I would admittedly consider myself a lazy astronomer and astrophotographer. I don’t want to get in my car to drive somewhere with dark skies every time, and I don’t like fussing with finicky setup processes. Plus, being in Florida, I don’t enjoy standing outside looking through an eyepiece while fighting off hordes of mosquitos. There’s also the matter of figuring out what to look at in the first place. Despite all that, I do love getting to see detailed views of objects and stars in our night sky. So when Unistellar asked if I would like to check out its Odyssey Pro, a smart telescope that promises a more flexible viewing experience, I jumped at the chance. The Odyssey Pro ended up solving most of my astrophotography complaints, simplifying it and making it much more enjoyable, though it does so at a steep price.
Abby Ferguson
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Pros
- Very easy to set up
- Simple to use
- Relatively compact and lightweight
- Effectively filters light pollution
- High-quality images and views
- Option to view through app or eyepiece
- Long battery life
- Includes a sturdy tripod
Cons
- Wi-Fi range isn’t very far
- Pairing is a bit clunky
- Requires the app for use
- It’s $3,999
The verdict: The Unistellar Odyssey Pro is an expensive telescope, but it is incredibly easy to set up and use and provides quality images even with zero experience.
How we tested
The Odyssey Pro is relatively compact and lightweight, making it a good option to travel with. That’s partly a result of the Alt-Azimuth mount, which doesn’t require counterweights but does enable full tracking capabilities. We brought the telescope to our friend’s houses a few times and even took it on a long road trip since it didn’t take up much space in the car. Plus, you can buy a specially made backpack for easier telescope transportation.
The design
The telescope comes with a tripod, saving you from purchasing one separately. It is a very sturdy tripod, so you can set up your telescope with confidence, even if there’s some wind. The front of the telescope is magnetic, which holds the dust cap in place. It also allows you to attach the Unistellar Solar Filter easily, making it possible to view the sun safely.
Connectivity, battery life and storage
The Odyssey Pro relies on a connection with the Unistellar app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer to function. The connection is based on the scope’s onboard Wi-Fi adaptor, which means you don’t have to stand right next to the telescope to stay connected. The range isn’t as long as I would like, but it did allow us to stay inside, away from the mosquitos, while still getting a close-up look at the wonders in our sky. Unfortunately, there are no manual controls on the telescope itself other than the power button, so you won’t be able to use it without the app. If your phone’s battery dies mid-session, you won’t be able to put the telescope in “Park” mode to pack it up.
As a primarily digital device, it naturally relies on a battery to function. Unistellar promises five hours of battery life from the integrated lithium-ion rechargeable battery, which is spot on what I was able to get in my testing. It features a USB-C port for charging, along with a USB-A port that can power your phone. Additionally, it offers 64GB of storage. That is quite a bit, but the telescope works by taking multiple images of the same object over time, stacking them together to reveal more detail, which eats through storage quicker than you may expect. Still, it was able to last a handful of viewing sessions, with me taking lots of images before the storage was full. But it never hurts to keep a power bank handy.
Optics and sensor
On the surface, the Odyssey Pro looks like most telescopes. It uses a traditional Newtonian reflector design to gather light with a mirror diameter of 85mm and a focal length of 320mm, resulting in an f ratio of f/3.9. What makes it unique is that instead of that mirror guiding light exclusively to an eyepiece, the Odyssey Pro uses a 4.1-megapixel sensor for viewing and recording images. Then, you can view the night sky through the Unistellar app on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Unlike the more affordable Odyssey, the Odyssey Pro still features an eyepiece—made in collaboration with Nikon—for a slightly more traditional telescope experience. Granted, the eyepiece uses a non-traditional design, relying on an OLED micro-display display instead of looking through the telescope. That display means you benefit from Unistellar’s live image processing, even when viewing through the eyepiece. It also doesn’t look like you are viewing a display when looking through the eyepiece, so it still allows for an immersive experience.
The features
As a smart telescope, the Unistellar Odyssey Pro is fairly feature-rich. It takes a lot of the work out of the astronomy process, which may be a big win for some (like myself) or a downside for those who prefer a more classic experience. Essentially, all of the features are a result of the Unistellar app, starting with the easy setup process.
Setup and maintenance
One of the best parts of the Odyssey Pro is the easy setup process. Traditional telescopes require rather annoying mirror alignment or focusing processes, but that isn’t the case here. The telescope handles all of that automatically, meaning you can view the wonders of the night sky within minutes of taking it out of the box.
