The Acer Swift Go 14 is a more stripped-back version of the manufacturer's flagship Acer Swift AI model, although at first glance there is little separating the two machines. They are both made from a basic aluminum chassis and adopt similar physical quirks, like the notch to house the webcam and a keyboard fitted into an angular groove on the chassis. The look of this machine isn't anything to write home about, but aesthetic impressions — especially at this price point — don't speak to how much you can get out of a laptop.

With middle-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon hardware, we'll be judging whether the Acer Swift Go 14 AI can perform well enough to consider, when you can also grab a MacBook for around the same price.

Acer has also made a big deal of the AI features in this machine, and has even stamped some custom branding onto the touchpad that lights up when you're tapping into the power of its NPU — but are they really worth the effort the laptop maker has gone into (literally) highlighting this?

Acer Swift Go 14 review

Acer Swift Go 14 AI: Design (250)

We're immediately struck by the larger size and bulkier shape of the Acer Swift Go 14 AI; you may be forgiven for thinking the use of "Go" in the branding suggests it's a machine that's suitable for use on the move. Broadly, it is.

The 14.5-inch laptop weighs 2.91 pounds (1.32 kilograms), which is lighter than plenty of comparable machines that are in the same ballpark — including the 14-inch HP OmniBook Ultra 14, which weighs 3.46 lbs (1.57 kg) and the 15-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, which weighs 3.67 lbs (1.66 kg). You'd be hard-pressed to find something lighter.

Its 0.65-inch (16.6 millimeters) height is about average — so it's not especially more compact than others, but its design does make it look far bulkier than it actually is. This may be a problem, if looks are important. Similarly, its gray aluminum chassis feels uninspired, while the slightly cheaper feel of its chassis does speak to the fact it's a mid-range machine.

There are also plenty of design quirks that seem to fit the overall design well — and others that raise eyebrows. A raised notch houses the webcam, which does look odd but functionally helps you to open its lid when it's shut. The keyboard is also raised on a slight incline when you open the lid, allowing for a better angle when typing. This does, however, make the laptop again seem a little bulkier than it really is.

Acer Swift Go 14 AI: Display

For a mid-range laptop, the 14.5-inch IPS LCD display is a mixed bag — it's decent overall for most basic uses, such as typing or web browsing, with a crisp 2,560 x 1,600-pixel resolution (resulting in a good pixel-per-inch rating of 208.2). The aspect ratio of 16:10 also gives you a little more vertical screen space than is standard — useful for scrolling and working with any graphics-based tasks. But the display is, sadly, a little dim compared with other options out there, and it also seems oddly overexposed to the naked eye. We were very impressed with the 120 Hz refresh rate (double the historic standard), however, which is a feature we were surprised to see included.

Our concerns over its brightness were borne out in testing with a display calibrator, with the Acer Swift Go 14 AI registering a peak brightness of 273 nits — a below-average result. You can compare this with the Acer Aspire Vero 16, which hit 365 nits, or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, which reached 474 nits. This machine does, however, edge the HP OmniBook Ultra 14's 263 nits brightness.

Overall, this means the laptop is fine for use inside, but we wouldn’t recommend using it in extremely well-lit or sunny conditions outdoors. The overall quality of its colors is also decent, registering a 99.8% coverage of the sRGB spectrum, as well as scoring a Delta-E measure (which speaks to how distorted colors are, with a good result generally falling at under 3-6) of 0.1 on average and 1.64 maximum. This is excellent, considering it's a mid-range machine. A black level of 0.23 nits, meanwhile, coupled with a 1,036:1 contrast ratio is a decent result for a non-OLED panel.

Acer Swift Go 14 AI: Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard is fairly basic — with smaller keys than you might expect in plenty of other models and spacing that does feel a little cramped. It's perfectly usable once you get used to this, but there isn't much joy in typing due to the short travel distance of each key and the lack of much haptic feedback.

The touchpad, meanwhile, is sized well and feels incredibly smooth when moving the cursor with your fingers. Clicking is also well implemented — with a subtle amount of feedback and a decent noise when you do use it. However, the presence of the distracting light-up AI design in the top-right corner does feel like a gimmick and makes things feel a little cluttered.

Acer Swift Go 14 AI: Performance and battery

The Acer Swift Go 14 AI is fitted with Qualcomm's mid-tier eight-core X Plus CPU alongside the same Adreno GPU and 45-TOPS Hexagon NPU you will find in all Arm-based laptops in the current generation. This comes alongside an entry-level 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD for storage. Overall, it's exactly what you would expect to get for a machine priced the way it is, and this was borne out by its benchmarking scores when we put it through its paces.

The machine registered an admirable 2,364 on single-threaded benchmarking with Geekbench 6, which is actually in line with the highest scores we've seen. However, the performance levels do drop when putting the laptop through its paces in complex workloads and any multitasking — with the Acer scoring 11,044. It's about in line with the first generation of Intel Core Ultra 7 processors, but doesn't hit the 13,000 to 15,000 range we'd expect from a high-end Arm-based laptop. Its graphics performance of 10,075 is also sub-par — so we wouldn't recommend using this for intensive image-based work.

What's also notable is how much noise the machine makes when you ramp up the pressure. Unlike many of the sleeker ultrabooks you're likely to encounter, the Swift Go 14 AI can often kick its fans on unprompted.

This machine's saving grace is its healthy battery life of 17 hours and 51 minutes. We've come to expect excellent battery life in light of the NPUs fitted into Qualcomm-powered laptops, and the Acer Swift Go 14 AI is no exception. While not quite reaching the dizzying heights of the Dell XPS 13 9345, which hit 27 hours and 39 minutes, it's much better than average and a great plus point if you need a machine to rely on when you're out and about.

Acer Swift Go 14 AI: Ports and features

There are two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports in the Acer Swift Go (including one that supports offline charging), alongside a 3.5 mm headphone jack. There are also two LED indicators that light up when the laptop is switched on and when it is charging. The machine does lack a few more ports that you might expect given its size, including an HDMI port and an SD card reader, which is increasingly a rarity these days. However, the wireless connectivity standards are completely up-to-date, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 compatibility built-in.

Considering how much emphasis Acer has put into the "AI" aspect of this machine — even going so far as to creating a dedicated light-up indicator on the touchpad — there isn't an awful lot that sets the machine apart from the AI crowd. It includes the standard AI features you get with Windows 11, including video call configuration, Cocreator in Paint, Recall and, of course, Copilot. Beyond that, Acer has incorporated a handful of tools that can suppress background noise on video calls and perform some more fine-tuning to the quality of your webcam image.

Acer Swift Go 14 AI: Should I buy it?

There's plenty about this machine that represents great value for money. The display, for example, is a particular highlight thanks to a 120 Hz refresh rate and crisp resolution. We'd also note the long battery life, which is an especially key selling point. That said, there are other less satisfactory aspects, including the overall look of the Swift Go 14 AI, and the performance — which is middling, but exactly what you'd expect to pay for a laptop like this.

Overall, if you're looking for something that's a little larger than most 13- and 14-inch models for video playback or even to use while traveling, this laptop won't let you down. It's only when you begin to throw more intensive tasks at it that it may be worth considering something with a bit more firepower to its name.

If the Acer Swift Go 14 AI isn’t for you

We like the look of the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, which features the same chipset and is available for roughly the same price. It's a little smaller in terms of its screen size, but also looks much better and has similar dimensions. The downside is that you'll only get 512 GB SSD storage, but you may see this is a worthy trade-off for something that's a little easier on the eye and is designed more intuitively.

Otherwise, it's hard to see beyond a MacBook Air — you can probably get an older model like the 13-inch M2 version for a little over $1,000 (or under during sales events) and you're still benefiting from great performance levels and an outstanding screen.

This DS-FX star projector can be used as a tool to learn about astronomy. It projects a realistic night sky full of stars onto your ceiling. Other disks can be purchased, too, but the supplied disk is the Northern Hemisphere Chrome Star disk.

Compared with the likes of the original Homestar Original, which was released almost two decades ago in 2006, this, released in 2023, is relatively new to the star projector market.

Dark Skys DS-FX star projector review

Dark Skys DS-FX star projector: Design

• Incredibly easy operation
• Small form factor
• Plasticky to the touch

The DS-FX star projector is comparable in size to many other star projectors in our best star projectors guide. It's 8.82 x 6.57 x 6.46 inches and weighs just 1.61 lb. To the touch, it doesn't feel as premium as we'd expect for something that costs over $100, but it is not poor quality. It's a well-made product.

The rotating 'globe' is inside the plastic casing, so the legs aren't exposed like they are with the Sega Homestar Flux. This, along with the black and white plastic with blue branding, we think, makes it look a little bit more toyish than we would like, though we know it isn't all about aesthetics.

Dark Skys DS-FX star projector: Performance

• Almost silent motor
• Focus falls off at the edges
• Plenty bright enough

As per Dark-Sky's marketing, the projection imagery is best when the 5-watt bulb is shining straight onto the desired surface rather than at an angle. In any other position, the sharpness is quite considerably reduced, especially around the edges.

The bulb is bright enough for you to use the projector in a room that isn't completely pitch black, although, like with all projectors, the image looks more impressive when it is dark.

The rotation motor is nearly completely silent, you'd struggle to tell the unit was turned on if the light wasn't shining. This is perfect if you're looking for a star projector to aid with falling sleep.

The battery seems to last for a long time (we haven't counted exactly), but you could certainly get through a week of using it for an hour at a time without having to recharge it. Just as a side note — when you do come to charge the device, make sure the indicator light is on when it's plugged in. We're not sure why, but some USB cables work and some don't — if the light isn't on, it isn't charging.

Dark Skys DS-FX star projector: Functionality

• One function: projection
• Small form factor
• Rechargeable using the preferred USB-C

If you are looking for ' just' a star projector, the Dark Skys DS-FX projector offers all the necessary functionality. Its primary reason for existence is to project the imagery on a small disk onto a surface of your choosing. There's no flashy app, remote control, or voice control; there are just three buttons to control the sleep timer, power (on or off) and rotation direction.

Though it is basic, it's one of the few rechargeable star projectors, offering greater flexibility in positioning since you're not restricted to staying near a power outlet. It also charges via USB-C, which is much more convenient than the Sega Toys Matataki, which relies on a somewhat outdated DC power cable.

The projection 'disks' are fixed in their 'tray,' meaning slides from other models can't be used. This limits compatibility to Dark-Skys products only — some disks work in multiple projectors; we're thinking specifically of the Pococo Galaxy Star Projector and the Orzors Galaxy Lite, whose disks are interchangeable. A small selection of additional disks for the DS-FX projector can be purchased directly from Dark Skys for around $20-$30.

Should you buy the Dark Skys DS-FX star projector?

If you're looking for a star projector that simply projects imagery onto a flat surface, the Dark Skys DS-FX will meet that need. It's priced similarly to the Homestar Matataki, with little difference in terms of functionality or performance. The images are bright and sharp and comparable to those found in the much more expensive models, although they aren't as vivid as the Sega Toys Homestar Flux. That said, we think the Flux's image is a little too vivid and not as realistic as the cheaper models (unless you're lucky enough to live somewhere with huge, dark starry skies that you're used to seeing).

The Dark Skys DS-FX has the added advantage over several star projectors of being rechargeable using USB-C. We like that you can easily place it anywhere in the room without being tied to mains power.

The downside is that there is only a very limited selection of disks to purchase as add-ons, so if you're someone who wants to chop and change the imagery, you might want to look elsewhere. However, if you're content with the Northern Hemisphere's Constellation and don't plan on changing disks often, or at all, this shouldn't be a concern.

If this product isn't for you

If you're looking to create a customizable, space-like ambiance, the BlissLights Sky Lite Evolve is a great choice. This projector offers extensive customization options, allowing you to control light combinations and patterns via an app or voice commands to match your preferred ambiance. Plus, given its range of features, it's surprisingly affordable.

Similarly, the Astronaut Starry Sky Projector, which is around $30 (and much less during sales like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday), is a fun novelty alternative for any space fan. We have had one in our child's room for around two years, and it still plays a big part in the regular bedtime routine, still getting 'oohs' and 'ahhs' when it's turned on. It has a remote control for customization and has a sleep timer which is perfect for not having to re-enter the child's room to turn it off.

The Pococo Galaxy star projector is one of our favorite models for vivid imagery. The projections are bold and bright, and there is a whole catalog of disks that you can purchase as add-ons, and as we've mentioned, disks made for the Orzors Galaxy Lite fit it as well.

All of these options are fantastic for a wide range of photographic uses, although the best beginner cameras for astrophotography specialize in low light, and the best cameras for wildlife photography will need to prioritize burst rate and autofocus.

We've selected models that we've either tested and reviewed ourselves or cameras that our expert team recommends based on their extensive knowledge and experience in the field.

The quick list

The best beginner cameras we recommend in 2025

Best overall

Inspired by classic film cameras, the Nikon Z fc is a fantastic choice for beginners who want a stylish but capable camera. The retro design is a joy to use while still offering all the benefits of modern mirrorless technology.

It features a 20.9 Megapixel sensor, the same as the well-loved Nikon Z50, which delivers sharp, detailed images with great color reproduction.

One of the biggest advantages for beginners are the intuitive manual controls, unlike many other cameras that rely more on confusing digital menus. These may take a little more getting used to if you're a complete beginner, but the effort more than pays off once you've got the hang of it.

The Nikon Z fc has dedicated dials for shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation (though we'd also love an aperture wheel on the lens), helping users to understand the settings more naturally. But if that sounds daunting, it does offer a fully automatic mode for users who prefer a more "point and shoot" approach.

It can record 4K video with no crop, making it a great option for content creators and vlogging. Plus, its compact size and USB charging make it a great travel-friendly camera. That said, it doesn't have in-body image stabilization, so you'll need to pair it with a lens that does. If image stabilization is an important feature for you, consider spending more and going for the Nikon Zf.

• Read the full Nikon Zf c review over at our sister site

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Best for growth

The Canon EOS R8 is a great entry-level full-frame camera for beginners who want to step up their photography while keeping the potential to continue growing their skills. As the R8 is a full-frame camera, users are less likely to outgrow it as they improve, which is often the case with compact or APS-C cameras. During our Canon EOS R8 review, we were very impressed by the excellent image quality from the 24.2MP sensor, and it also performs excellently in low light, making it a great option for astrophotography.

It also holds the title of being Canon's most lightweight full-frame camera body, making it great for travel without compromising on image quality or features. Even though it's a little on the expensive side for beginners, it's still Canon's second most affordable full-frame.

No matter what subject you want to shoot, the R8 can handle it. It has excellent autofocus that can quickly and accurately track people, animals and vehicles, making it ideal for sports, wildlife and portrait photography. Speaking of wildlife photography, it can shoot up to 40FPS (frames per second) when shooting in JPEG mode and a still-impressive 30FPS when shooting in RAW, making it one of the best cameras for wildlife photography.

For content creators, it can shoot 4K 60p video without cropping and although it lacks in-body image stabilization, it does offer digital stabilization in video, which can help reduce shakiness when shooting handheld. We'd still recommend investing in a lens with stabilization, though.

If you can stretch your budget a little further to invest in a camera with image stabilization and weather sealing in a lightweight package, the Sony A7C and A7C II are both fantastic cameras you can grow with, and the Sony lens lineup is fantastic.

• Read our full Canon EOS R8 review

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Best budget

While you often have to pay out for the newest tech and the fanciest features, you don't always have to spend a lot of money to get a good camera. Beginner cameras are often more affordable than intermediate and professional models, but you can pick up the Canon EOS R100 for around $500, and there are even some bundles that include a couple of lenses. Plus, you can save even more on the used market.

