Telescope Comparison
Bresser Messier N-150/750 vs Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL
The specs are close. The experience isn't.
First light
Bresser · 150mm · £229
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
- 150mm newtonian reflector on a manual equatorial mount
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright star clusters and nebulae
- Setup includes rough polar alignment before observing — more steps than a simple alt-az
- Mount axes feel counterintuitive at first; users find they become natural after several sessions
- Keeps the door open for adding tracking motors and moving into astrophotography later
Sky-Watcher · 150mm · £249
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
- 150mm newtonian reflector on a manual equatorial mount
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright star clusters and nebulae
- Setup includes rough polar alignment before observing — more steps than a simple alt-az
- Mount axes feel counterintuitive at first; users find they become natural after several sessions
- Keeps the door open for adding tracking motors and moving into astrophotography later
The full picture
The numbers that separate these two scopes — and what they mean at the eyepiece.
Aperture
Equal light-gathering. Aperture won't settle this comparison — the mount, focal ratio, and observing experience are what differ.
Focal length
Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL's longer focal length reaches higher magnification with the same eyepiece — better reach for planetary detail. Bresser Messier N-150/750's shorter focal length gives a wider true field — better for large open clusters and extended nebulae.
Focal ratio
Bresser Messier N-150/750's faster f/5 delivers wider fields with any eyepiece — better for open clusters and large nebulae. Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL's f/8 provides more magnification per eyepiece — better for fine planetary detail.
Mount type
Same mount type — setup experience and ergonomics will be similar. Differences lie in build quality and included accessories.
Weight (OTA)
Similar optical tube weight. Any portability difference between these setups comes from the mount, not the tube itself.
Optical design
Both are Newtonian reflectors — the same optical formula. Any performance difference comes from collimation quality, focal ratio, and eyepiece choice, not the design itself.
At the eyepiece
| Target | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL |
|---|---|---|
| Planets | ||
| Moon | Excellent 150mm resolves craterlets, rilles, and mountain shadows with crisp detail; f/5 handles high magnification well on lunar targets | Excellent 150mm aperture and f/8 focal ratio reward high-magnification lunar detail — craterlets, rilles, and shadow play along the terminator are superb. |
| Saturn | Good Rings clearly defined, Cassini Division visible in steady seeing at 150–200x; focal length of 750mm is adequate but not ideal for high-power planetary work | Excellent 150mm aperture and 1200mm focal length put Cassini Division and cloud banding within reach in steady seeing. |
| Jupiter | Good Two main cloud belts and GRS visible; 150mm shows some detail in the equatorial bands at 150x+ | Excellent Multiple cloud belts, the Great Red Spot, and Galilean moon shadows are visible at 150–200x. |
| Mars | Good Disc and polar cap visible at opposition; some dark surface markings detectable in good seeing | Good 150mm aperture shows the polar cap and dark surface markings near opposition — benefits from the long focal length for scale. |
Deep sky | ||
| Orion Nebula (M42) | Excellent Bright nebulosity with extensive structure visible; Trapezium resolved; f/5 gives good wide-field context | Good Bright core and Trapezium are striking, but the 1200mm focal length crops the outer nebulosity compared to a wider-field scope. |
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Excellent 750mm focal length and 150mm aperture show the core, dust lane, and outer halo in a wide-field eyepiece | Moderate Bright core is easy, but the galaxy's full extent far exceeds the narrow field — only the central region is visible. |
| Open clusters | Excellent Wide field at low power frames clusters like the Double Cluster and Pleiades beautifully | Moderate Larger clusters like the Double Cluster overfill the field at 1200mm; smaller, compact clusters fare better. |
| Globular clusters | Good 150mm begins to resolve stars at the edges of M13 and M22; cores remain granular but not fully resolved | Good 150mm begins to resolve stars at the edges of M13 and M22 — a clear step up from smaller apertures. |
| Faint galaxies | Good 150mm pulls in galaxies across Virgo and Leo as defined smudges; brighter examples like M81/M82 show shape and contrast | Good 150mm gathers enough light to detect many Messier and brighter NGC galaxies, though detail is limited. |
| Milky Way / wide field | Good 750mm focal length is slightly long for sweeping panoramas but still delivers rich star fields at low power | Not recommended 1200mm focal length gives far too narrow a field for sweeping Milky Way star fields. |
Other | ||
| Double stars | Excellent 150mm aperture resolves sub-arcsecond pairs; f/5 is forgiving enough with quality eyepieces, though less clean than f/10+ refractors | Excellent 150mm aperture and f/8 focal ratio produce clean, high-contrast Airy discs — resolves pairs down to about 0.8 arcseconds. |
| Astrophotography (planetary) | Good 150mm at 750mm focal length works well with a planetary camera and Barlow; no tracking needed for short video captures | Good 150mm aperture and 1200mm focal length suit webcam planetary imaging; the optional RA motor drive is strongly recommended to reduce drift. |
| Astrophotography (deep sky) | Not recommended The included EQ mount has no motor drive or tracking — long exposures are not possible without upgrading to at least a single-axis motor | Not applicable |
The real tradeoff
Both scopes are capable. The question is which one fits the way you actually observe.
Bresser Messier N-150/750
- You'll spend your sessions sweeping wide swathes of the Milky Way, framing the Pleiades whole and catching the full extent of M31's halo — the f/5 focal ratio and 750mm focal length give you roughly twice the true field of the 150PL, and that's the difference between a dramatic vista and a tight crop.
- You'll appreciate the dual-speed Crayford focuser when you're dialling in on a faint galaxy — it's genuinely unusual at this price and saves you the frustration of overshooting focus that plagues cheaper rack-and-pinion designs.
