Every recommendation on ScopePicked traces to a published number. This page is the method — what we check, where the numbers come from, and what we deliberately don’t do.
The specifications we reconcile
Every guide works from the same core figures: aperture (the diameter of the main lens or mirror, in millimeters), focal length and focal ratio, optical design (refractor, reflector, Dobsonian, catadioptric), mount type (alt-azimuth, equatorial, Dobsonian base, or computerized GoTo and tracking), weight and size as set up and as stored, and the eyepieces and accessories in the box. For smart telescopes we add sensor, field of view, battery, and whether the telescope needs an app, an account or a subscription to work.
We then reconcile those numbers against what you want to see and where you will observe from. Aperture decides how much detail and how many faint objects are within reach; the mount decides whether you can keep them in view; weight decides whether the telescope leaves the closet. The reconciliation, not the spec sheet, is the recommendation. Where we compare figures across models or apply a published rule of thumb — a useful-magnification limit, say — the guide names the source and labels the result as our own calculation.
Where the numbers come from
Manufacturer manuals and specification sheets, in that order of trust; warranty documents; published guidance from astronomy organizations; and owner feedback read at scale across public platforms. Every specification we publish is taken from a document we can point to. When two manufacturer documents disagree, we say which one we used and why. When a number cannot be verified from any published source, the guide says so in a named exclusions section rather than repeating a figure we cannot stand behind.
What we don’t do
We don’t buy, set up or observe with the telescopes we write about, and we won’t pretend to. There is no test night, no staged backyard, no unboxing. When a question can only be settled under the sky — how steady a mount feels in the wind, how a view looks from your own street — we say so plainly and tell you what the published evidence does and does not support.
We also don’t give instructions for observing the Sun or an eclipse, choosing or fitting solar filters, or using laser pointers. This is general information, not safety advice: never look at the Sun through any optical instrument unless the manufacturer’s approved solar filter is fitted as its manual describes — if in doubt, don’t.
Who it’s for — and who should skip it
Every recommendation names who it’s for and who it isn’t for. An honest guide has losers as well as winners, and ours name what we excluded and why.
Prices
We don’t publish prices. They change too quickly to trust in an article, so we use broad price bands (for example $400–700) and ask you to check the current price with the retailer before buying.
How we’re paid
Reader-supported, through affiliate links that never affect what we recommend — the full policy is in our affiliate disclosure.