It has guided menus that explain what all the different modes do, which is a big plus for beginners looking to learn the basics. The 24.1MP sensor produces great images with good detail and color, and it has reliable autofocus with human face and eye detection.

Being an APS-C camera, there's a 1.6x crop if you use a full-frame lens on it, although this could end up being advantageous if you want to use it for wildlife as it will give you an extra bit of zoom. That said, the 3.5 FPS burst rate does let it down a little for wildlife photography — just make sure you're not photographing fast-moving animals.

To keep costs down, there are, unsurprisingly, some compromises. The screen is fixed and has no touchscreen capabilities, and there's a noticeable 1.55x crop in video, so it's better suited to users who primarily want to shoot stills and learn the basics of photography before moving on to video or a more advanced camera.

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Best for astrophotography

Most of the options in this guide are smaller, simpler models more suited to beginners, but for anyone wanting to learn astrophotography specifically, we'd recommend going full-frame if your budget allows. The larger sensor and better lineup of compatible lenses lend themselves to astro shooting better than APS-C, MFT (Micro Four Thirds) or compact cameras. Plus, full-frame models tend to have enough dials on the body to adjust all the necessary settings independently, without having to dive into confusing menus.

When it comes to astro shooting and low-light performance, the Sony A7 III is still one of the best you can get. During our Sony A7 III review, we noticed a minor "star eater" issue, but this won't be much of a problem for beginners. The 24.2MP sensor produces beautifully detailed images without too much noise, and the back-illuminated sensor design improves light gathering.

That said, it's a fantastic option for all types of photography. Its 10FPS burst rate and accurate autofocus are great for aspiring wildlife photographers, and there was nothing else like it back when it was released in 2018. If you can afford the initial investment, this camera has the potential to last years as your skills grow as a photographer.

It can shoot 4K video, but the tilt-only screen makes it unsuitable for vlogging. If you're more interested in stills, you could do a lot worse than the Sony A7 III.

If you want to jump even further into the deep end, and can stretch your budget further, we adored its successor, the Sony A7 IV, when we reviewed it.

We also love Nikon cameras for astrophotography. Beginners would get on well with the Nikon Z5.

• Read our full Sony A7 III review

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Best for wildlife photography

If you're interested in wildlife photography, the Canon EOS R7 is an excellent choice for beginners. Its 32.5MP resolution produces high-quality images with impressive detail, and during our Canon EOS R7 review, we were highly impressed by its killer autofocus for any subject we pointed it at, all while rattling off images at 30 frames per second.

Although it's "only" an APS-C camera, the smaller sensor actually provides a distinct advantage for wildlife photography in particular. There are some crop sensor RF-S lenses that are suitable for wildlife photography, but when you pair the R7 with a full-frame RF lens, the 1.6x crop increases the reach of the lens, giving extra zoom and making it easier to capture distant subjects without the need for a longer lens or teleconverter. So, an RF 70-200mm lens effectively becomes a 112-320mm lens.

Although it's slightly more expensive than the full-frame Canon EOS R8 above, the R7 has some significant advantages over the R8, making it potentially a better option. For example, the R7 has weather sealing and in-body image stabilization, making it one of the best cameras for wildlife photography on the market.

We'd have liked it to be compatible with faster CFexpress cards to really make the most of the deep buffer, however, this would increase the cost, so we imagine most beginner users wouldn't grumble at this.

• Read our full Canon EOS R7 review

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Best for casual users

For casual users who want a great everyday camera with the versatility to carry around in their backpack or take on vacation, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV has our vote.

The smaller Micro Four-Thirds sensor is housed in an incredibly compact and lightweight body, although its plastic construction doesn't have the most premium feel. While the 20.3MP resolution might seem low in comparison to other models in this list, it still produces some nice images that beginners and casual shooters will be more than happy with. We think it's a great step up from your smartphone.

Its Advanced Photo mode offers creative shooting options like Focus Bracketing and Live Composite. We loved shooting star trails using Live Composite during our OM-1 Mark II review. Plus, it has 28 Scene Modes and 14 Art Filters to jazz up your images, which you can then share straight to your smartphone with the Olympus Image Share app.

While the contrast detect autofocus is good, we'd like it to have phase detect to make it better for portrait or wildlife photography. Plus, the 15FPS burst rate is fine for most uses, but you'll only get 5FPS when you use continuous autofocus.

Vloggers will also get a lot out of this camera thanks to the 180-degree flip down touchscreen and 4K video recording — although there's no port for a microphone jack. Still, for an inexpensive entry-level camera for beginners, you can't go wrong.

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Best compact camera

Despite its small size, the Sony RX100 VII delivers sharp images with excellent dynamic range, even though the small 1-inch sensor is only packing 20.1MP. While it won't capture the same images as an APS-C or a full-frame, beginners who prioritize size and portability will get on just fine with it.

Everything about this camera lends itself perfectly to point-and-shoot photography to document your travels or grow your creative skills. It sports a very versatile 24-200mm f/2.8-4.5 zoom lens, which can handle everything from astrophotography to wildlife photography, and the 20FPS, blackout-free shooting is great for capturing fast action.

Plus, with Sony's clever Real-Time Tracking and eye autofocus, you can be sure you'll get sharp images of people and pets with minimal effort.

While it doesn't feature image stabilization for stills, it does have active digital stabilization while shooting 4K video. If video is what interests you most, you'll be pleased to hear the screen can flip up 180 degrees, and there's also an external microphone port — great news for vloggers.

It's a little pricey for a point-and-shoot compact camera, but for what it can do and the high quality Sony continuously delivers, we are confident that you'll get years of use out of the RX100 VII.

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Best for content creators

The Sony ZV-E10 is a fantastic entry-level mirrorless camera designed specifically for beginners, vloggers and content creators. The 24.2MP APS-C sensor produces excellent image quality and, unlike compact cameras, has an interchangeable lens system. Despite its versatility, it remains compact and lightweight, making it a great option for everyday shooting and for taking on your travels.

A big draw of the ZV-E10 is Sony's incredible real-time tracking and eye autofocus. Combined with the fully articulated touchscreen and built-in directional microphone, it's perfect for self-recording on the go. It can shoot 4K at 24/30fps, but it doesn't support 4K 60fps for smoother footage. If you can stretch your budget and spend a few hundred extra dollars, the ZV-E10 II can shoot 4K 60fps. Still, for beginners, the 4K 24/30fps will be more than good enough, especially considering the video is uncropped.

It also features a 'Product Showcase' mode, which quickly shifts the focus from your face to an object you hold up — perfect for reviews or tutorials.

A potential downside is the lack of in-body image stabilization, but as many vloggers use a gimbal, the lack of IBIS isn't a dealbreaker.

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Best DSLR

If you're a beginner who wants to actually learn photography skills rather than rely on clever tech to do everything for you, the Nikon D5600 is an excellent choice. Its user-friendly interface and step-by-step Guide Mode are great for beginners who want to learn the basics, and it still produces some pretty impressive 24.2MP images.

It has a 3.2-inch fully articulated touch screen and an optical viewfinder, and the autofocus is good enough for an entry-level DSLR, but it's obviously not as advanced as the newer or higher end models. Still, it has face detection and subject tracking in Live View, although it won't be fast enough to shoot fast action or anything in low light.

It's great for stills photography with its long battery life and high quality images, but video shooters will likely be disappointed as it can't shoot 4K video, and there's no in-body image stabilization.

DSLR cameras certainly still have their place, but if you think you'll want to upgrade as your skills grow, consider whether you'll want to switch to mirrorless further down the line when you want something a bit more powerful. If so, you'll have to trade in your entire DSLR camera and lens setup, so the other models on this list may be a bit more futureproof.

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Best beginner cameras: comparison

Contributing experts

Best beginner cameras: Frequently Asked Questions

How we tested the best beginner cameras

For each camera in this guide, we evaluated how intuitive they are for a beginner, including menu navigation, button layout and the effectiveness of auto modes. We also consider image quality, which is determined by the resolution and size of the sensor, plus autofocus capabilities, including whether each model has eye, face and subject detection. All of this is taken into account to determine their overall value for beginners.

Each model is compared with similar cameras on the market to determine which is the most suitable for beginners in terms of both specs and price point. While some models we haven't included might perform better overall, they could be overkill for someone just starting out or far too expensive for most beginner budgets.

The Sony A7R V was revolutionary when it was released back in October 2022, but is it still worth buying in 2025? We've put it to the test for astrophotography, wildlife photography and everything in-between to see whether it's still worth its price tag.

Its still unbeaten in terms of resolution — the whopping 61MP sensor is still at the top of the pyramid, but with Sony's new generation A1 Mark II now capable of faster burst rates and boasting a pre-capture buffer, the A7R V perhaps might not be the weapon of choice for wildlife photography any longer.

A successor hasn't been confirmed by Sony yet, but rumors are circulating that an 80MP beast could be announced in 2025. If this turns out to be true, the Sony A7R VI could blow the V out of the water, especially if it has a higher burst rate.

Sony A7R V review

Sony A7R V: Design and comfort

• Slightly bigger and heavier than the A7R IV
• Overall what you'd expect from a Sony camera
• Crafted to fit in the hand perfectly

The design of the Sony A7R V is generally what we expect from Sony at this price point. In terms of button layout, it's identical to the A7 IV, but it has some welcome improvements over its predecessor, the A7R IV. There's a separate sub-dial to choose between photo, video and S&Q (Slow & Quick – AKA slow motion and timelapse) modes, and the placement of the video record button is a thousand times better and easier to press on the A7R V.

If we were to change anything, we'd like the option to turn the main dial lock on and off, as you can with the exposure compensation dial. It can get a little annoying and fiddly having to press and hold the button in order to move the dial to change modes.

It is one of the heavier Sony models, at 1 lb 10oz (723g) with the battery and a card, but we thought it fit nicely in the hand. The grip, finger and thumb placement line up perfectly to allow you to hold the camera easily in one hand, and it only felt heavy when we paired it with a long telephoto lens to photograph some wildlife.

As expected, the camera is weather-sealed so you should be good to use it in light to medium rain, and the anti-dust system should protect you against sand and dirt out in the field. We took it to a beach to shoot animal photography without any problems whatsoever. The ports are well-located and both card slots are SD- and CFexpress A-compatible.

The menu system is perfectly fine if you're used to Sony cameras, but taking a leaf out of OM System's book and providing a short explanation with each option/setting would be a welcome move — this is something we loved about the OM-1 Mark II when we reviewed it. This would make life easier for those who aren't so technically minded.

Sony A7R V: Electronic viewfinder and LCD screen

• Beautiful 9.44M dot EVF
• LCD screen can flip out and rotate in every direction
• No rolling shutter, but it's not blackout-free

The EVF boasts a stunning 9.44M dot resolution, the same as the A1, with 0.9x magnification. The refresh rate is up to 120 FPS, so a downside of the A7R V is that it doesn't offer blackout-free shooting. That said, it's not designed for speed, nor can it even shoot that fast, so this won't hamper your shooting as much as it would on a faster camera. On the plus side, we didn't see any rolling shutter when looking through the viewfinder.

But one of the more practical tricks this camera has up its sleeves is the gymnast-like flexibility of the LCD screen. The four-axis screen can tilt up and down, as well as flip out and fully articulate independently, meaning you can view the screen at quite literally any angle you like. As some photographers prefer tilt screens and others favor flip-out, this camera will cater to everyone in this regard. The 3.2-inch LCD screen is also the joint-largest alongside the new A1 II, and it has the highest resolution (albeit only just) at 2.1M dots.

Sony A7R V: Image quality and dynamic range

• Insanely detailed 61MP images
• Beautiful color rendition
• Good dynamic range

While image quality is partly determined by the quality of the lens, we have never been disappointed by the images we've taken on the Sony A7R V. The images are sharp, with rich color and astounding detail.

Even in low light, we were easily able to retain detail in the shadows and bring back details from the highlights in our images.

We took the Sony A7R V to shoot the colorful buildings of Copenhagen, and even on a dull, overcast day it captured the colors and detail exceptionally well. At dusk, the balance between the highlights and shadows was effortlessly rendered and brilliantly balanced throughout the image.

This was also the case when we tested it on a sunny July afternoon in the Lake District — the harsh shadows from the trees were no match for the A7R V.

Sony A7R V: Autofocus and subject detection

• AI autofocus doesn't miss a beat
• Tracks subjects that aren't looking at the camera
• Good range of subject recognition targets

The Sony A7R V has seven subject detection modes — Human, Animal/Bird, Animal, Bird, Insect, Car/Train and Airplane. Insect mode is a great addition for macro photography, plus having both combined and separate animal and bird modes is useful for accuracy when photographing wildlife.

Due to its slower 10 FPS burst rate (more on that later), it's not suited for really fast-moving animals, which is a shame because the AI-powered autofocus and Deep Learning technology would really be able to spread its wings when coupled with a fast camera, like the 30 FPS burst rate in the new A1 II. We thought the autofocus earned the A7R V a position as one of the best cameras for wildlife photography, but the burst rate lets it down in comparison to its competitors.

We took the Sony A7R V to a nature reserve to photograph wildlife, and we were very impressed with the subject detection and tracking, particularly in Animal/Bird mode. It did struggle to lock onto a camouflaged heron in the distance, but it tracked a bird in flight around 100 feet (30 meters) above us easily and the eye detection worked really well on a particularly camera-friendly Robin. The eyes were pin-sharp, and the 61MP sensor produced unreal detail — we could even see the robin's pupils.

Sony A7R V: Astro and low light performance

• Very detailed astro images
• ...but images are noisy due to 61MP
• Image stabilization enables slower shutter speeds in low light

We weren't expecting much from this camera when it came to astrophotography, due to the 61MP sensor. But color us incredibly surprised, as the amount of detail we managed to capture took our breath away.

Yes, there obviously was more noise than there was when we compared the images to the ones we took on the less-detailed Sony A7 IV, but overall we were expecting the A7R V to be a lot less capable for astrophotography than it actually was. If you shoot primarily astro, then you'll want to shoot with less resolution to avoid the need to use a denoise tool on every single shot when editing, but for those of you who only shoot astro occasionally, the Sony A7R V is fantastic.

We took the Sony A7R V to the dark skies of the Brecon Beacons in South Wales to shoot the aurora borealis during the week of the new moon. We'd have liked some dedicated astro features like illuminated buttons or night vision mode to make astroshooting a bit easier. We used Bright Monitoring, which helps if you're in a more light-polluted areas and want to better fine-tune your composition on the screen.

Due to its high (and noisy) 61MP resolution we wouldn't necessarily call it one of the best astrophotography cameras, but it's certainly very capable for occasional astro shooting.

For low-light photography, however, it's much more capable. The above images were taken at ISO 12,800 and although the noise is visible, it doesn't ruin the photo completely. Plus, the eight stops of image stabilization mean you can shoot handheld at slower shutter speeds — we were able to shoot light trails from cars handheld at 1 second while leaning against a wall for support.

For general low-light photography, such as wildlife photography during dusk and dawn hours, this image stabilization could prove invaluable.

Sony A7R V: Burst rate, buffer and battery life

• Burst rate is underwhelming, but not dealbreaking
• Decent battery life
• Buffer requires faster cards

On paper, Sony claims the A7R V can shoot 440 shots using the electronic viewfinder or 530 shots using the LCD screen. During the course of a two-day shoot, we took over 1,200 images using a mixture of the EVF and LCD, without needing to charge or change batteries whatsoever.

