Review: Celestron Omni XLT 150 EQ Telescope

The Competition

The Celestron Omni XLT150 has a few competitors in a similar price range and niche of short tube six incher on an equatorial mount. The Orion AstroView 6 has recently been reinvented with a new optical tube and mount supplier. While it had previously been practically identical to the XLT150 as it would have had the same suppliers as Celestron, it now has a somewhat smaller mount and tripod. Overseas, the SkyWatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2 is a nearly identical package, differing only in the included eyepiece and the color of the glossy paint on the OTA.

The real competition is with Dobsonians. Though a Dobsonian reflector can not track the rotation of the Earth using a single axis or a motor, making it incapable of all but the most basic lunar-planetary imaging, you’re not really going to be doing a whole lot of serious astrophotography on a manual equatorial mounted newtonian anyway. A Dobsonian telescope can fit the same or better optical tube onto a cheaper and easier to use mount. For a comparable 6” short-focus optical tube in a Dobsonian format, check out the Orion StarBlast 6 or the SkyWatcher Heritage 150P, which are tabletop Dobsonians. For larger ground-standing Dobs in a similar price range, look for 6” and 8” Dobsonians.

Our Verdict

Because this scope is technically capable of some astrophotography, while also being a very capable visual telescope, I would recommend this to someone interested in visual observing but who would like to be able to get started in astrophotography as well without buying a whole new telescope. As a dedicated visual setup, it’s too complex. As a dedicated astrophoto setup, it’s not complex enough. Jack of all trades, master of none kind of deal.

Due to being quite heavy, expensive, and requiring a complicated polar alignment setup, it is not a good option for a beginner. This is a good second or third telescope, after you’ve learned and intuited the motions of the sky and become familiar with what things look like in a telescope, and how to find objects.

If a manual equatorial-mounted 6” reflector is explicitly what you’re looking for, then this has it all, and it does that job very well and at a good price. But if you’re interested in just visual enjoyment, recording notes and sketches, and finding new objects using star hops, for the same price you can get a significantly larger Dobsonian, one which won’t be much heavier, but will be a lot easier and intuitive to use. In my case, that’s the decision I made. I sold my XLT 150 and bought a 10” Dobsonian instead.