Telescope Comparison
Bresser Messier N-150/750 vs Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P
The Bresser Messier N-150/750 is a complete setup. The Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P needs a mount before it's usable.
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 · £399
The custom-rig optical tube
- 150mm newtonian reflector — optical tube only, no mount included
- 750mm focal length at f/5
- Requires a compatible mount before you can observe anything
- Best for: observers who already own a suitable mount or are building a specific imaging rig
- Not a complete purchase — budget at least £100–300 extra for a mount before observing
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
Same focal length — identical magnification with any given eyepiece. Differences come from optical design and coatings.
Focal ratio
Same focal ratio — the same eyepiece gives equivalent magnification and true field in both scopes.
Mount type
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P has no mount — add a compatible mount before you can observe. Bresser Messier N-150/750 is a complete ready-to-use system.
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 Quattro 150P |
|---|---|---|
| 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 delivers crisp lunar detail; the f/5 focal ratio is less forgiving at high magnification but still rewards visual observation |
| 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 | Good 150mm resolves rings and Cassini Division; 750mm focal length falls short of the 1000mm+ ideal for high-magnification planetary detail |
| Jupiter | Good Two main cloud belts and GRS visible; 150mm shows some detail in the equatorial bands at 150x+ | Good Cloud belts, GRS, and Galilean moons visible; faster focal ratio demands quality eyepieces for clean high-power views |
| Mars | Good Disc and polar cap visible at opposition; some dark surface markings detectable in good seeing | Good 150mm aperture shows polar caps and major albedo features near opposition; limited focal length constrains useful magnification |
Deep sky | ||
| Orion Nebula (M42) | Excellent Bright nebulosity with extensive structure visible; Trapezium resolved; f/5 gives good wide-field context | Excellent 150mm aperture and wide f/5 field frame the full nebula with surrounding running man region — superb both visually and for imaging |
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Excellent 750mm focal length and 150mm aperture show the core, dust lane, and outer halo in a wide-field eyepiece | Excellent 750mm focal length captures the full extent of M31 on an APS-C sensor; visually the core and dust lanes are evident |
| Open clusters | Excellent Wide field at low power frames clusters like the Double Cluster and Pleiades beautifully | Excellent Wide field at 750mm frames large clusters like the Double Cluster and Pleiades beautifully |
| 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 outer stars in M13 and M22; core remains granular rather than fully resolved |
| 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 for many NGC galaxies; imaging with stacked exposures reveals detail well beyond what's visible at the eyepiece |
| Milky Way / wide field | Good 750mm focal length is slightly long for sweeping panoramas but still delivers rich star fields at low power | Good 750mm focal length gives rich star fields but is narrower than the sub-400mm ideal for true Milky Way sweeps |
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 | Good 150mm resolves sub-arcsecond pairs in theory, but the f/5 focal ratio is less forgiving than long focal ratio refractors for clean splitting |
| 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 provides decent planetary image scale; a 2× Barlow brings effective focal length to 1500mm which helps, but no mount is included |
| 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 recommended No mount or tracking included — the OTA is designed for deep-sky imaging but requires a separately purchased equatorial mount to function as an astrograph |
| Emission nebulae (wide-field imaging) | Not applicable | Excellent The f/5 speed and 750mm focal length are ideal for large emission targets like the Rosette, Veil, and North America Nebulae when paired with a suitable mount and narrowband filters |
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 unbox this and be observing the same night — the included EQ mount, finder, and eyepiece mean you're not waiting on a separate shopping list before you can point it at the sky.
- You'll spend a few minutes each session polar-aligning and getting the balance right, and at 150x+ objects will drift out of the field every minute or so because there's no motor drive — but you'll be rewarded with a genuinely capable deep-sky visual scope that resolves the Trapezium in M42, shows granularity in M13, and nails the Cassini Division on a steady night, all for £229.
- You'll quickly discover that the dual-speed Crayford focuser punches well above this price bracket — nailing critical focus on a planet or a tight double star is noticeably easier than on the single-speed rack-and-pinion focusers bundled with most competitors at this level.
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P
- You'll open the box and find a beautifully machined imaging tube — and nothing else you need to actually use it; no mount, no coma corrector, no finder, no eyepiece, so your real budget starts at roughly triple the OTA price once you've added an EQ5-class mount, guide setup, and corrector.
- You'll frame the entire Veil Nebula complex or the Heart and Soul Nebulae in a single APS-C shot at f/5, with exposure times short enough to be forgiving of imperfect tracking — this is where the Quattro earns back every penny of its higher price tag.
