Add this one to the pile of things you didn’t know you needed. The new Dwarf Mini Smart Telescope from Dwarflab reshapes the form factor of the age-old telescope for the digital era, pairing an ultra-compact unit with app-based control surfaces to create a portable star-gazing set-up that’s aimed at the outwardly bound and the celestially inquisitive.
Dwarflab Dwarf Mini Smart Telescope, which features a 150 mm f/5 telephoto lens
The Dwarf is a compact but hefty device designed to be freestanding or tripod-mounted. The lens itself is protected by a manually swivelling mechanism that allows for a full degree of movement through one axis when opened up. It charges via USB-C and pairs with Dwarflab’s app over Bluetooth; there’s a near total absence of controls on the unit itself, save for the power button and battery indicator lights.
All your looking, therefore, is controlled via the app, akin to using your phone as a remote viewer for a doorcam or similar. Only here, the lens and sensor system are a much higher grade, with a 150 mm f/5 telephoto lens with 30mm aperture paired with a Sony IMX662 1080p sensor. That’s not quite top of the line, but the combination, plus the onboard software, makes this a great device for amateur astrophotography.
The unit folds into a protective, travel-ready package
The latter comes courtesy of long exposure times (up to 90 seconds), inbuilt filters and – most importantly – the ability to track celestial objects thanks to an onboard sky atlas, so you can locate stars and planets. This isn’t going to lead to any major discoveries, but as an educational device it’s in a field of its own, opening up an infinite realm of exploration.
The Dwarf comes with a tripod mount
Dwarflab aligned the launch of the Mini Smart Telescope with Nasa Artemis missions and the renewed attention space and space exploration is getting in the media (the more conspiratorial could also point to a recent cinematic release by a certain Mr Spielberg).
Whatever your field of interest, all you need is a patch of dark sky (no mean feat for city dwellers) and a bit of time, and the universe is all yours. Mysteries might be unlocked, but the device offers multiple ways of capturing astral activity, with a multi-frame stacking function to bring out greater detail in moon photography, as well as the ability to take video in addition to stills.
The telescope is controlled via an app
Weighing in at just under 1kg, the Mini Telescope has a solid feel, thanks to a 7000 mAh battery that can give you up to four hours of operation out in the field. There’s also 64GB of built-in storage, with all media easily downloadable into your own cloud collection.
The Dwarf Mini Telescope might not be encouraging you to put down your phone and look up to the heavens, exactly, but it still provides a different kind of doom-scrolling – one that puts everything else into perspective.
Dwarflab Dwarf Mini Smart Telescope
Dwarflab Dwarf Mini Telescope, $399 / £359, Amazon.co.uk, Dwarflab.com