Review on 🌌 Gskyer Telescope: 70mm Aperture 400mm AZ Mount Refracting Telescope for Kids and Beginners - Travel Telescope with Carry Bag, Phone Adapter, and Wireless Remote by Greg Harris

I bought this not knowing anything about telescopes and not knowing what to expect to see through this thing. Now that I know more, I think it's a decent price, but it has a lot of flaws. In telescopes, aperture size is much more important than magnification. The larger the aperture, the better the image will be. It has an opening of 70mm (2.75 inch) which is the smallest size you can get. This is typical of an "entry-level" telescope and represents good value for money if you want to get into stargazing without spending $500 or more on a larger telescope. However, if I could do it again, I would. spent more and bought a better one. First, as with all beginner telescopes, it is actually much more difficult to operate than an intermediate telescope. This is well known in the amateur astronomy group I joined and they never, EVER recommend buying a telescope for beginners, ESPECIALLY children. Because most children prefer to look at things rather than search for them. And with this telescope, far more time is spent looking for objects than looking at them. My kid doesn't have the patience or focus for it, but I rather enjoy the task, so I do it. Which brings me to the next problem. It's made for kids. This makes the stand very short. This means that the entire time you spend looking for things you have to bend over, squat or kneel on the floor. And if you live in a place with a lot of light pollution, there's not much you can see other than the stars, the moon, or the brightest planets. Even Mars is difficult to see with this telescope and you won't be able to see any detail on the surface. SOME faint detail can be seen on Jupiter, especially if you stay away from the light pollution on a clear moonless night. And you can just see the rings of Saturn. On the other hand, Venus is very easy to see. Right now, towards the end of April 2020, it's the brightest of the whole year, so we've been checking it out every night. It's too bright, even the darkest, to see detail, but you can see what phase it's in. Last night I saw a planetary nebula called Jupiter's Ghost. For perspective, I've had a few weeks of use and practice and am comfortable with the telescope and I have a number of apps, charts and star maps to help me find things and it took STILL over an hour to get them finally found place it close enough to the center of my field of view to use at max magnification and focus it. Even then he looked like a blurry, bluish star. We couldn't see any of the detail or distinctive shape of the eyes that can be seen even with slightly larger telescopes. But it was cool and the kid loved it. I think it's worth the effort but my back is killing me today. Don't get me wrong, for a beginner's telescope that's good. This will suit our needs while saving for an upgrade. But like all entry-level telescopes, it's more difficult to use and not powerful enough to see much. All the time it takes to look for things, a result that many might find disappointing, could potentially kill a child's enthusiasm. You absolutely MUST get a beginner telescope, this is a good choice. But if possible, save and do more aperture.