The setup process is as simple as placing it on the sturdy tripod and ensuring its level. There’s even a bubble level built into the tripod to help you (which you can see in the gallery below). Then, you pair it with the Unistellar app, which was the most challenging part of the process since it was sometimes a bit finicky. After pairing, the app will perform an orientation. Instead of simply relying on GPS coordinates to pinpoint its location, the telescope triangulates its location based on the stars it can see. Then, it uses the Unistellar catalog to calculate where it is. The telescope and app handle the orientation process, so it’s just a matter of waiting a minute or two.
Unistellar app controls
Beyond the initial setup process, the Unistellar app has plenty of tools to make viewing the night sky easy and approachable. Most notable is the catalog of over 5,000 objects (nebulae, galaxies, planets, and more) and 37 million stars and the self-orientating design. Since it knows your location, the catalog allows you to search and browse celestial objects that are viewable in your particular area. That way, you don’t spend time waiting for the telescope to move to something that isn’t even in your night sky at that moment. Plus, you can set custom parameters if you need to account for buildings or trees.
Once you select what to look at, the motorized Alt-Az mount navigates for you. The telescope then tracks that object or star to keep it centered so you can keep viewing even as the earth rotates. This is especially beneficial because of Unistellar’s image processing technology, which produces a better image as time goes on. Plus, it will refocus when necessary to ensure whatever you are looking at stays focused.
While you can choose to have a fully automatic process, the app does give you some manual controls. That includes manually rotating the mount to scan the night sky on your own. You can also take some manual control over the image settings, including gain (signal amplification of the sensor), exposure time, brightness, and background (how dark the background is).
If you are viewing as a group, Unistellar makes it easy for multiple people to connect to the same telescope with their own device instead of all needing to hover around one person’s phone or the eyepiece. Also within the app are tools to calibrate the sensor, focus the eyepiece, and re-orient the telescope, ensuring you have a quality viewing experience. You can even turn the scope’s LED light on the side to red to prevent extra light pollution and lessen the impact on your night vision.
Astrophotography
The Odyssey Pro makes astrophotography incredibly easy. While it won’t provide the same quality as a dedicated, high-quality astrophotography setup, it does provide quality results with far less fuss. Capturing images is as simple as choosing something to look at and tapping the capture button in the app. You can opt for a circular frame around the photo with relevant information like the object or star in the frame, exposure time, location, and date, or go for a frame-free image.
One of the standout features of Unistellar’s telescopes, including the Odyssey Pro, is the Deep Dark Technology. This feature makes both viewing and astrophotography better. It is a denoising algorithm that reduces the effects of light pollution, revealing a truly black background as you would expect from space. It also helps amplify details and colors, making objects and stars viewable even in light-polluted areas.
While I don’t live in a place like New York City or Chicago, there’s substantial light pollution near me. My attempts at astrophotography with my camera have yielded poor results because of that. The Odyssey Pro, though, cuts through all that, providing a phenomenal viewing experience regardless of light pollution. It takes time to filter through it, with the image getting better the longer you wait, but if you have some patience, you can see some outstanding results.
The conclusion
Unistellar did a fantastic job simplifying the astronomy experience, making it significantly more approachable. Everything from the setup process to the app navigation and viewing process is simple and intuitive, allowing you to start within minutes of taking the scope out of the box. The Deep Dark Technology and live image processing provide truly wow-worthy results, especially if you have the patience to observe one thing for a few minutes. Plus, the portability and ability to connect multiple apps make it easier to turn stargazing into a social event.
Of course, there are downsides. The Wi-Fi range isn’t all that extensive, so you need to stick fairly close. You also can’t use the telescope if you don’t have a device with the app, which is a bummer if your phone’s battery dies mid-session when traveling. The biggest downside, though, is the price. At $3,999, this is an expensive telescope. To save some money, you could opt for the Odyssey, which is the same in nearly every way but lacks the eyepiece. I have previously tested the Odyssey, and I didn’t anticipate liking the experience of looking through the eyepiece so much. Yet, there is something special about that, so I enjoyed using the Odyssey Pro a little bit more. That said, there is a $1,700 price difference between the two models, and it seems hard to justify that much of a price for only the eyepiece. This topic sparked quite a debate with our friends, though, so it genuinely comes down to personal preference.
The specs
- Focal length: 320mm
- Mirror diameter: 85mm
- Focal ratio: f/3.9
- Image resolution: 4.1 megapixels
- Mount: Motorized Alt-Az
- Database: 5000+ objects, 37 million stars
- Telescope weight: 8.8 pounds
- Tripod weight: 5.5 pounds
- Storage: 64GB
- Battery life: 5 hours
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