Unistellar Odyssey Pro Review: Easy, With an Eyepiece, Priced High

Unistellar's Odyssey Pro is the smart telescope for people who still want to put an eye to a telescope. It's the 85 mm Odyssey with an electronic eyepiece developed with Nikon added on top, so a group can take turns looking at a galaxy building up in real time instead of crowding around a phone. That makes it charming, and expensive. Here's how its published specs compare with what hands-on reviewers found; we haven't tested it ourselves, see how we research.

Key specs

Setup: as easy as it gets

Every reviewer praised the setup. Sky at Night Magazine's Paul Money called assembly the fastest he'd had with a review telescope: there's no collimation, and the telescope focuses, plate-solves and finds targets by itself. Popular Science described leveling the tripod with its built-in bubble level, pairing it with the app and letting it orient itself by recognizing stars, which takes a minute or two. Pairing was the one step Popular Science found "a bit finicky".

The eyepiece

The eyepiece isn't optical: it's an OLED micro-display showing the camera's processed image, so you see the same stacked, enhanced view as in the app. Sky at Night found it gives a bright, clear view as the image builds up, with a small focus wheel to suit your eye. Popular Science called the experience "something special", and it's the reason to buy the Pro: at star parties and with family it feels like looking through a telescope, not at a screen.

Image quality

Sky at Night captured galaxies such as the Whirlpool, Bode's and the Cigar, plus the Dumbbell and Bubble nebulae and several star clusters. It noted that a dim first view usually improves within about a minute of stacking, and that large targets like the Double Cluster "only just fitted" the field of view. Raw data can be downloaded, and Sky at Night got "far better" results processing it on a laptop than from the app's standard output.

Under light pollution, Popular Science credited Deep Dark Technology with a truly black background and strong results from a bright area, while noting it won't match a dedicated astrophotography setup. Unlike the Seestar and DWARF telescopes, there's no physical dual-band filter for nebulae.

For the best stars, Unistellar recommends letting the Odyssey cool to the outside temperature for at least 30 minutes before orienting it; see blurry smart telescope images.

What reviewers didn't like

• Price. Every reviewer named it as the biggest downside. Popular Science found the eyepiece hard to justify for the difference over the plain Odyssey, and that gap is now $2,000 at US list prices.
• Phone dependence. There are no controls on the telescope, so it needs your phone or tablet throughout. Popular Science warns that a dead phone mid-session can stop you parking the scope, and Sky at Night notes it ties up a device.
• Storage and Wi-Fi. Popular Science found the 64 GB fills faster than expected and the Wi-Fi range shorter than it wanted.
• Battery. About 5 hours, with only 6 months of warranty on the battery itself.
• Fixed sensor and small mirror. Sky at Night points out the sensor can't be upgraded, and the 85 mm mirror is smaller than the 114 mm in Unistellar's Expert range.

Odyssey Pro vs Odyssey: is the eyepiece worth it?

The two share the same 85 mm optics, battery, storage and app; see the Unistellar Odyssey range. For most owners who view on a phone or tablet anyway, the standard Odyssey gives identical images for $2,000 less. The Pro makes sense for outreach events, schools and families who want people to look into a telescope, or for anyone who simply values that experience.

Alternatives

• Seestar S50 Pro ($999). A built-in dual-band filter, EQ mode and a 9-hour battery for a fraction of the price; see our Seestar S50 Pro review.
• Vaonis Vespera 3 ($2,490). A premium refractor with an 11-hour battery and 5-year warranty; see our Vespera 3 review.
• Unistellar vs Vaonis: our full comparison of mirrors vs lenses at $2,500 to $5,000.

Who should buy it

Buy the Odyssey Pro if you run public outreach, teach, or want the whole family to look through an eyepiece, and the price isn't a stretch. Everyone else gets the same images from the Odyssey, or more features for less from a Seestar S50 Pro or Vespera 3. Compare everything in our best smart telescopes.