We had mixed experiences regarding the buffer capacity depending on what kind of card we were using. Sony states the buffer capacity of the A7R V is 1,000 JPEGs, 583 compressed RAWs or 547 lossless RAWs. Unsurprisingly, the buffer took a lot longer to clear when we used a SanDisk Ultra with speeds of up to 140MB/s then it did when we used a more expensive Lexar card with a write speed of up to 210MB/s. With the Lexar, we found that we never had to stop shooting due to the buffer, whereas that was a common occurence with the SanDisk. It's also compatible with faster CFexpress cards, a huge plus for professional photographers.

But on to the Achilles heel of the Sony A7R V — the burst rate. In higher quality RAW modes this maxes out at a pitiful 7 FPS, and only increases to 10 FPS if your'e using JPEG — and why would you? For a camera of this calibre, we find this disappointing, though we do have to cut it a little slack due to the particularly big file sizes.

But that said, we don't find this to be a dealbreaker for wildlife photography unless you're photographing super fast-moving subjects. The autofocus is so good that it kind of makes up for the low burst rate, because you're still just as likely to nail your shot — there will just be less shots to choose from.

Sony A7R V: Lens compatibility

Sony seems to have put a lot of thought into its lens lineup, providing an appropriate lens for every type of user, for any type of photography, making the A7R V an easy camera to recommend. With updated versions of all three "holy trinity" lenses, the company is constantly improving its catalog and we've been astounded by every lens we've used.

Astro shooters will love the Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM and Sony FE 12-24 f/2.8 GM, and wildlife wizards will get some killer shots with the Sony FE 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 G or the Sony FE 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 GM lens. There's a really good mix of primes and zoom lenses, plus a focal length to cover all bases. Even the APS-C range is impressive.

One downside is that there are limited third-party lenses available, which means to get the best lenses, you'll have to spend a lot of cash.

Sony A7R V: What's new?

With just a $400 price difference, anyone thinking of going for the previous model, the Sony A7R IV, would do well to consider upgrading to the V.

Some of the biggest differences between the two are:

- The A7R V features a new BIONZ XR processor (as opposed to the IV's BIONZ X) that allows the camera to fully use the sensor's capabilities in a way that the IV couldn't. Sony claims it has up to eight times the processing power.

- The A7R V now supports lossless RAW format, and the IV only supports compressed RAW, uncompressed RAW or JPEG.

- The IV has 5.5 stops of image stabilization, whereas the V has eight.

- Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of AI-powered autofocus, Real-Time recognition and Deep Learning in the A7R V.

- The A7R V is the first Sony camera to have focus bracketing built-in.

- You can shoot in 8K 24p/25p on the A7R V, as opposed to 4K 30p on the IV.

- The EVF resolution on the V is now 9.44 million dots, whereas the resolution on the IV's EVF is 5.76 million dots. The fully articulating screen is also a huge improvement over the IV.

Verdict

What we liked:

• Stunning image quality
• Surprisingly good at astro
• Autofocus sticks to subjects like glue
• Real-time eye AF never misses
• Incredibly detailed EVF and LCD screen
• Screen can flip and rotate any which way
• The buttons are pronounced and easy to press
• Comfortable to use and solid in the hand
• Both card slots are CFexpress-compatible
• Ports are easily accessible when the screen is flipped out

What we didn't like:

• Large file sizes require faster, more expensive cards.
• Can't shoot 8K video in S&Q mode
• Continuous shooting is not blackout-free
• Burst rate is a little low for such a premium camera

This camera isn't perfect, but boy, it's not far off! There are no major faults that would stop us from buying it, although photographers who are deeply invested in a particular niche will need to determine if it's right for them. It's good at astro — although the images are noisy, and it's great for wildlife — although the burst rate could be better. While calling it a "jack of all trades, master of none" seems a little harsh, it can do most photographic styles exceptionally well, but sometimes it falls a little short of being perfect.

Our reviewer, Kimberley Lane, said "My heart really wants to give it 5 stars because it truly is an incredible camera, and I loved it so much I even bought one for myself after reviewing it on Space.com back in 2023. But my rule is that if I can find something wrong with it other than 'it's heavy' or 'it's expensive', then I can't give it full marks. So perhaps this camera earns a 4.9/5 from me".

If the Sony A7R V isn't for you

While we'd recommend the Sony A7R V for most photographers, we wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Here are some alternative options to consider if the A7R V didn't quite hit the mark.

How we tested the Sony A7R V

After reviewing the Sony A7R V for our sister site Space.com, our reviewer, Kimberley Lane, loved it so much she actually bought one for herself the following year.

We took the A7R V everywhere from the dark skies of the Brecon Beacons (to shoot astro) and coastal Wales (to shoot landscapes) to nature reserves (to photograph wildlife). We tested different autofocus subject detection modes and shot in various lighting conditions to get a feel for how the camera handles different shooting situations.

We also tested the camera with a variety of lenses, including the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II, Sony FE 35mm f/1.8 and Sony FE 85mm f/1.8.

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That said, you can't rely on auto mode for astrophotography as shooting and focus are fully manual, which is why you won't find many true "beginner" point-and-shoot cameras on this list We've also taken lens compatibility into account, ensuring you'll be able to find an appropriate astro lens for every single one of these cameras.

You can easily spend upwards of $2,000 on the best cameras for astrophotography, but most beginners don't want to make that much of a financial commitment right off the bat, so we've provided options for every budget, including some older DSLR models under $500. Similarly, if you're a keen stargazer just looking for a simple and affordable camera to mount onto one of the best telescopes, you'll find some great options here.

The quick list

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The best astrophotography cameras for beginners we recommend in 2025

Best overall

If you're a beginner buying a camera for astrophotography and you want to go straight for the best option, we think the Nikon Zf is pretty hard to beat. There's nothing stopping you from splurging on one of the best astrophotography cameras if you want to jump in at the deep end (and can afford it), but if you want great bang for your buck in an entry-level full-frame camera with impressive low-light performance for capturing the night sky, we wholeheartedly recommend the Nikon Zf.

In fact, when it comes to low-light performance, the Nikon Zf can focus down to -10EV, which is better than any other Nikon model. Their flagship Z9 can focus down to -7EV, and the Z8, which we named as the best camera overall for astrophotography, can reach -9EV in starlight mode. That doesn't necessarily mean the Zf will yield better results, but it does indicate just how capable it is when shooting in the dark.

During our Nikon Fc review, we tested the autofocus at night and it had no problems focusing on a silhouetted suburban skyline. It latched on instantly and accurately with no hunting back and forth, which is not only useful for landscape astrophotography but will also prove useful for wildlife photography at dusk or dawn. Our managing editor, Jase Parnell-Brookes, reviewed the Nikon Zf and is very well versed with Nikon cameras, and they said they found the Zf hard to fault and gave it 4.5/5 stars.

In terms of astro features, it has interval shooting, which is great for timelapses or for capturing multiple frames to stack together, plus its slowest shutter speed is 900 seconds — that's 15 minutes! Once you get more confident with astrophotography, you can make use of those 15 minutes with one of the best star trackers to get super-long exposures without the risk of star trails.

One caveat worth noting if you're considering the Nikon Zf as a beginner camera is that it comes with a slight learning curve, particularly if you are totally new to cameras and photography. We love that there's a button or dial for everything we could possibly wish for, but that could be overwhelming if you're new to the craft and are looking for more of a "turn it on and press a button" setup.

You're also skipping Micro Four Thirds and APS-C cameras, going straight into full frame, hence the higher cost. This is advantageous in the long run if you plan on becoming serious about photography, as it means you won't need to replace any incompatible lenses down the road when you want to upgrade the camera body. However, the downside of going straight to full-frame is that the bodies and lenses are typically more expensive than the APS-C and MFT ones.

We think the Nikon Zf is a fantastic camera that will grow with you as your skill levels grow and you'll make good use of it for years to come. But if you're looking for a cheaper alternative, the crop-sensor Nikon Z fc is under $1,000 and the main difference is fewer Megapixels and the Z fc can only focus down to -4.5EV. The Z fc is also 240 g lighter than the Zf. If, however, you want to stick to full-frame but can't stretch your budget, the Canon EOS R8 is worth considering and is next on this list.

• Read our full Nikon Zf review

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Best lightweight camera

If the weight of your camera is an important factor for you, the Canon EOS R8 is a great contender for your first camera. Weighing just 1.02 lbs / 461 g, it's Canon's lightest full-frame model, and it's the second lightest full-frame camera on the market, only being beaten by the Sigma Fp L, which is double the price.

"But why does weight matter when you shoot astrophotography on a tripod?'" we hear you ask. Weight only becomes a major consideration if you travel with your camera or hike to remote dark sky locations and want to save weight in your camera bag. Plus, a lightweight camera can be favorable if you shoot other photographic styles besides astrophotography, such as landscapes or wildlife photography.

Not only is it compact and light as a feather, but in our Canon EOS R8 review we thought it was intuitive with a simple button layout and was a pleasure to use. If you're a complete beginner, the layout won't be too overwhelming and you'll get to grips with its user-friendly nature in no time.

With its -6.5EV focusing, it's a dream to use in low light. We were able to push it to around ISO 5,000 before we saw any detrimental noise in our images, and we also found the automatic white balance did a great job of eliminating any yellow or orange tinges when photographing in an urban environment.

Two of the most common complaints with the R8 are that it doesn't have image stabilization and that it isn't fully weather-sealed — however, these points are redundant for astrophotography as you'll be using a tripod and likely won't be out shooting in inclement weather. These two drawbacks only potentially become a problem if you plan on doing other, more general styles of photography.

One small niggle we had was that the SD card slot is in with the battery, so to change cards, you need to remove the camera from the tripod to access it. This is far from a dealbreaker, though — just make sure you have enough room on your SD card beforehand.

If you want to stick with full-frame but would rather go into the Sony system, the Sony A7C II is only 1.87 oz / 53 g heavier than the Canon EOS R8, although it is around $1,000 more expensive. If you don't need full-frame and want to save a bit of money but still keep things lightweight, the Nikon Z30 is a cheaper APS-C option and is Nikon's lightest mirrorless camera at 0.89 lbs / 405 g.

The Canon EOS R7 is also a fantastic APS-C camera, although the Canon crop-sensor lens lineup isn't ideal for astrophotography — you'll have to use a third-party lens from Sigma or Rokinon.

• Read our full Canon EOS R8 review

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Best for growth

After its release in 2018, the Sony A7 III was long considered the weapon of choice for many Sony shooters — it's fantastic in low light and produces stunning images all around. While it was once perhaps a little out of reach for beginners, as the price has come down over the years, it's become increasingly accessible, and you'll be able to find some bargains on the secondhand market for this particular camera. There is an argument that Sony's A6 range (for example, the Sony A6400) is better suited to beginners, but for beginners who want to jump straight to full-frame and have the budget to do so, we'd say go for the A7 III.

It's a fairly lightweight camera (compared to other full-frame models) with plenty of customizable controls, although the confusing menu system is likely to prove somewhat of a hurdle for beginners, as we mentioned in our Sony A7 III review. Astro shooting is very intuitive on the A7 III as there are enough control dials on the body to operate the aperture, shutter speed and ISO separately — which many APS-C cameras don't have.

In terms of ISO capabilities, it's one of the best Sony models we've used, and at the time of its release, there was nothing else like it. We managed to get 13 stops of dynamic range out of the A7 III and were able to use ISO as low as 100 and still get an incredible amount of detail. We did notice it was a victim of the "star-eater" phenomenon, where the noise reduction system mistakes fainter stars for noise or hot pixels and "eats" them, but this shouldn't be much of a deal-breaker for beginners.

For beginners who want to advance their skills and experiment with calibration frames and stack their astro images, the Sony A7 III has built-in interval shooting to make these frames easier to capture.

Another reason we've recommended a full-frame model here is the excellent lens lineup compatible with Sony cameras. The native Sony lenses can be pricey, but they do a fantastic range of wide-angle primes that are amazing for astrophotography. However, if you're on a budget, Sigma and Tamron do some more affordable lenses that are also very capable.

• Read our full Sony A7 III review

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Best astro features

We were not expecting to be as impressed as we were with the OM-1 Mark II when we reviewed it. If you have the budget, it has some incredible astrophotography features that make it easy for beginners to get to grips with.

The first of these is Live Composite. When shooting star trail images in the traditional way, deciding how long to shoot for and how many images to capture was down to guesswork and trial-and-error, and you never knew how your image would look until after you'd stitched all the photos together on your computer. But Live Composite mode shows you exactly how your image looks in real time on the LCD screen as you're shooting, so you know exactly when to stop the shutter. Plus, it stitches all the images together into one single image in-camera.

Starry Sky AF is another useful feature for beginners, as nailing sharp manual focus on the stars takes time to master. When we tried it out, we couldn't believe how accurate it was — it's a total game-changer for beginner astrophotography. It effortlessly locked onto the stars every single time, even in an urban backyard next to a streetlight.

We also really liked the menu system on the OM-1 Mark II. It was well labeled and easy to navigate, and there's a short explanation in every setting describing what each setting does, a nice touch that makes it seem much less daunting.

While the OM-1 Mark II is beginner-friendly in terms of its features and ease of use, it's not so beginner-friendly in terms of price. While we think it's great value for money when compared to some of the more expensive full-frame models, it is perhaps a bit pricey for a lot of beginners, particularly if you only see photography as a part-time hobby and don't want to spend much. If this is the case, consider going for the OM-5 — it also has Starry Sky AF and Live Composite and (at the time of writing) costs under $1,000. It does, however, have a 50MP resolution, which will likely produce more noise than the 20.4MP OM-1 Mark II. Alternatively, the OM-D E-M10 Mark IV is under $700 and has Live Composite and a 20MP sensor, but it doesn't have Starry Sky AF.

• Read our full OM System OM-1 Mark II review

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Best under $1,000

We'd say $1,000 is a pretty healthy budget for a beginner camera — enough to buy yourself something decent without going overboard. For our money, we'd recommend the new kid on the block, the Nikon Z50 II, as a fantastic camera for beginner astrophotographers. We haven't reviewed it yet, but looking at its specs on paper and how they compare to the competition, we think it would be a solid choice. Plus, if you can stretch your budget a teeny bit further, you can get the kit lens bundle for just over $1,000.

Nikon's newer models in particular are known for their ability to see in the dark, and the Z50 II can autofocus down to -9EV, which is one of their best (only beaten by the Nikon Zf at the top of this list), making it an ideal camera for landscape astrophotography. And if you can see yourself progressing to star trackers and telescope mounting down the line, the Z50 II is capable of shutter speeds down to 900 seconds, which is perfect for getting those super-long tracked exposures.

The 20.9MP resolution might seem a little low to many users, but for beginners, and especially for astrophotography, we think it's fine for what you'll be using it for. It's only when you want to upgrade to the more intermediate and professional models that you'll be looking for a more detailed sensor. In fact, the lower resolution is actually a plus for astrophotography, as it means there's less noise creeping into your images. Pair that with an expanded ISO range of 100 - 204,800 and you're onto a winner.

Its main rival, and the camera we would have recommended here before the Z50 II was released, is the Canon EOS R10. That's still a fantastic camera, and if you prefer Canon over Nikon, then the R10 is the one to go for. But for astro, the Z50 II has a wider ISO range, is weather-sealed (in case you get caught out in the rain or shoot at a sandy beach) and the R10 can only autofocus down to -4EV. The Z50 II would make a better all-rounder, but for travelers who want to save on space and weight, the Canon EOS R10 might be more appealing.

