It’s simple enough for beginners like me to use, yet powerful enough to keep things interesting and keep you coming back night after night. So go ahead, treat yourself to a little slice of the cosmos…you won’t regret it.

3. 

   Francy – 28 February 2025

   Big Wow Factor! Nice Telescope
   The Telescope came Double boxed. Box was in good condition. Was easy to follow the instructions to put the Telescope together. Yes, it has an actual paper instruction booklet. :). Everything is very nicely made and easy to use. The tripod seems very sturdy. (People have said their screws broke but just don’t crank them down so hard.) I was able to go to Zenith by lowering 2 of the legs. My only issue is that one of the screws on the eye piece was sheared off. I was able to get it out of the hole so it’s ready for a new screw if I get one. (see picture)I don’t think the scope is Collimated. I can see clearly but the view is not horizontal or vertical or both. it on the diagonal. I’m not sure if it matters or not. I’m just a perfectionist. So if a tree is supposed to be straight up/down I don’t want to see it on an angle. I’ll have to investigate this.I love the StarSense and the Starry night software. With StarSense I was able to hook up my iphone and it only took a moment to set up. easy to use and fun.4 Stars due to the broken screw and the non-Culmination issue.

4. 

   Jaime – 28 February 2025

   excelente producto, llego antes de tiempo, muy satisfactorio con la compra… solo que los lentes no fueron suficientes y tuve que comprar otros adicionales, eso no viene aclarado en las especificaciones del producto.

5. 

   Juan cortes – 28 February 2025

   Me gusta mucho el telescopio lo que hace falta es ver más claramente las imágenes otros lentes de mayor alcanze y claridad

6. 

   Jenn Kitching – 28 February 2025

   So glad we bought this! It’s expensive but definitely worth it. This is a pic my husband took of the moon with it. Can’t see that kind of detail with my phones camera and can’t exactly capture it with my eyes lol. It’s a bit bulky but not very heavy (20ish lbs), awkward to carry and probably not very easy to transport in a vehicle- we haven’t yet tried.Would recommend overall! Definitely try to get it on sale though! We saved about $100 by doing so and it arrived on time!

7. 

   JEROM – 28 February 2025

   Un telescopio fácil de usar. De buena calidad.La app no funciona si el cielo está nublado o muy contaminado, mejor usar el buscador de punto rojo.

8. 

   G.B. – 28 February 2025

   Ein Fach super das Gerät 👍