- You'll pay for that wide field at the eyepiece edge: coma smears stars into little comets in your peripheral vision, and you'll either learn to live with it or budget another £50–80 for a coma corrector down the line.
Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL
- You'll sit at the eyepiece chasing the Cassini Division on Saturn or the Great Red Spot on Jupiter and feel rewarded — the 1200mm focal length delivers high magnification natively, so you're not stacking Barlows and losing light just to get to 200x.
- You'll find collimation less stressful: the forgiving f/8 ratio means a slightly off-centre secondary doesn't wreck your star images the way it does on the faster Bresser, so you can go a few sessions between tweaks.
- You'll wrestle with a tube that's over a metre long every time you set up — balancing it on the EQ3-2 takes patience, and a gust of wind at 200x will remind you the mount is working at its limit.
The dark side
Every scope has a personality. Here’s where each one gets difficult.
Bresser
Bresser Messier N-150/750
The f/5 focal ratio produces noticeable coma at the field edges with wide-angle eyepieces — if you invest in premium widefield oculars without adding a coma corrector, you're wasting their sharpest performance.
The included EQ mount has no motor drive, so at the higher magnifications you'll want for planets, objects drift out of the field quickly and long-exposure astrophotography is off the table without spending more.
The mount is rated for visual but shows flexure and vibration when you attach a camera — even adding a motor won't make it a reliable imaging platform.
Sky-Watcher
Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL
The EQ3-2 mount is undersized for a 1.2-metre tube — vibration and wind-shake are a real problem at high magnification, and every touch of the focus knob sets things wobbling.
No motor drive is included, so at 200x you'll be nudging the slow-motion controls every 30 seconds to keep Jupiter centred — patient, yes, but also tiring over a long session.
The supplied 6x30 finder is small and dim, making it genuinely difficult to locate fainter targets — most owners replace it with a red-dot or Telrad almost immediately.
Which is right for you?
Two different buyers. Two different right answers.
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
Bresser · Bresser Messier N-150/750
You want to explore deep-sky objects on a tight budget and you care more about framing the Orion Nebula in its full glory than squeezing out the last detail on Saturn's rings. You're happy to learn collimation, you don't mind a few minutes of setup and polar alignment each session, and you might dabble in short-exposure shots of the Moon or bright planets. The dual-speed focuser and wide field of view will reward you every clear night — just know that a coma corrector should be on your upgrade list.
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
Sky-Watcher · Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL
You're drawn to the Moon and planets first — you want to sit at the eyepiece and watch shadow creep across a lunar crater wall or split a tight double star cleanly. You'd rather have high-contrast, high-magnification views straight out of the box than wide-field sweeps, and you're willing to store and transport a long tube to get them. Deep-sky is a secondary pursuit for you, and you accept that big nebulae and clusters will be tightly cropped. If you're patient with manual tracking and unbothered by a basic finder, the 150PL will show you beautiful planetary detail for just £249.
Our verdict
These two are closer than most comparisons on this site. The spec differences are genuine — mount type, focal ratio — but neither is the wrong answer for a typical observer starting out.
If I had to choose between them: the Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL is the scope most people will be using regularly six months from now. The Bresser Messier N-150/750 rewards you more once you know what you're doing — it's worth revisiting after your first year.
Bresser Messier N-150/750
View Bresser Messier N-150/750 →Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL
View Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL →Deep field: Full specifications
Every data point, for those who want to go further.
Full specifications
Fields highlighted in blue or amber indicate the better value for that spec. Data is manufacturer-stated and may vary.
How much can it see?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL |
|---|---|---|
Aperture The most important spec — bigger = more light = better views | 150mm | 150mm |
Focal Length Longer = more magnification potential | 750mm | 1200mm |
Focal Ratio Lower f-number = wider field of view; higher = more magnification per eyepiece | f/5 | f/8 |
Optical Design The type of optics — each design has different strengths | Newtonian Reflector | Newtonian Reflector |
Coatings Better coatings = more light transmission through the optics | Parabolic primary mirror, fully coated | Parabolic primary mirror with multi-coated optics |
How do you point it?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL |
|---|---|---|
Mount Type The mechanical system that holds and moves the telescope | Equatorial | Equatorial |
GoTo Computer-controlled pointing — finds any of thousands of objects automatically | ||
Tracking Motor keeps objects centred as the Earth rotates — essential for astrophotography |
The focuser
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL |
|---|---|---|
Focuser Size 2" accepts wider eyepieces and gives better low-power views | 2" | 1.25" |
Focuser Type Rack-and-pinion is standard; Crayford and dual-speed are smoother | Dual-speed Crayford (2" with 1.25" adapter) | Rack and pinion |
Size & weight
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL |
|---|---|---|
OTA Weightⓘ Optical tube only — useful for comparing mount load capacity | 5kg | 5.1kg |
Total Weightⓘ Full setup including mount — this is what you lug to the car | 13.5kg | 14kg |
Tube Length | 670mm | 900mm |
Tube Material | Steel | Steel |
What's in the box?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL |
|---|---|---|
Eyepieces Included eyepieces — more is better, but quality matters more than quantity | 25mm and 10mm eyepieces | 25mm and 10mm Kellner |
Finder Scope Helps you locate areas of the sky before switching to the main eyepiece | 8x50 optical finder | 6x30 optical finder scope |
Diagonal Tilts the eyepiece 90° for comfortable viewing — useful on refractors |
Blue highlight: Bresser Messier N-150/750 advantage · Amber highlight: Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PL advantage · Greyed cells: equal or subjective.