A significant downside to this model, however, is the limited APS-C lens lineup. There are some third-party lenses from Samyang and Viltrox available that would be suitable for astro, but if you plan on focusing solely on astrophotography, we'd recommend going full-frame.

If you do want to skip APS-C and go straight to a full-frame camera to focus (no pun intended) on investing in your lens lineup, you might want to consider going for the older Sony A7 II. It was released all the way back in 2014, so it doesn't have a lot of the tech that the newer models have, but it's the only full-frame Sony camera you can buy new for under $1,000, and Sony's wide-angle, zoom and prime lens lineup for full frames is fantastic.

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Best under $750

Another APS-C model here, which comes with the territory in this price bracket, but the Sony A6400 is a very capable little camera which will take perfectly good astrophotos that beginners will be thrilled with. It's actually a great option if you're looking for an all-rounder that can shoot multiple styles in addition to astro, as well as being small, lightweight and easy to travel with.

Its 24.2MP sensor won't produce loads of unsightly noise in your nighttime images. Even though intermediate and pro users would want a bit more resolution, 24.2MP is absolutely fine for beginners. A major advantage Sony has over the competition is that its APS-C lens lineup is actually pretty good for astrophotography. The Sony E 16-55mm f/2.8 G lens is one of the best lenses you can put on a crop-sensor Sony, and they also do a Sony E 11mm f/1.8 prime lens for extra wide-angle shooting — and that lens is under $500.

You can't adjust all three exposure settings on the body as there are only two custom dials, which means you'll need to delve into the menu to change the third one. It's not the end of the world, but it does add an extra step to the whole process and could potentially make it more confusing and less intuitive for beginners.

It does, however, have built-in interval shooting, which is great for an APS-C camera.

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Best under $500

If you're on a super-tight budget or are a keen stargazer and want an affordable camera to attach to your telescope, many astrophotographers still rave about the Canon EOS Rebel T3i (also known as the 600D). Yes, it's an old camera (released in 2011). Yes, you'll have to buy a used one as it has been discontinued. And no, it doesn't have as many features as the newer mirrorless cameras. But if you want a reliable DSLR that still produces fantastic, low-noise images for a couple hundred bucks, it's still one of the best options out there.

It's an absolute workhorse of a camera, particularly when used alongside a star tracker and telephoto lens (or even a telescope) to shoot those tracked long exposure images of deep sky objects. With the Rebel T3i, you're totally back to basics with this DSLR setup, but this makes it fantastic for beginners who want to concentrate on learning the basics (rather than have the camera do it for you). You'll potentially run the risk of outgrowing it as your skills improve and want something with a bit more power and detail, but as it's so affordable, any money spent certainly won't be wasted.

It's an APS-C camera which typically means a more limited lens lineup, but for the price, this shouldn't deter you. For deep sky astrophotography, the 1.6x crop factor could actually be a plus when using a full-frame lens. The 18.7MP sensor will still produce high quality images without the noise of a higher resolution camera.

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Comparison

• Beginner's guide to astrophotography
• How to photograph the Northern Lights
• How to photograph the moon
• How to photograph a meteor shower

Our expert consultants

FAQs

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How we tested the best beginner cameras for astrophotography

When testing the best astrophotography cameras for beginners, we focus on key factors such as low-light sensitivity, ISO performance and noise, dynamic range, sensor quality and ease of use.

Our reviews are conducted either by our expert staff or freelance contributors who have a wealth of photography knowledge, many of whom can directly compare certain models to others they have tested. We test the cameras under various light conditions from dark sky sites to urban areas to account for light pollution, and we capture images at a range of ISO values to evaluate the camera's noise performance. We always endeavor to test the cameras during a new or crescent moon where possible.

Although our reviewers are advanced photographers, we always assess each camera from a beginner's perspective (after all, we were all beginners once!) in regards to customization, usability and how user-friendly the camera is for someone starting from scratch.

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Our newly published research introduces a way to create audible enclaves — localized pockets of sound that are isolated from their surroundings. In other words, we've developed a technology that could create sound exactly where it needs to be.

The ability to send sound that becomes audible only at a specific location could transform entertainment, communication and spatial audio experiences.

What is sound?

Sound is a vibration that travels through air as a wave. These waves are created when an object moves back and forth, compressing and decompressing air molecules.

The frequency of these vibrations is what determines pitch. Low frequencies correspond to deep sounds, like a bass drum; high frequencies correspond to sharp sounds, like a whistle.

Controlling where sound goes is difficult because of a phenomenon called diffraction — the tendency of sound waves to spread out as they travel. This effect is particularly strong for low-frequency sounds because of their longer wavelengths, making it nearly impossible to keep sound confined to a specific area.

Certain audio technologies, such as parametric array loudspeakers, can create focused sound beams aimed in a specific direction. However, these technologies will still emit sound that is audible along its entire path as it travels through space.

The science of audible enclaves

We found a new way to send sound to one specific listener: through self-bending ultrasound beams and a concept called nonlinear acoustics.

Ultrasound refers to sound waves with frequencies above the human hearing range, or above 20 kHz. These waves travel through the air like normal sound waves but are inaudible to people. Because ultrasound can penetrate through many materials and interact with objects in unique ways, it's widely used for medical imaging and many industrial applications.

In our work, we used ultrasound as a carrier for audible sound. It can transport sound through space silently — becoming audible only when desired. How did we do this?

Normally, sound waves combine linearly, meaning they just proportionally add up into a bigger wave. However, when sound waves are intense enough, they can interact nonlinearly, generating new frequencies that were not present before.

This is the key to our technique: We use two ultrasound beams at different frequencies that are completely silent on their own. But when they intersect in space, nonlinear effects cause them to generate a new sound wave at an audible frequency that would be heard only in that specific region.

Related: These noise-canceling headphones can filter specific sounds on command, thanks to deep learning

Crucially, we designed ultrasonic beams that can bend on their own. Normally, sound waves travel in straight lines unless something blocks or reflects them. However, by using acoustic metasurfaces — specialized materials that manipulate sound waves — we can shape ultrasound beams to bend as they travel. Similar to how an optical lens bends light, acoustic metasurfaces change the shape of the path of sound waves. By precisely controlling the phase of the ultrasound waves, we create curved sound paths that can navigate around obstacles and meet at a specific target location.

The key phenomenon at play is what's called difference frequency generation. When two ultrasonic beams of slightly different frequencies, such as 40 kHz and 39.5 kHz, overlap, they create a new sound wave at the difference between their frequencies — in this case 0.5 kHz, or 500 Hz, which is well within the human hearing range. Sound can be heard only where the beams cross. Outside of that intersection, the ultrasound waves remain silent.

This means you can deliver audio to a specific location or person without disturbing other people as the sound travels.

Advancing sound control

The ability to create audio enclaves has many potential applications.

Audio enclaves could enable personalized audio in public spaces. For example, museums could provide different audio guides to visitors without headphones, and libraries could allow students to study with audio lessons without disturbing others.

In a car, passengers could listen to music without distracting the driver from hearing navigation instructions. Offices and military settings could also benefit from localized speech zones for confidential conversations. Audio enclaves could also be adapted to cancel out noise in designated areas, creating quiet zones to improve focus in workplaces or reduce noise pollution in cities.

This isn't something that's going to be on the shelf in the immediate future. For instance, challenges remain for our technology. Nonlinear distortion can affect sound quality. And power efficiency is another issue — converting ultrasound to audible sound requires high-intensity fields that can be energy intensive to generate.

Despite these hurdles, audio enclaves present a fundamental shift in sound control. By redefining how sound interacts with space, we open up new possibilities for immersive, efficient and personalized audio experiences.

This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Monoculars are incredibly user-friendly and highly portable. Small and lightweight, most are small enough to slip easily into your pocket, making them perfect for spontaneous observation. Some even lend themselves to skywatching and there’s plenty to see in the night sky.

Our expert reviewers have carefully selected, tested and rated a range of monoculars to suit all budgets and requirements to ensure we're only recommending the very best models. Whether you're looking for a budget monocular for the family or a more premium model for some stargazing, there should be something for you.

The quick list

The best monoculars we recommend in 2025

Best monocular overall

If you're looking for a quality monocular with impressive features and performance but don't want to spend a fortune, the Hawke Endurance ED 10x42 monocular could be the perfect match. It is water- and fog-proof for seamless transitions between temperature changes, and it's rugged enough not to have to be too delicate — it is designed for use outdoors. We certainly put it through its paces in our full Hawke Endurance ED 10x42 review, praising its bright, clear images and impressive depth of field.

As well as its durable design, the optics are excellent and comparable with more premium models: BaK-4 roof prisms, fully multi-coated lenses and extra-low dispersion (ED) glass combine to provide clear and bright images with (to most users) negligible color distortion.

There are over 400 Amazon reviews to date, with the rating sitting at 4.4 out of 5 stars. Users raved about its clear image, lightweight design and close focus for backyard spotting. A couple of people mentioned the bulky focus wheel, which makes the monocular a little too large to fit in a small pocket, although a lanyard is supplied so you can carry it around your neck.

• Read our full Hawke Endurance ED 10x42 review

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Best for tripod mounting

This high-magnification monocular impresses optically. It features high-quality German Schott glass and fully broadband multi-coated lenses.

Due to the high magnification, it's best to use this microscope with a tripod to avoid frustrating wobble. The greater the magnification, the higher the perceived wobble.

The magnesium body is coated with rubber to aid with grip, though on our review unit this did show signs that it was beginning to lift away from the chassis. Aside from that, however, the unit is rugged and reliable, and the IPX7 waterproof rating and nitrogen-purging make this suitable for use in all weathers.

If you do choose to use the monocular without a tripod, a hand strap that attaches to the side of the unit to aid with stabilizing the image is supplied. We found this helpful during our hands-on review of the Python 12x52 Range Master Ultra HD but did find ourselves resting on a ledge or fence to steady the image.

The focus wheel is well weighted and smooth to operate. Thanks to the wide viewing angle and the ease of use, we found that tracking flying birds was effortless.

Overall, it offers exceptional image quality, which is ultimately what you want from a relatively expensive monocular.

• Read our full Python 12x52 Range Master Ultra HD review

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Best for indoor use

This pocketable monocular offers clear and sharp images with 5x magnification — enough to get a little closer to the action, and you certainly won't need to use a tripod. Because of the low magnification, we wouldn't recommend it for a specific purpose like bird-watching or wildlife spotting — it's more of a handy companion to whip out when you need it. That said, its close focus of 24 inches (61 cm) makes it perfect to take to a museum or art gallery to see finer details in artifacts or paintings.

Although this is a fairly expensive model, the performance and quality of the product reflect the price tag. It may not have the highest magnification or rugged all-weather functionality, but we thought the image quality was seriously impressive when we got our hands on it for our Nikon 5x15 HG review. You will be rewarded with sharp, vibrant images even when conditions are difficult — in low light, for example.

The Nikon 5x15 HG weighs just 2.6 oz (75 g) so it can be used comfortably for long periods and forgotten about in a pocket when not in use. We took it to the theatre to watch a show and were seriously impressed by the quality and clarity of the image.

• Read our full Nikon 5x15 HG review

Best for one-handed use

This roof prism design monocular, as we found in our hands-on Opticron Oregon 4 Oasis 10x42 review, is a good all-round performer. It is reasonably priced and is rugged enough to cope in most environments. It is protected with nonslip rubber armor, so it can handle the odd knock and accidental drop, too — something you may find useful if you're sharing with children (or clumsy friends!).

We especially liked how easy it is to use one-handed, even when wearing gloves. It utilizes BaK-4 fully-coated glass that gives excellent clarity and also works well in low-light conditions. We had no trouble getting closer to the details in churches, for example, and encountered no problems when using it at twilight.

It is waterproof and nitrogen-purged, so it can be used in all weathers, and there is no need to wait for the lenses to de-fog when moving between different temperatures.

10x magnification is a comfortable amount for most users to manage wobble-wise, but it's important to note that there is no monopod/tripod mount, so you don't have this option. Instead, you'll have to rely on leaning against something, such as shelves in hides, for long observing sessions.

• Read our full Opticron Oregon 4 Oasis 10x42 monocular review

Best for travel

Don't let the brightly colored casing deter you — this is a serious travel-friendly monocular. Though some might not like the plasticky aesthetic, it actually helps to keep the unit lightweight and adds to the hardwearing design of this monocular.

The lenses are multi-coated and scratch-resistant, which is reassuring given that the lens caps are quite easy to lose because they aren't attached.

Due to the relatively small 32 mm objective lens, this isn't a monocular that likes to be used after sunset; for that, you'd want something with a minimum of a 42 mm objective lens.

If you're planning on long bird-watching or wildlife-spotting sessions, you might find the 1/4-inch thread handy, though, for regular casual use, the smaller 8x magnification shouldn't cause any issues with image wobble.

We were impressed with how easy it was to focus during our hands-on Nocs Field Tube 8x32 review, thanks to the oversized focusing wheel. This is easy to operate with gloves on, or if you have cold or wet hands.

No neck strap or protective carry case are provided, but given the rugged build and scratch-proof credentials, we didn't mind too much.

• Read our full Nocs Field Tube 8x32 review

Best for night vision

The Bushnell Equinox X650 Night Vision 5x32 monocular is an entry-level device offering night vision capabilities at an affordable price point. It has a 32 mm objective lens and a built-in infrared (IR) illuminator, providing a night viewing distance of up to 650 feet (198 m). The monocular can capture photo and video content onto a MicroSD card, but we thought the quality of the images was lackluster.

During our hands-on Equinox X650 review, we found that the unit delivered basic functionality suitable for general identification purposes, but image quality was subpar, with daytime photos often appearing blurred and nighttime images lacking clarity, making them unworthwhile. The device also struggled with bright lights at night, causing it to switch between day and night modes unpredictably.

Overall, the Bushnell Equinox X650 is a lightweight and cost-effective introduction to night vision technology, but its performance limitations, particularly regarding image quality, may not satisfy users who want a more premium unit. We thought it delivered a satisfactory performance overall, but it doesn't excel in any particular area.

• Read our full Bushnell Equinox X650 review

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Best digital sensor

The Canon PowerShot Zoom Digital Monocular is a compact, lightweight device that combines monocular functionality with digital imaging.

It offers optical zoom at 100 mm and 400 mm, with a digital enhancement reaching 800 mm. Its compact size and light weight make it highly portable and pocketable, weighing just over 5 oz (145 g) and measuring just over four inches (103 mm) in length. However, be warned — the plastic casing lacks waterproofing, limiting its durability in inclement weather. There are also no covers for either the objective lens or the viewfinder.

It can capture 12.1 MP photos and record videos in full HD, storing content on a MicroSD card. Connectivity options include Bluetooth and wireless pairing with smartphones via Canon's Camera Connect app, facilitating remote viewing and fast image transfer.

In our hands-on Canon PowerShot Zoom Digital Monocular review, we found that image quality diminishes when using the 800 mm digital zoom, and the closely spaced controls may hinder usability, especially if you have larger hands. It does, however, have image stabilization, which is a plus. We found bird-watching to be an incredibly rewarding experience when using the Canon.

We found the face detection and tracking autofocus modes worked well under good lighting, but they'll struggle in low light, so it's best used during the day.

• Read our full Canon PowerShot Zoom Digital Monocular review

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Best for beginners

The Vortex Solo R/T 8x36 Monocular is a compact, durable optical device designed for outdoor enthusiasts. It features a rugged, waterproof rubber armor exterior, so it is suitable for all weather conditions. The 36 mm objective lens, combined with BaK-4 prisms and multi-coated optics, ensures excellent light transmission, delivering clear and bright images even in low-light conditions; we were pleasantly surprised in our Vortex Solo R/T 8x36 monocular review.