- You'll treat visual use as a quick sanity check while framing a target, not as the point of owning this scope — the focuser is optimised for camera back-focus, and there's nothing in the box to put your eye to even if you wanted to.
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 upgrade to premium widefield eyepieces, you'll want a coma corrector to get the most from them.
The included EQ mount has no motor drive, so objects drift out of view at higher magnifications and any astrophotography beyond short planetary snapshots requires a motor upgrade — and even then, the mount may show flexure or vibration under camera weight.
Collimation at f/5 is less forgiving than with slower designs; expect to check and adjust it regularly, especially after transporting the scope.
Sky-Watcher
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P
It ships as an OTA only — you must budget separately for a mount, coma corrector, finder, and all imaging accessories, which together can easily cost £600–£1000+ beyond the tube price.
A dedicated coma corrector is non-optional for imaging at f/5; without one, stars at the field edges will be visibly elongated in every frame you capture.
The 750mm focal length limits planetary image scale significantly — if you want to image Jupiter or Saturn at any useful resolution, you'll need a Barlow or a completely different scope.
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're new to astronomy, you want to look through an eyepiece at real photons from deep-sky objects, and you need everything in one box for under £250. You'll love the Bresser if your priority is getting outside and observing tonight — the Moon, Saturn's rings, the Orion Nebula — without committing to the steep learning curve and accessory spend of astrophotography. You're happy to spend five minutes on setup and polar alignment in exchange for a proper equatorial-tracked view. This isn't for you if you already know you want to image — the unmotorised mount will frustrate you within a week, and upgrading it will cost more than the scope itself.
The custom-rig optical tube
Sky-Watcher · Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P
You've already done some astrophotography — maybe with a camera lens or a slower scope — and you're ready for a fast, dedicated astrograph that can frame large nebulae in a single shot. You already own (or are ready to buy) a solid equatorial mount, an autoguider, and a coma corrector, and you understand that the Quattro's £399 price tag is just the entry ticket to a much larger imaging system. This isn't for you if you want to look through an eyepiece, if you don't already have a mount, or if the phrase 'back-focus distance' makes you nervous — you'd be far better served by the Bresser or a Dobsonian.
Our verdict
This comparison has a catch: the Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P is a bare optical tube. You cannot use it without a separate mount — which adds meaningful cost and complexity. The Bresser Messier N-150/750 is a complete, ready-to-observe package.
For most buyers, the Bresser Messier N-150/750 is the right choice — you can observe the same night it arrives. The Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P makes sense if you already own a compatible mount, or are deliberately building a specific imaging setup piece by piece. If I had to choose for a first telescope: the Bresser Messier N-150/750, without hesitation.
Bresser Messier N-150/750
View Bresser Messier N-150/750 →Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P
View Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P →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 Quattro 150P |
|---|---|---|
Aperture The most important spec — bigger = more light = better views | 150mm | 150mm |
Focal Length Longer = more magnification potential | 750mm | 750mm |
Focal Ratio Lower f-number = wider field of view; higher = more magnification per eyepiece | f/5 | f/5 |
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, fully multi-coated |
How do you point it?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P |
|---|---|---|
Mount Type The mechanical system that holds and moves the telescope | Equatorial | None (OTA only) |
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 Quattro 150P |
|---|---|---|
Focuser Size 2" accepts wider eyepieces and gives better low-power views | 2" | 2" |
Focuser Type Rack-and-pinion is standard; Crayford and dual-speed are smoother | Dual-speed Crayford (2" with 1.25" adapter) | Dual-speed Crayford (10:1 reduction) |
Size & weight
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P |
|---|---|---|
OTA Weightⓘ Optical tube only — useful for comparing mount load capacity | 5kg | 4.6kg |
Total Weight Full setup including mount — this is what you lug to the car | 13.5kg | — |
Tube Length | 670mm | — |
Tube Material | Steel | Steel |
What's in the box?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P |
|---|---|---|
Eyepieces Included eyepieces — more is better, but quality matters more than quantity | 25mm and 10mm eyepieces | — |
Finder Scope Helps you locate areas of the sky before switching to the main eyepiece | 8x50 optical finder | — |
Diagonal Tilts the eyepiece 90° for comfortable viewing — useful on refractors |
Blue highlight: Bresser Messier N-150/750 advantage · Amber highlight: Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P advantage · Greyed cells: equal or subjective.