With an 8x magnification, the monocular offers a substantial 393-foot field of view at 1,000 yards, facilitating easy tracking of moving subjects. The built-in MRAD-based ranging reticle is particularly beneficial for precise distance estimation, enhancing its utility for activities like target shooting.

We did find that the focus mechanism is notably stiff, requiring users to adjust focus away from the eye, which impedes quick viewing.

Overall, the Vortex Solo R/T 8x36 Monocular is a well-built, versatile tool, offering high-quality optics and practical features for a variety of outdoor applications. We can only hope the focus wheel will loosen over time.

• Read our full Vortex Solo R/T 8x36 review

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Best monoculars: Comparison

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Contributing experts

Frequently Asked Questions

How we tested the best monoculars

To ensure that each monocular gets a proper hands-on review, they are taken out and used as they would be in "real life". They are taken to different environments, such as bird hides and on nature walks in various weather conditions, and also tested indoors — for example, for getting a closer look at artifacts in museums and churches.

They are tried with and without spectacles and used for extensive observing sessions to test their comfort with prolonged use. We also examine the quality of any accessories, such as shoulder straps, lens caps and belt pouches.

We then score each monocular on its design, performance and functionality, ultimately giving them an overall rating of five stars.

We enjoyed reviewing the CB2000C. Its trinocular capability enabled collaborative working and pupils had the benefit of real-time advice and feedback. As an educational tool, this was hugely beneficial. The large magnification range meant it was possible to examine a wide variety of biological specimens from whole mini organisms to microorganisms and cellular organelles.

Made from sturdy, quality materials, this biological microscope by Celestron Labs is robust and durable and well suited to use in a professional, commercial or educational laboratory. Some features were complex and the microscope did need setting up. However, we would gladly recommend this model to anyone with a little experience.

Celestron Labs CB2000C Advanced Biological Trinocular Microscope review

Design

• Trinocular eyepiece tube allows second viewer
• Multiple professional features
• Robust

The CB2000C Advanced Biological Trinocular Microscope by Celestron Labs has been designed with a number of aims: to be robust, to give stereo images, to allow for a secondary viewer and to give a professional feel via a number of technical features.

The solid, wide base gave a confident sturdiness to this microscope. Coupled with high-quality materials such as a metal body and glass optics, this machine felt reassuringly robust. At 5.5 kg (12lbs), it is one of the heavier student microscopes, but has a strong carry handle and is unlikely to be used by small children. The knobs and dials all fit and turn well and felt durable in use..

Secondary viewer capability has been made possible by attaching a third eyepiece tube to the head. Trinocular viewing allowed us to observe the specimens ocularly, in real time. To deal with the change in light intensity that comes with a trinocular microscope, Celestron Labs has designed a binocular to trinocular button, so that the trinocular eyepiece tube is not illuminated when not in use. Thus, optimum illumination can be achieved through the binocular eyepieces.

Additionally, as the light pathway moves independently through each binocular eyepiece, stereo images are observed.

We were impressed to find that the CB2000C by Celestron Labs has been designed with numerous features that mechanically and optically improve the quality of images possible with a mid-range microscope and help it to live up to its ‘Advanced’ title.

Firstly, having a quadruple nosepiece has enabled four objective lenses to be fitted, from 4X to 100X. Although we needed to set up the head, the lenses screwed in securely and easily. As the binocular eyepieces came in 10X and 20X, we achieved a range of magnification from 40X to 2000X, resulting in a design that could be used to view specimens from whole insects all the way down to organelles inside body cells.

Secondly, the slide clip is activated from the side and is secure and unobtrusive. The XY mechanical stage had a decent movement, 140 mm x 140 mm, and was smooth and easy to maneuver, making slide navigation a pleasure.

A third design mechanism is to have the rough and fine focusing knobs rotating about the same axis. This coaxial movement is more ergonomic as the hand can remain in the same place throughout operation.

Lastly, the CB2000C has multiple ways in which luminosity can be altered. The halogen illuminator is adjustable, so can be dimmed or made brighter where necessary. The Abbe condenser is movable and can be raised and lowered simply with the Abbe adjustment knob. For directing the light onto the slide, the iris diaphragm can be opened or closed as required.

Finally, this Celestron Labs Microscope comes with three filters to enhance images. A frosted one to diffuse the light, a blue filter to color-correct the yellow light from the halogen bulb and a green one to make the images clearer.

Overall, we were impressed with the amount of advanced features that have been deployed to ensure the Celestron Labs Advanced Biological Trinocular Microscope feels professional and worth its mid-range price tag.

Performance

• Stereo viewing
• Decent resolution
• Clarity better through stereo eyepiece tubes

Having an abundance of advanced mechanical, technical and optical features and bearing the Celestron name, we anticipated a high-performing precision instrument when reviewing the CB2000C. While the high-quality glass optics, range of lenses and illumination options did deliver in terms of stereo images with high resolution and high power magnification, it was hugely frustrating that a number of quality control issues made using the microscope annoying and less pleasurable.

Setting up the binocular interpupillary distance using the binocular tube slide and the diopters was fiddly, but worth it to see the prepared slides in 3D. Some more economic stereo microscopes give three-dimensional images at the expense of magnification. The CB2000C model, by Celestron Labs, showed superb layering of spirogyra algae at low magnification. At high power, using the blue filter, we were able to identify subcellular structures such as the nucleus, chloroplasts, cytoplasmic strands and the cell wall. The blue filter helped to reduce some visual graininess seen at magnifications of 400X and above.

The XY mechanical stage performed flawlessly and was smooth, well functioning and a pleasure to use. The slide clip provided a secure fastening for the slide and allowed quick and easy exchange of slides.

The main downside to this particular microscope was with quality control. There seemed to be a problem with either the focusing knobs or the stage. The knobs felt smooth and moved the stage up and down to achieve focus with ease. Unfortunately, the mechanics did not hold focus and when the focusing knobs weren’t being held, the image went went fuzzy instantly and was completely out of focus within a few seconds. While investigating the problem, we noticed that the stage visibly fell downwards once free to do so. Over a minute, the stage lowered by 5 mm (0.2-inches). We managed to reduce this distance by activating the stage height restriction switch, but it was still noticeable enough to impair focusing and affect clarity.

Although we could still achieve focus and test functionality, by keeping hold of the rough focusing knob, doing so limited the amount of freedom we had to perform multiple operations. It is beneficial to have both hands free to simultaneously interchange objective lenses, navigate the slide, adjust illumination etc. It is also essential for focus to be held while two-handed tasks such as changing a slide, filter or lenses are carred out.

Functionality

• Excellent for shared viewing
• Easy and secure slide navigation
• Adjustable illumination and filters

When considering the functionality of the Celestron Labs CB2000C Advanced Biological Trinocular Microscope, we need to be mindful of the impact of simultaneously using multiple functions. We also need to address its trinocular function as a tool for teaching and its production of stereo imagery.

It is also worth mentioning that the CB2000C, by Celestron Labs, needed setting up before use: it is not supplied ready for use. It is quite usual to have to insert the eyepiece lenses, especially if they are interchangeable anyway. However, the CB2000C needed much more construction than is standard.

The head needed to be inserted into the microscope arm and needed locking into place. The four objective lenses needed to be securely screwed into the nosepiece holes, in the correct order. Additionally, the trinocular eyepiece tube needed to be screwed into the head and an eyepiece lens attached. On the plus side, detailed instructions for this set-up process were included in the user manual, in multiple languages, and were simple to follow.

As a tool for teaching, the CB2000C by Celestron Labs relies on secondary viewing via the trinocular tube. Tutors can view a pupil’s specimen while in use, without disturbing them. We found this hugely beneficial when pointing out cheek cells, subcellular structures and insect anatomy. Note that the trinocular eyepiece lens will always be a different magnification to the binocular eyepiece lenses because there are only two of each type. This will affect both the resolution and field of view observed by each viewer. At one point we did have three users, one on each eyepiece. Although this made stereo viewing impossible, it was great for collaborative work.

The advanced features all functioned well together, to enable the creation of good quality images. Navigating the slide using the XY mechanical stage increased functionality if operated while focusing at varying magnifications. Light could pinpoint the specimen using a small diaphragm aperture. Once scanning the slide, light intensity could be adjusted with the illuminator knob, or by changing the Abbe condenser height or iris diaphragm.

We found the knobs to be ergonomically placed and we were able to control the microscope by feel, rather than having to look. To minimise the risk of lens damage, Celestron Labs has added a height restriction knob. This is particularly good for preventing damage to longer, high-power lenses.

One functionality issue was with the Abbe condenser. It has been designed to have an adjustable height, to help control illumination — a lovely idea, in theory. However, when focusing requires the stage to be moved downwards, it grabs onto the Abbe condenser. When the stage is raised, it then pulls the condenser up with it, rather than letting the two move independently. Perhaps this is another quality control issue, rather than being intentional. Whatever the reason, it would be better if this did not happen.

In summary, we enjoyed using this microscope for teaching, and students reported that they liked being able to view in three dimensions. We were sometimes frustrated by quality control issues but could see beyond these, to agree that the CB2000C has a lot of potential as a trinocular biological microscope with multiple advanced features. We recommend the Celestron Labs Advanced Biological Trinocular Microscope for use in professional or teaching laboratories, for budding microbiologists with a little experience.

Should you buy it?

The Celestron Labs Advanced Biological Trinocular Microscope has a wealth of functions that will give an experienced user the opportunity to manipulate minute details of their optical images, and to view clear, highly magnified biological specimens. We recommend this mid-range microscope for home, school or laboratory use, for research or teaching purposes, if you desire a stereo image.

If this product isn't for you

For a trinocular microscope with a camera function, Swift does the SW380T compound trinocular with up to 2,500X magnification.

For a binocular compound microscope, the CB1000CF by Celestron Labs is ideal if you do not need stereo viewing. It comes with a lower price tag, too.

How we test

During an adult learning session, the microscope was constructed and set up. Users learned how to create and view slides of their own cheek cells, as well as leaf peels from a variety of different plants; to observe stomata distribution. Collaborative viewing and discussion was possible due to the trinocular eyepiece tube.

Later, we had free rein with the prepared slides that came with the CB2000C. We experimented with lighting options via the adjustable condenser height, changing the diaphragm dilation and investigated the image differences with the supplied filters.

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Although they aren't without their flaws, which is reflected in their lower price, they're a great entry point into astronomy for beginners who don't want to shell out hundreds for the best pair of stargazing binoculars. If you want to get a better look at the moon, star clusters and spot galaxies and nebulas, we think you'll be pleased with them. Although binoculars are much more portable than the best telescopes, you'll still need a tripod for these hefty 15x70s.

For this review, we're taking a look at their real-world handling and optical performance, and we'll give a run-down of the night-sky objects we managed to see with them. Thanks to a bit of digiscoping with our smartphone, we've included some photos of the moon as seen with these binoculars — and if by the end you're not convinced, we've also provided some alternative models to consider.

Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 binoculars review

Design and comfort

• Big and heavy
• Eyepiece cover likes to jump off
• Generous 18mm eye relief

Without a doubt, these binoculars fall into the "you need a tripod" category. This is not only due to their weight and size, but the 15x magnification makes it impossible to hold them still enough to get a steady view — particularly when you're looking at the night sky. You might be able to observe an animal or object in the distance for a short while, handheld, but the view will be shaky and it won't be long before your arms start to hurt. (Although, when we compared them to the Pro ED version, these binos feel as light as a feather).

Luckily, the binocs come with a tripod adapter, neck strap, cleaning cloth and padded bag included — although about the only thing the bag will protect them from is a stiff breeze. But for the price, we weren't expecting a protective hard case.

In regards to environmental protection, they are waterproof but not fogproof — which is a little annoying considering they're geared towards astronomy. Ideally, we'd prefer it the other way around. We noticed them fog up when moving between cold and warm environments, but on nights when we were out in the cold for a few hours, they didn't fog up at all when they had time to adjust their temperature.

We found the focus wheel and diopter quite stiff, and the high magnification exaggerated any little knocks or movements, so we could've done with them being smoother to minimize any wobbles. On the plus side, the adjustable eyecups and generous 18mm eye relief make for a comfortable viewing experience if you wear glasses.

Optical performance

• Lack of ED glass makes chromatic aberration very noticeable
• Narrow angular field of view
• Not suitable for wildlife observation or birdwatching

For the price of these binoculars, we weren't expecting them to have the best optics we've ever seen. They have BaK-4 glass and multi-coated lenses, as most binoculars do, although the more expensive Pro model has fully coated lenses with XLT coatings. However, the lack of ED (Extra Dispersion) glass really shows here in the amount of chromatic aberration visible when you look through them. This is especially prevalent at night when looking at bright objects.

That said, we were particularly impressed with the optics when looking at the moon. The image was bright and sharp right across the frame, and even though the color fringing is very obvious here, we thought the optics were overall very good for the price.

The optics are versatile in the sense that the binoculars are usable during the day and at night, with their large 70mm objectives drinking in tons of light at any hour. The 15x magnification is slightly less practical for everyday use (again, because of the tripod requirement), but if you can set them up on a tripod for terrestrial use then you'll find the magnification becomes a lot more useful.

With their high magnification comes a narrow 4.4-degree angular field of view and 231 ft (77 m) linear field of view, so they're not the best option for birdwatching or wildlife observation as you'll only see a small portion of a scene at a time.

What we saw

• Better for stargazing than planetary views
• The lunar surface is bright and detailed
• Noticeable color fringing

These binoculars offer many exciting targets for stargazing. The first thing we pointed them towards was the moon, where we were treated to bright, sharp views of the lunar surface in all its glory, and it got the "Wow" treatment all around when we showed it to family members. As we've mentioned, there was very noticeable chromatic aberration around the edges of the moon, but honestly, we didn't mind this optical defect too much — sometimes it even looked quite pretty.

Planetary views, however, we would describe as overwhelmingly average. By far the most interesting planetary targets are the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, but overall the visible planets are bright, star-like blobs, and the chromatic aberration kind of makes them look like they're on fire. We compared them to our other Celestron UpClose G2 10x50 binoculars, where Venus and Mars looked much better.

We went to the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in Wales to view the planetary parade under the dark skies of the new moon, and in addition to being able to see Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars with the naked eye, the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 enabled us to view Uranus and Neptune, too. These binoculars are fine in terms of actually being able to see the planets but don't expect detailed views — if that's what you're after, you'll need a telescope.

Stargazing, on the other hand, is an absolute marvel. We tested them out during both a full and new moon, and even during a bright, full moon, we thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the Pleiades (Messier 45), the Orion constellation and nebula, and our closest galaxy, Andromeda (Messier 31).

Should you buy the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70?

What we liked:

• Can see all the planets, albeit not in great detail
• Fantastic for stargazing
• Generous 18mm eye relief for glasses wearers
• Tripod adapter included
• Great for viewing many different celestial targets
• They're affordable for what they are
• Ideal for newbie astronomers buying their first dedicated stargazing binocular

What we didn't like:

• Having to use a tripod made viewing objects high in the sky tricky
• Visible chromatic aberration during planetary viewing
• Their size and weight are not backpack-friendly
• Eyepiece cover comes off easily
• Focus wheel is very stiff
• Not fogproof
• They are not easy to use handheld

"Should you buy them?" is a tricky question to answer. They sit in a very specific place in the market where their size and weight largely limit them to astronomy, but we think anyone wanting dedicated astronomy binoculars would be better off investing in a better pair with ED glass, fully-coated optics and nitrogen purging, or indeed a telescope. (We'll be reviewing the Pro ED version of these binoculars soon).

There are some terrestrial applications for which you might want to use them on a tripod, like whale-watching from the coast or getting a closer look at mountain peaks from afar, but using them to observe birds in flight would be a pain in the neck — quite literally.

If, however, you're buying your first pair of astronomy binoculars and you're on a budget, they're a great starter pair to dip your toe in the water without having to spend hundreds on a higher-quality pair. You'll be able to stargaze to your heart's content and get used to spotting planets and navigating your way through the night sky before you advance your skills and invest in one of the best telescopes.

If the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 isn't for you

How we tested the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70

While testing the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 we tried to view as many different subjects as possible in a variety of environments. For astronomy, we tested them during both a new moon and full moon, in addition to using them in both a streetlit urban backyard as well as in a dark National Park in Wales. We observed the moon, six planets during the planetary parade (Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars), and some deep-sky objects like Andromeda, the Orion Nebula and the Pleiades.

HP has revamped its portfolio and the OmniBook Ultra 14 is, according to the company, the most powerful Windows-powered AI PC out there. We can see why, given the high-end AMD hardware packed into a compact chassis, alongside 32 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD. There's also a 50-TOPS NPU for good measure — meaning we expect a very long battery life.

This machine looks like a step up in every way from the machines that preceded it — including the HP Envy x360 and the HP Spectre x360. But will the lack of an OLED display be a cause for concern?

LCDs do tend to be brighter, but will we miss the crisp colors and inky blacks? We were excited to find out — given that the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, on paper at least, has everything you could need in a laptop for coders that doesn't break the bank.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14 review

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Design

If the HP Spectre x360 and the HP Envy x360 had a child, you would end up with something that looks and feels like the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 — but not necessarily in a good way.

Much like the Spectre x360, the OmniBook Ultra features angular shaved-off corners rather than rounded ones, which gives this machine an edge — enabling it to stand apart from the crowd somewhat. They also serve a purpose, with the right-hand corner featuring a USB-C port. Unlike the Spectre x360, though, the left-hand corner is empty — and neither is accented with a different color to show contrast.

Its coating, meanwhile, is the same bland, grayish Silver Meteor finish we encountered on the Envy x360. Although the multi-toned keyboard offers a degree of playfulness, with the top row keys much lighter alongside a pastel blue power button, you realize there's no real coherence in these color choices.

The chassis, too, feels well-built and robust but not quite as premium as you'd want — with the same recycled aluminum material used in the Envy x360. This is fine, but doesn't quite feel as nice as the HP EliteBook Ultra 14 G1q, which is also clad in recycled aluminum.

Where the OmniBook disappoints is its 3.46 pounds (1.57 kg) weight. This renders it as hefty as a MacBook Pro, and much heavier than similar machines. We note that the Spectre and Envy models weigh in at 3.09 lbs (1.44 kg) and 3.06 (1.39 kg) respectively, while the HP EliteBook is a shade lighter at 2.98 lbs (1.57 kg). An alternative Qualcomm-powered machine, the Acer Swift 14 AI, is lighter still at 2.91 lbs (1.32 kg).

The OmniBook’s dimensions are also not as compact as the EliteBook — which is much thinner at 0.44 inches (11.2 millimeters) versus the OmniBook Ultra's 0.65 in (16.4 mm)

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Display

The display fitted into the OmniBook Ultra is a bland and dim IPS HDR panel that is a real step down for HP laptops. Although OLED displays are vastly preferable, there are plenty of great non-OLED options out there, including the Liquid Retina XDR displays in MacBooks. or the stunningly vibrant display that Microsoft has used in its latest Surface Pro and Surface Laptop models. The OmniBook Ultra's 2,240 x 1,400-pixel resolution panel, by contrast, doesn't offer the same sharpness, nor the brightness you'd want from a machine that's so good in every other department.

While it isn't actively bad, testing proved what we suspected when we first started using it — it just isn't bright enough. I found myself tapping F4 to raise the brightness every now and then because I assumed it wasn't at maximum brightness.

When we tested it with a display calibrator, we registered a brightness of 263 nits. That’s about 100 nits dimmer than the last generation of HP machines with OLED screens — or even its cousin, the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14, a 2-in-1 machine that’s available with an up-to-3K resolution. For reference, we also registered a brightness of 474 nits from the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7. #

The display's colors were also disappointing — with 94.8% coverage of the sRGB spectrum a poor result by today's standards. No other machine we tested in the last year dipped below 98%. A black level of 0.39 nits, meanwhile, is on the high side — and a 779:1 contrast ratio points to the fact you really shouldn't use this display for any image-critical work.

While using it for coding is absolutely fine, and you likely wouldn't notice these issues unless you were working outdoors, they do represent a black mark on an otherwise fantastic model.

HP OmniBook Ultra14: Keyboard and touchpad

The pastel-hued keyboard in the OmniBook Ultra 14 was highly responsive and offered plenty of force feedback. There are also a number of useful shortcuts among its function keys, such as tapping F1 to switch external display input, F11 to quick-launch an app or F12 to take a screenshot. But while it was comfortable to type with at first, touch typing for any length of time began to wear me down. The travel distance of each key felt far too short, while the resistance was a little too high, and my fingers began to feel the strain over prolonged use.

HP has never really been able to absolutely nail its touchpads — there always seem to be minor responsiveness issues, but the OmniBook Ultra 14's touchpad was pretty much perfect. It's well-sized and there is plenty of room for the left-click and right-click buttons. The surface, however, is on the smoother side — as if it's been buffed down — so you may encounter some minor trouble if you're clicking and dragging windows.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Performance and battery

Performance is where the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 really shines, thanks to the high-end AMD hardware powering this device. Its AMD Ryzen AI 9 CPU comes with a mid-range AMD Radeon 880M Graphics chip and an integrated 50-TOPS NPU. It's one of the best-performing Windows machines you can pick up at this price point — and we confirmed as much in our benchmarking with Geekbench 6.

Thanks to the AMD hardware under the hood, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 achieved a high single-threaded score of 2,810 and a multi-tasking score of 14,153. While the latter score is about what you would expect from the upper end of Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered laptops, the single-threaded score is considerably faster. For example, the HP EliteBook Ultra 14 G1q hit 2,298 and 14,035 in the same test.

When we put this GPU through its paces in the OpenGL benchmark, we recorded a score of 33,349 — which is just a few thousand points shy of the Apple M4 chip's 37,508, and a tad less than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 fitted into the HP Omen 16 (35,981). Most Snapdragon Windows laptops normally score between 18,000 and 21,000, while the Intel Arc Graphics chip fitted into the HP Spectre x360 14 hit 24,993 in our testing. This means you can absolutely rely on the OmniBook to handle any compiling or AI workloads that demand the use of a decent GPU.

The 1 TB SSD also hit read speeds of 7,163 MB/s, and write speeds of 6,502 MB/s. That makes it one of the fastest built-in SSDs we tested, so it’s a fantastic option for massive data transfers including any media files. A battery life of 16 hours and 14 minutes is also a huge tick — while a few hours shy of the 22 hours that HP claims this laptop can last, you can get plenty of usage between charges.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Ports and features

You are limited to two USB-C ports (which support Thunderbolt 4 up to 40 Gbps, alongside power delivery) and a USB-A port with a 3.5 mm headphone jack — there is no HDMI or an SD card slot, let alone an Ethernet port. Depending on what you need the machine for, you may need to purchase an external dock.

The only complaint we have here is that the angular corners do open up additional space for ports — with one hosting a USB-C port — but this is an advantage the manufacturer has declined to capitalize on, especially as both USB-C ports are on the right-hand side. Having the option to connect peripherals on either side would have offered some more flexibility while using it.

As far as wireless connectivity goes, the OmniBook Ultra 14 features the latest standards in Wi-Fi 7 as well as Bluetooth 5.4, which future-proofs the machine as these technologies become more available.

The laptop features a slew of AI software tools thanks to the 50-TOPS NPU integrated into the chipset, including an on-board large language model in the guise of the HP AI Companion app — but most of these are quite limited and aren't immediately useful. We did, however, enjoy using Poly Camera Pro to boost the quality of the image you broadcast when you're in a video call. There's also an extremely subtle switch above the 9 MP webcam that blocks the video feed when you aren't using it.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14: Should I buy it?

There's much to love about the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 — including great battery life and incredible performance — which makes it even more annoying that it's let down by a shoddy display and a disappointing keyboard, not to mention there are plenty more portable machines out there.

These issues can, however, be mitigated if you're hoping to buy a laptop to use predominantly at home — you can, for example, connect it to an external monitor and even attach a third-party keyboard if the laptop's one begins to wear you down at all.

Unless you need something to use on the go, it's well worth considering as a strong laptop for your home office set-up — whether you need a laptop for programming, or even a laptop for photo editing with plenty of graphics performance, provided you negate its screen issues.

If this product isn't for you

If you need a great laptop to work on while you are on the move and want one at around the same price, you should consider picking up a MacBook Air 13-inch (M3). This MacOS machine is lighter, has a brighter screen and, while the M3 chip may not quite be as capable as the OmniBook's AMD components, it's really enjoyable to use.

If you have a little more budget to play with, consider the HP EliteBook Ultra 14 G1q. It's incredibly well designed and built, is a pleasure to use and has a blockbuster battery life. Just be aware that its screen is even dimmer than this machine's, so it may not suit everybody.

Otherwise, we would highly recommend considering the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, a Snapdragon-powered machine that looks fantastic and performs really well — not to mention that its dazzlingly bright 474-nit screen puts the HP's to shame.

The HP Omen 16 is undeniably a gaming laptop. The design and quality of the display all target hardcore players, and its multicolor keyboard is also a dead giveaway. Here we have the 2023 version, with AMD’s Ryzen 7 processor and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4060 GPU – a configuration only available in Europe. U.S. customers will only have Intel variants for 16in models.

A newer Omen 16 was announced at CES 2025 recently — the Omen Max 16 — so the lofty price of the old Omen has now been reduced from $1,600 to a more palatable $1,170. Regardless of its price, though, we want to know if it’s any good.

HP Omen 16 (2023) review

HP Omen 16 (2023) review: Design

There have now been a decade's worth of HP Omen laptops, with very little stylistic change across the last few iterations. The 16.1-inch ‘xd0001na’ model we have on review is virtually the same as the 2022 model, save for a new polished Omen logo on the lid instead of the classic VoodooPC diamond. There’s also a large, shiny "16" emblazoned on the bottom half.

Nevertheless, the design is neat and understated, all in black and with a matte finish. It could be more lithe, more petite in places, but then it would no doubt be even more expensive. The all-plastic build is not ideal, but also not that much of an issue — you will leave plenty of finger smears, but they’re easy enough to wipe away with a cloth. There is some slight flex in the lid, though.

The bottom portion of the device is neatly laid out, with 70% of the available real estate taken up by the keyboard. You get a stunning multicolor backlit keyboard, with transparent key covers for W, A, S, and D. In the corners, there’s lots of space for palm rests, though there is an awkward reach to use the trackpad.

Both sides of the device have a wide array of ports, with three USB-A types (one with HP sleep charge) and slots for HDMI 2.1, ethernet and a 35mm headphone jack. Sadly there’s only one USB-C port, which is odd for a modern laptop, but it has Thunderbolt 4 support and also HP sleep charger capabilities.

HP Omen 16 (2023) review: Display

The Omen 16 has a pleasingly smooth and vivid 16.1 in IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate and a full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1080. The panel is crisp and sharp, and thankfully bright enough for even the murkiest of game worlds.

While that is true to the naked eye, our benchmarks suggest that the Omen’s display isn’t especially great. With our colorimeter, we recorded a peak brightness of 281 candela per square meter (cd/m2), which is actually quite low. That would suggest you’ll find it harder to see certain parts of the screen if you have a strong source of light in your room, though we didn’t really notice any issues here.

Likewise, its gamut color coverage (a measure of how many colors it can display) was a meager 91.40% — which is lower than one would expect of a modern gaming laptop. The Adobe sRGB score of 70% is more in line with its rivals but we would not recommend this machine for tackling serious Photoshop workloads.

The colors, however, pop off the screen and the refresh rate keeps everything smooth and liquid. This is partly down to the AI optimization that comes from the Ryzen 7 chip and that beefy Nvidia RTX GPU. So on paper it looks middling, but our eyes suggest otherwise.

HP Omen 16 (2023) review: Keyboard and touchpad

The Omen 16 has a multi-zone backlit keyboard that can be customized. The default is three different sections; from left to right you have a portion in red, a middle section in purple, and a final section in light or neon blue. The three transparent keys all turn a funky shade of orange when the lights are on, though. The whole thing looks dramatic in the dark and you can swap the colors around, have one specific color across the whole thing, or have it change shades as you play, which is frankly a little distracting.

Still, there’s a satisfying punch to the keys, which are all nicely sized and responsive. We were able to get up to a good typing speed while hammering out emails and documents. There was also a pleasing ease to the gaming controls, with the W, A, S, and D buttons singled out with transparent key caps — you barely need to look down as you move about in Fortnite.

The trackpad, however, takes some getting used to, especially if you come to it from a smaller touchpad, such as you would find on a MacBook. The number of accidental right clicks we made increased by about 100%. It does have a nice, firm click action, and lots of scope, but if you’re used to using your right hand to click, you really do need to reach right across — it’s quite awkward.

HP Omen 16 (2023) review: Specs, performance, and battery

The Omen 16 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS chip, which is paired with 16 GB of DDR5 RAM and 1 TB of storage. The Ryzen 7 has an up to 5.1 GHz max boost clock, 16 MB L3 cache, eight cores and 16 threads. It is a high-end 4nm processor and one of the best chips on the market for gaming.

The Omen notched up a CrystalDiskMark read score of 6,434.39, which places it as one of the more powerful HP laptops we’ve tested. Only the Spectre x360 14 and the AI-powered OmniBook Ultra 14 scored higher, and only by small margins.

However, while its performance is good, there’s only so much the Omen can take before its fans start to sound like the creaking air con in a cheap Vegas motel. Putting it through Geekbench 6 sounded like a form of laptop torture and its multi-core score of 9,239 isn’t especially good for this price range. Similarly priced HP models, such as the new OmniBook and EliteBook, will give you almost 50% more (14,153 and 14,035 respectively).

How much gaming you can do away from a power outlet is also debatable, due to the Omen’s weak battery. The 165Hz refresh rate, as wonderful as it is, is part of the problem here because you have a power-hungry display hogging what little juice the laptop can hold.

In our looped video test, with the laptop forced to repeatedly play the same 20 minutes of Spider-Man 2, it lasted a pitiful 4 hr, 53 mins. HP claims that it can last up to eight hours, which is true, but if you’re playing something quite big and graphically intense then it won’t get anywhere near that. A few rounds of Fortnite, maybe.

Thankfully, once depleted, the battery only takes an hour or so to reach full charge.

HP Omen 16 (2023) review: Ports and features

The ports are all neatly aligned, with two USB-A ports and slots for HDMI 2.1 and an ethernet connection in easy-to-reach places. It’s always good to have a 35mm headphone jack on a laptop, but that solo USB-C port does cause frustration. Thunderbolt 4 support is what people want — it makes everything easier to connect — so a second port here would be a real boon.

Feature-wise, you have the standard fare of Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.3, plus Windows 11 Home fresh out of the box. There’s a neat clip cover for the webcam. You also get crisp Bang & Olufsen DTS:X Ultra dual speakers, which have a nice hum to them, but these are hard to enjoy when those fans begin whirring.

You also get the Omen Gaming Hub pre-installed. One of the best features here is that you can monitor all your laptop's performance metrics, and it includes a clever booster tool. This looks like the rev counter on a car, but you can use it to max out the machine's performance.

Should you buy the HP Omen 16 (2023)?

The answer to this has been made a lot simpler thanks to HP’s recent CES 2025 announcements and the more feature-rich Omen Max 16. With this better version coming out soon, HP has slashed the cost of the older model, from $1,600 to $1,170, making it more of a bargain than it was previously. This review would have been more scathing if it stayed at its original price.

For that cut price you get a snappy AMD Ryzen CPU, a powerful GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, a smooth display and an attractive keyboard. You also get poor battery life and loud fans that can be heard no matter what volume your music is playing. They keep the machine cool but their sound is impossible to ignore. Headphones are not included, but they darn well should be!

If this product isn't for you

The question is whether there is anything better in this new price range. The newer Omen Max is practically double the price so that’s not comparable here. The Omen Transend is also considerably more expensive — both the 14in and 16in models — so price-wise, the Omen 16 is currently HP’s best offer.

Dell’s Alienware x16 R2 machine is roughly comparable, though it has Intel processor options, not AMD, and costs at least $400 more. However, it does benefit from a wider selection of Nvidia RTX GPU configurations (4060, 4070, 4080, and 4090).

If it’s gaming on a budget you want, however, then the Omen 16 is hard to beat right now.

When we tested the Garmin Forerunner 945 for our full review, we rated it really highly for many reasons. It can track your activities in 30 different sports, offers full-color maps for your outdoor adventures and is absolutely packed with health and performance monitoring features. And all this comes in a lightweight design, too. At just 50g, unlike some of the more 'extreme adventure' watches now on the market this is a watch you can wear and forget about, except when you don't want to!

Of course, we're always on the lookout for deals on the best fitness trackers in a whole variety of categories, but the Forerunner 945 really is a great watch for endurance runners. It's certainly not the newest watch on the market — but then Garmin are constantly bringing out new models.

In fact, the Forerunner 945 was actually in our best smartwatch guide for some time but has now been superseded by the Forerunner 965. And that means we can absolutely vouch for its quality.

One of the best features of the Garmin Forerunner 945 is the ability to download music on to it for running, meaning you can leave your phone at home and still have inspirational tunes ringing in your ears.

Back when we originally reviewed the Forerunner 945, our only gripe about the watch was the price — a problem this massive discount absolutely eliminates!

The watch has a superb battery life of 14 days (down to a still generous 36 hours with GPS mode enabled), its GPS sensor is very accurate and locks in really quickly, which is always a bonus for runners who hate waving their arms around in the arm when its cold outside or the race is about to start ...

It has a lovely clear 1.2-inch screen with transflective display technology to ensure good visibility, even in bright sunlight. That is particularly useful when you are using color maps for navigation on outdoor runs or hikes.

It also features a whole host of the usual smartwatch and fitness tracker features, including wrist-based heart rate monitoring, advanced performance metrics, music storage and playback, sleep monitoring and more.

When it comes to music capacity on the Forerunner 945, you can store around 1,000 songs on the watch itself, which should be more than enough to see you through some pretty epic runs. This is a great bonus for runners who prefer not to rely on their phones.

It's a great fitness watch and at 50%, a true bargain. As our full review said, "To put it simply, the Garmin Forerunner 945 is a top-class sports tracking and training analysis fitness tracker. I was pleasantly surprised at how some of its new key features enhanced my training during testing and by the general depth and accuracy provided by the watch when it came to recording core activities like running and biking."

Key features: Accurate tracking, lightweight chassis, up to 14 days of battery life.

Price history: The Forerunner 945 has been on sale before, notably when Walmart was competing post-Amazon Prime Day. At one stage it dipped to its lowest ever price of $279 but $299 is still a great price.

Price comparison: Amazon offers the same model for $450, so Walmart certainly has it beat in this instance.

Reviews consensus: A comfortable, lightweight fitness tracker with plenty of metrics and onboard storage for music is great, and it's even better at this price. Our review was full of praise for the Forerunner 945. It also incorporates smartwatch features like contactless payments for added convenience.

TechRadar: ★★★★ T3: ★★★★★ Live Science: ★★★★½

Buy it if: You want a fitness tracker with fantastic battery life and onboard music storage for long treks.

Don't buy it if: You want to install third-party apps — you'll need an Apple Watch or Google Wear OS device for that.

Buy the Vortex Optics Solo 10x36 Waterproof Monocular for $129.99 at Adorama.

The Vortex Optics Solo 10x36 monocular has over 1500+ five-star ratings on Amazon, and in our review of its 8x36 sibling we summed up its performance by saying, "The Vortex Optics monocular is a capable performer with a lightweight, tough design, impressive image clarity and good low-light capabilities."

The 10x magnification on the Vorex Monocular provides a wide field of view ideal for various outdoor activities, from birdwatching to hiking, allowing users to observe wildlife and landscapes up close.

It also functions well in low light, so it can be used for viewing the night sky with the 36mm objective lens keeping views as bright as possible

Green rubber armor protects the monocular against bumps and knocks as well as a non-slip grip. The Vortex is also Nitrogen-purged and O-ring sealed, making it waterproof and fogproof in any environment.

One of the real highlights for buying though is the unlimited and unconditional lifetime warranty. Vortex promises to repair or replace your item if it becomes damaged/defective. However, it doesn't cover loss, theft, deliberate damage or cosmetic damage that doesn't hinder performance.

Key features: 10x magnification, 36mm objective lens, small, lightweight with fully multi-coated lenses. Waterproof and durable.

Product launched: May 2012.

Price history: The current $129.99 deal price is the cheapest this monocular has been this year. Outside of the current deal, the lowest price for this model we've seen has been during the Black Friday sales at $119.99.

Price comparison: Amazon: $129.99 | B&H Photo: $129.99

Reviews consensus: We awarded the Vortex Solo 8x36 Monocular 3/5 stars in our review, praising it for its excellent image quality and performance. We also noted its thoughtful design and meticulously crafted and rugged build.

✅ Buy it if: You want a lightweight, easy-to-operate monocular with crisp image quality that's backed with an unlimited, unconditional and lifetime warranty.

❌ Don't buy it if: You have a bigger budget and want enhanced optical quality and magnification power. If that's the case, we'd recommend the Canon Powershot Zoom Digital Monocular — which boasts an 800mm zoom capability and can capture high-quality photos and videos.

Check out our other guides to the best air purifiers, air purifiers for allergies, the best telescopes, microscopes for students, binoculars, rowing machines, electric toothbrushes and more.

Get the Celestron NexStar 130SLT for $494.99 at Amazon.

Featuring a 130mm aperture, it gathers a significant amount of light, allowing for bright and detailed views of celestial objects like the moon, planets, star clusters and even some deep-sky objects like Andromeda or the Orion Nebula. And with its computerized GoTo mount and Celestron's SkyAlign technology, it couldn't be easier to find targets in the night sky. It has over 4,000 objects in its extensive database, making it a fantastic choice for beginners. The best telescopes with GoTo technology are typically much more expensive.

The package includes the telescope tube, mount, tripod and accessory tray, plus 20mm and 9mm eyepieces and a NexStar+ hand control. We think this is the perfect middle ground for users who might be too impatient for a traditional observation telescope without a computerized GoTo mount, but would get bored too easily with a smart telescope. Plus, its affordable price makes it much more accessible than many of the other telescopes in the NexStar range.

When fully assembled, it weighs 18 lbs (8.2 kg), making it easy to transport to dark-sky locations for better viewing conditions. Although it's not a dedicated astrophotography telescope, you can still get impressive images of the moon and planets when you pair it with the best astrophotography cameras or your smartphone with an adapter.

Key features: 650mm focal length, 130mm aperture, 20mm and 9mm eyepieces included, 11.4 lbs, 6.3-inch field of view, 5mm exit pupil.

Product launched: 2005.

Price history: It was $10 cheaper during Black Friday last year, but this price of $494.99 is the cheapest we've seen in 2025.

Reviews consensus: With an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon, users praise its optics and intuitive instructions, making setup a breeze. Saturn, Jupiter and Orion can be seen with the telescope, although some users commented on its shakiness.

✅ Buy it if: You're a beginner who wants the telescope to locate objects in the night sky at the press of a button.

❌ Don't buy it if: You're a seasoned astronomer looking to upgrade from your current model to something better. The Celestron NexStar 8SE is known as the 'world's most beloved telescope' and is one of the best telescopes out there.

Check out our other guides to the best air purifiers, air purifiers for allergies, the best telescopes, microscopes for students, binoculars, rowing machines, electric toothbrushes and more.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is one of the most interesting devices we've looked at — it's one of a handful of "foldable PCs" on the market that aims to give creatives and digital artists plenty of display real estate and versatility. Much like the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold, its form factor sets it apart from the conventional 2-in-1-style laptop-cross-tablet we're used to.

Although it comes at a great cost, this machine's stunning OLED HDR display underlines why it might well be one of the best devices for photo editing and image work — but given that it's fitted with a 12th-gen Intel CPU and integrated graphics (and the lack of a conventional cooling system), we won't be expecting fireworks beneath the bonnet.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2 review

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2: Design

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold isn't quite a laptop — it's more a portable monitor with a keyboard, but it can certainly double as a laptop and/or tablet when you need it to be one. Indeed, it's one of the most unusual devices we've reviewed, which is refreshing amid a sea of devices homogenized around two or three core designs.

The expansive 16.3-inch foldable display — encased in 100% recycled plastic with magnesium and carbon fiber supporting an aluminum chassis — is at the heart of this device. But it also comes with a detachable Bluetooth keyboard and kickstand that clips onto the rear of the display magnetically, as well as a stylus pen and kickstand.

Depending on your needs, you can hold it in portrait mode or landscape and use it as a tablet — or you could fold it along its horizontal axis and pitch it up on your desk, using the bottom half as a keyboard with haptic feedback as you type. You can also connect the Bluetooth keyboard, unfurl the kickstand, and use it in portrait or landscape mode as a monitor. In short, the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold is incredibly versatile.

Although you can pack everything into a compact, 12-inch package that you can fit into your bag, its 4.27 lbs (1.94 kg) weight is on the heavier side — especially given that the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold weighs just 3.31 lbs (1.50 kg).

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold: Display

Its massive, foldable 16.3-inch tablet display is stunningly bright and vibrant — an excellent piece of kit for anybody indulging in graphical work or image editing. The 2,024 x 2,560-pixel OLED HDR display adopts an unusual aspect ratio of 1.26:1 — and this can be jarring at first, as large black bars will appear above and below any 16:9 media you're watching back. But you soon get used to this, and you will appreciate having more vertical space at your disposal.

What would have really capped it off would have been the capacity to upgrade to 4K — this is far from a dealbreaker, but a sorely missed opportunity given its rather low pixels-per-inch (PPI) of 200.2.

Nonetheless, there's plenty to love about the screen and we confirmed as much by testing it using a display calibrator. We registered a brightness reading of 446 candela per square meter (cd/m^2) — which is just shy of the 500 cd/m^2 that Apple claims a MacBook Pro can reach. This brightness is coupled with immense vividness and reasonably accurate colors, with the OLED display registering 99.9% coverage of the sRGB color gamut.

We did note that, by default, greens were slightly oversaturated and blues and reds were slightly undersaturated — but there were almost no distortions. Its Delta-E reading — a metric that determines how distorted colors are compared to what they're meant to be, from 0 to 100, with a good result normally falling between 3 and 6 — was 0.26 on average, with a maximum of 1.87, which is exceptional.

Its contrast, meanwhile, is excellent — with the customary deep blacks you would expect from an OLED display.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2: Keyboard and touchpad

The detachable Bluetooth keyboard that comes with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold feels smaller than it is, largely because the display is so large to begin with — but it's a well-designed peripheral that complements the primary device.

We wouldn't rate it as highly as some of the keyboards you'll find in premium laptops, and it feels rather lightweight — with minimal haptic feedback and a short travel distance when you press the keys. This is despite its smooth palm rests and a smart fabric base that keeps it planted on your desk. The distribution of keys is as you would wish, beyond the Function key appearing to the left of the left-sided Control key, which is unusual. It also includes a fingerprint scanner to the side of the arrow keys.

The touchpad, meanwhile, is too small to use comfortably — but you would expect as much from a detachable keyboard. The manufacturer admittedly could have extended the depth of the keyboard to allow for a larger surface area, but this may have caused difficulties when attaching the keyboard to the back of the display when you fold it up and pack it away.

The keyboard also features Lenovo's red rubber trackpoint at its heart, but this is rather fiddly to use. The touchpad or stylus offers a much smoother experience.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2: Performance and battery

It's difficult to pack a tablet with the same punch as a high-end laptop, but the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold makes a real go of it. In that vein, how well it performs really depends on whether you're comparing it with high-end laptops or tablets.

The Intel Core i7-1250U mobile processor fitted into the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold was once considered high-end, but it's a few generations old by now — and might not represent the best value for money. Lenovo pairs this CPU with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM as well as a 512GB SSD — and Intel Irix Xe integrated graphics, rather than anything dedicated.

Overall, performance in our benchmarking with Geekbench 6 was about the level we had expected — with impressive single-threaded performance of 1,912 considering the age of the processor, but weak multi-threaded performance of 6,663. By way of comparison, one of the latest mobile processors fitted into the HP Spectre x360 14 — the new Intel Ultra 7 155H 3800MHz (16 cores) — scored 2,110 and 10,480 respectively.

Graphics performance was underwhelming, with a score of 11,247. Integrated graphics are never going to compete with dedicated graphics cards from AMD or Nvidia, but Intel's integrated graphics in the HP Spectre x360 14, by contrast, hit 24,993.

This suggests the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is well suited to most ordinary day-to-day tasks but might struggle on the multitasking front — and with any intensive design work. While it's an excellent choice for working with images at a high level, given the quality of its display, its underpowered components coupled with the lack of cooling means it's susceptible to throttling and won't perform as well as a high-end laptop might.

Its dual 65 Wh batteries, meanwhile, lasted 7 hours and 49 minutes in our looped video playback testing — which is underwhelming compared to some of the best machines out there, and seven hours shorter than the aforementioned Spectre.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2: Ports and features

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold has a handful of ports distributed around the edges of its display, including three USB-C ports and a SIM card slot. One thing that immediately stood out is that using the device in landscape orientation with the kickstand means always obscuring at least one USB-C port. It's impossible to, say, charge the keyboard, plug your device into an external monitor and plug in a hard drive all at the same time. There is also no headphone jack, bizarrely.

When standing it up in landscape mode with the 5MP webcam to the left, there is a power button at the top as well as volume up and down buttons to the right. The stylus can also magnetically attach to the top of the display — which is incredibly handy. The kickstand also attaches magnetically to the back of the display. While integrating this into the tablet's design itself would have been better, this fits together reasonably well and is stable once you've stood it up.

Alongside an optional SIM slot, connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 — which, as with other components, are a few generations behind the curve now.

Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2?

Whether you should invest in the ThinkPad X1 Fold truly depends on your needs and requirements — and how much budget you have to burn. Admittedly, it will elevate your creative productivity, but it suits a very specific set of needs that might be beyond most people’s requirements — and it does not represent the best value for money. What you are really paying for here is its foldable screen design — which is a breath of fresh air and intuitive to use — but there are plenty of downsides too, especially if a conventional 2-in-1 would suit your needs just fine.

It has a stunning and expansive display that you can fold up and take with you wherever you go — which is a huge selling point — and it can seriously immerse you in any work that involves graphics or image editing. But that comes at a hefty cost — as well as a slightly weaker battery life and performance than you might expect if you were to invest in a portable 2-in-1 and an external monitor instead.

If this product isn't for you

The ThinkPad X1’s Fold most obvious rival would be the Asus Zenbook Fold 17, which has very similar specifications as well as a slightly larger screen. Its battery life might be a touch better, too, with a 75 Wh capacity battery versus the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold's 64 Wh dual batteries.

That said, both machines are incredibly pricey. If you want something a little lighter, smaller and more powerful — but equally impressive in terms of its display quality — then we'd suggest looking into the HP Spectre x360 14, a conventional 2-in-1 that also comes equipped with a stylus.

It's hard to avoid the artificial intelligence (AI) hype — and this is as true for software tools as it is for the newest laptops. Some of the latest machines have been designated as "Copilot+ AI PCs" — meaning they include the hardware to support on-device AI applications and workloads, as well as new applications. But to what extent is this just marketing buzz and how much does it materially improve the device?

Microsoft sees this shift as a pivotal moment for laptops and 2-in-1s, and the Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) is the perfect embodiment of that shift. It's a well-engineered and surprisingly reasonably priced machine that the company sees as a competitor to the MacBook Air. It also packs the latest Qualcomm-based hardware — as well as a neural processing unit (NPU) that claims to use AI to make performance as zippy as ever.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) review

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch): Design

Microsoft's latest laptop is extremely well-engineered, with the chassis made from recycled aluminum and rare earth metals for a high-quality feel. It also feels sturdy for a machine that's relatively lightweight for a 15-inch device — it weighs just 3.68 lbs (1.66 kg) — meaning it's a delight to use. You can choose the laptop in a light platinum finish, but we loved the moody black coating on our review model.

Some may see the design as being a little too minimalist — but I felt the stripped-back look works a treat and rivals the look and feel we've come to expect from a MacBook Air in recent years. The biggest change comes in the touchpad, which is larger than that seen on the Surface Laptop 6th Edition, and offers great haptic feedback for a smooth response.

Regardless, the expansive 3:2 display is its main attraction and its bezels are thinner than in the previous display, with the screen contained within four rounded corners. This is a design choice that might not gel with all users — as Windows 11 isn't necessarily configured to fit around the curved corners, you will lose pixels when applications encroach in these areas, but it looks incredibly stylish.

It's also worth mentioning that the device is more compact than its predecessor. It’s lighter, too, but only slightly. It is a fraction of an inch thicker but is still thin enough to be considered a portable machine for something with a 15-inch display. That said, it's thicker, larger and slightly heavier than the MacBook Air 15-inch (M3).

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch): Display

The 15-inch LCD panel fitted into the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is impressive and offers a great amount of real estate to watch media or work with graphics — with its sharp 2,496 x 1,664 resolution also providing a decent 201 pixels per inch, and a fantastic 120 Hz refresh rate (double the standard 60 Hz) for smoother scrolling and movement. The panel is also branded "PixelSense Flow" thanks to built-in technology designed to make it extra responsive to touch and stylus input.

The 3:2 ratio may take some getting used to, especially if you're used to working in the conventional 16:9 format. Although more and more laptops have adopted a 16:10 screen ratio — giving you marginally more vertical space to work with — this goes a step further and adopts an aspect ratio that's better suited to scrolling web pages and looking at photos.

Regardless, the screen looks stunning in terms of its vibrancy and brightness. Testing with a display calibrator produced a color accuracy reading of 99% coverage of the sRGB color gamut (meaning it covers 99% of all available colors) — with red, green and blue channels all perfect in terms of saturation levels. The average Delta-E measurement of 0.84 and maximum of 3.35, meanwhile, was also excellent. This metric (from 0 to 100) determines how distorted colors are compared to their true representations, with a good result normally falling between 3 and 6.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is also impressively bright, with a reading of 474 nits — slightly short of the manufacturer's claims of 600 nits, but certainly brighter than most machines out there. The MacBook Pro can hit 500 nits, by contrast, so it's an impressive result.

The lack of an OLED option is one downside, however. The black level was a fractional 0.5 nits, with a contrast ratio of 929.51:1 — but OLED displays showcase deep, inky blacks that emit no light and boast near-perfect contrast ratios (infinity:1). Nonetheless, it's an otherwise exceptional panel, especially for a standard LCD display.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15-inch: Keyboard and touchpad

The Microsoft Surface Laptop's keyboard is snappy and responsive, although it lacks the bite you might expect from keyboards that offer more force feedback with each keystroke. That said, the keys are well-sized and well-spaced and if you don't mind a quieter experience, there's little faulting it. They are well constructed and complement the premium feel of the device itself — and typing with this machine is a joy.

The touchpad is similarly exceptionally crafted and more expansive than in the previous edition of the Microsoft Surface Laptop. The pad is near-glacial to the touch — it's extremely smooth and feels great when you glide your fingers across its surface. Clicking also feels great and you get plenty of haptic feedback. But there are a few minor responsiveness issues when moving your cursor — the lack of friction means you're prone to drifting. This becomes especially apparent when clicking and dragging, and it's hard to be completely precise.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch): Performance and battery

One of the major selling points of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) is the hardware it's fitted with — making it incredibly reasonably priced. The latest Arm-based Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon Elite X, is complemented by dedicated graphics in the form of a Qualcomm Adreno GPU. You can pair this with 32 GB of RAM and a decent 1 TB SSD.

Capping this all off is a 45-TOPS Qualcomm Hexagon NPU that enables on-device AI, while also taking on tasks the CPU or GPU would normally handle and consuming much less energy in the process — translating to, in theory, a much longer battery life. That last point was indeed borne out in testing, with the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) lasting an incredible 17 hours and 31 minutes in our looped video playback testing, with conditions designed to simulate standard usage. It doesn't quite match the 22-hour maximum that Microsoft claims, but it is an exceptional result nonetheless.

The internal components also performed well when put through their paces in our benchmarking with Geekbench 6. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) registered a score of 2,334 in single-threaded testing and 13,246 in multi-threaded testing. By way of comparison, the MacBook Air 15-inch (M3) registered 3,067 and 11,988 respectively, according to public results. The Microsoft laptop doesn't quite hit the same heights as the MacBook Air on basic tasks but leaves it in its wake on more complex, multi-core processes. This is an outstanding result, with the M3 chip previously considered the pinnacle of the current market.

The Qualcomm Adreno GPU, meanwhile, scores respectably on OpenGL graphics tests — with a score of 19,022. It's a far better score than you'd get on a machine without a dedicated GPU — but it's on the lower end for the newest laptops. The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, fitted with the same GPU, scored a slightly higher 20,493, while the HP Spectre x360 14, fitted with Intel Arc Graphics, scored 24,993.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch): Ports and features

If the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) disappoints in any category, it's the lack of ports for a 15-inch machine. There are two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, as well as a 3.5 mm headphone jack and MicroSDXC card reader. There's also a charging port for power delivery — this is rather pointless as power delivery through USB-C is standard nowadays, while there are omissions like HDMI and a full SD card slot that more people would find useful. It's a minor disappointment for a 15-inch machine to lack ports like this — but you could always buy a separate mini-dock to open up more ports.

It's worth highlighting the AI features embedded in the Surface Laptop 7, courtesy of the NPU, opening the door to new features in Windows 11 and third-party apps too. Beyond cocreator in Paint (which lets you access image generation features), you can use apps like CapCut to remove the background from videos and DaVinci Resolve to add VFX — things that were previously only possible on machines with hefty, top-end GPUs.

Should you buy the LG ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2?

There is very little to fault in the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition — from its premium build quality and portability for a larger machine to its crisp and bright display. Its performance, too, is worth highlighting as it can rival the MacBook Air 15-inch (M3) on day-to-day performance. Compounding this is a fantastic battery life, partly thanks to the NPU, lasting in excess of 17 hours without needing to recharge. And you get all of this for around $2,000 — which is fantastic value for money.

There's very little to point out by way of weaknesses, but if we are nitpicking, you should probably look elsewhere if you're hoping to work with heavy-duty graphics. While the Qualcomm Adreno GPU in the Surface Laptop 7th Edition performs well, there are better options out there in terms of entry-level GPUs.

We'd also have loved to see an OLED option for near-perfect contrast, but there's still plenty to love about the bright and incredibly proficient display, which accurately reproduces colors and draws you in with its 3:2 aspect ratio.

If this product isn't for you

The first alternative you should consider is the MacBook Air 15-inch (M3). It's a little lighter, a little more portable and performs slightly better in terms of single-cord and graphical workloads, although the Surface Laptop 7th Edition(15-inch) has the edge in terms of multi-core performance.

If you want to downsize ever so slightly, you should also check out the 14.5-inch Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 9. It's a lightweight, razor-thin machine that packs the same Snapdragon processor and NPU into a much more compact and arguably more stylish chassis. This machine also includes an OLED display, but it does lack a dedicated GPU and includes only 16 GB RAM.

You should also consider the 15.6-inch ASUS Vivobook S 15, which has the exact same specs as the Surface Laptop 7th Edition (15-inch) but boasts a slightly larger-capacity battery, plenty of ports including HDMI and microSD and a 3K 120 Hz OLED display.

Getting hands-on with the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 has been an eye-opening experience as to the potential of Windows-powered tablets, given the amount of power that's packed into a portable package. While it looks identical to its predecessors, there are major improvements both in the display and under the hood.

The Surface Pro 11 includes high-end Arm-based Qualcomm hardware alongside 32 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Microsoft has also hyped the capabilities of a new class of machine dubbed "Copilot+ AI PCs," of which the Surface Pro 11 is one. While we are skeptical that many people will find the limited handful of AI features useful (beyond, perhaps, the ability to tweak webcam settings), there might be other, secondary benefits courtesy of the NPU baked into the machine. However, alongside a vibrant OLED display, there's every chance this machine could be among the best 2-in-1s out there right now.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Design

Although it is unchanged from previous models in terms of its anodized aluminum chassis, the latest Surface Pro feels like an absolute pleasure to hold and to use. It's available in four colors including Sapphire, Dune, Platinum and Black, and each one is dripping in character. The kickstand that folds out the lower half of the tablet is sturdy — extending to a maximum angle of 165 degrees — and lets you use it as a secondary screen or a quasi-laptop if you clip the external magnetic keyboard onto the base of the screen.

The Surface Pro Flex keyboard itself looks great, and is incredibly robust for something so thin, complementing the screen incredibly well in terms of its aesthetic qualities. It comes in only two colors — Black and Bright Sapphire — but both look great. There's also a holster for the Surface Slim Pen 2, where you can store and charge it while it's not in use. The pen works well when you remove it from this slot — but removing it is actually difficult enough that it almost seems not worth doing.

What makes the Surface Pro 11 such a great proposition is its 2.72 pound (1.24 kilogram) combined weight — taking the screen and keyboard into account — while it's about as compact a machine as you could ask for. It's a mere 0.58 inches (14.7 millimeters) thick, which is a shade thinner than most 14-inch machines out there, and it’s also much shorter and shallower. Overall, it absolutely hits the brief for a portable 2-in-1.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Display

It's hard to pick out a standout feature of the Surface Pro 11, given its overall quality, but if we had to, it would be the display — which is important for a machine that is mostly a screen.

This device's 13-inch OLED display has a 2,880 x 1,920-pixel resolution — which translates to an incredibly sharp 266.26 pixels per inch (PPI). Coupled with a super-smooth 120 Hz refresh rate and a 3:2 aspect ratio, it's an absolute dream to use when working with media files or playing back videos. While there's more vertical space in this display than you may be used to, it's great to have that additional room when working with images, especially when the resolution is as high as it is.

Although there are configurations with a standard IPS display available, the OLED screen our review model came with was dazzlingly bright, hitting 535 nits when we measured it with a display calibrator. Very few laptops have hit this kind of brightness level, least of all OLED displays, which are usually a tad dimmer than LCD displays. I had to turn the brightness setting down a notch, because I simply wasn't used to a panel that's so bright.

A relatively bright 2-in-1 in the form of the HP Spectre x360 14, for reference, hit 365 nits when we tested it — and a MacBook Pro can reach roughly 500 nits. Where there was a slight disappointment was in a color accuracy rating of 98.6% coverage of the sRGB color gamut. This is much higher than we may have expected in the past, but it isn't uncommon for laptops and 2-in-1s to hit 99% and higher.

That said, an extremely low Delta-E reading of 0.42 on average and 1.05 maximum was highly encouraging. This determines how distorted colors are, with a good result normally falling between 3 and 6. As with all OLED displays, we recorded a black level of 0 nits and a contrast ratio of infinity:1 — rounding off an impressive set of results.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Keyboard and touchpad

The Surface Flex Pro keyboard is a little on the compact side and the keys are perhaps smaller and more closely packed together than you would expect on most 14-inch machines and larger laptops. That is to be expected, but it does take some getting used to.

After a few hours, however, you'll find that touch typing is fantastically smooth — with key pushes offering a decent level of haptic feedback considering how razor-thin the keyboard actually is. The travel distance does feel short, but the feedback goes some way to making up for it. You're never going to get the same feeling as using a mechanical keyboard, so it's impressive for what it is. The palm rests aren't the most comfortable, however, despite their fabric surface, and do feel a little hard on your hands.

The touchpad, meanwhile, is much smaller than is comfortable to use. You can easily find yourself picking up your finger and putting it back down if you're trying to move the cursor from one corner of the screen to the opposite corner — and turning up the sensitivity introduces more control issues. The software-assisted feedback in both the left-click and right-click buttons is solid enough and simulates a much further travel distance than there actually is — but we experienced plenty of sensitivity issues in which the software simply wouldn't recognize you were in a position to click on something, and the haptic feedback was disabled.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Performance and battery

One of the most astonishing features of the Microsoft Surface Pro is the strong performance levels you can squeeze out of the components fitted into a highly compact chassis, competing with some of the highest-end laptops fitted with the latest Qualcomm Arm-based hardware. The trio of chips you'll find in these devices, as with the Surface Pro 11, includes the Snapdragon X Elite processor, the Qualcomm Adreno GPU and the 45-TOPS Qualcomm Hexagon NPU. In the Surface Pro 11, these three components work with 32 GB LPDDR5x RAM as well as a generously sized 1 TB SSD.

In our benchmarking tests with Geekbench 6, the Microsoft Surface Pro scored 2,283 and 13,389 for single-threaded and multi-threaded performance respectively. This is about in line with the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 — which overperformed on the single-threaded test (2,334) but underperformed against the Surface Pro on multitasking (13,246). These are results that slightly underperform against the Snapdragon-powered HP Elitebook Ultra 14 G1q — which scored above 14,000 in the test. For reference, the Apple M4 processor has scored 3,855 and 14,888 in the same benchmarking, while last generation's M3 chip scored 3,067 and 11,988.

It’s the same story for the Surface Pro's graphics performance, which hit 19,286 in our OpenGL test — marginally better than the Surface Laptop's performance, and about what we expected. It's a decent result and shows the Surface Pro is good enough for photo editing and basic video editing on the go, although anything more substantial would probably demand a more powerful dedicated GPU. The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, fitted with the same GPU, scored a slightly higher 20,493, while the HP Spectre x360 14, fitted with Intel Arc Graphics, scored 24,993.

Its battery life of 14 hours and 18 minutes is also a great result — thanks, in part, to the NPU fitted into the system, which takes on many of the tasks the CPU or GPU would have conventionally performed and handles them far more efficiently. It is, however, three hours shy of the 17 hours and 31 minutes of the Surface Laptop.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Ports and features