Telescope Comparison
Bresser Messier N-150/750 vs Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P
Same optics. Different mount philosophy.
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 · £229
The maximum-aperture visual reflector
- 150mm Newtonian on a floor-standing Dobsonian alt-az rocker box
- Good for: full visual programme — planets, Moon, globular clusters, galaxies, nebulae
- No alignment required — set up and observe in under 10 minutes
- No motorised tracking — targets drift at high magnification as Earth rotates
- 13kg total — designed for a fixed garden or regular dark-sky site, not casual transport
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 Skyliner 150P'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 Skyliner 150P's f/8 provides more magnification per eyepiece — better for fine planetary detail.
Mount type
Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P's Dobsonian is immediately intuitive — no alignment, push to aim, observe. Bresser Messier N-150/750's equatorial mount requires polar alignment before each session but tracks the sky as Earth rotates, keeping objects centred.
Weight (OTA)
Bresser Messier N-150/750's optical tube is 1.8kg lighter. Relevant if you plan to use it on multiple mounts or carry the tube to dark-sky sites separately.
Optical design
Bresser Messier N-150/750 is a Newtonian reflector (mirrors, needs occasional collimation); Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P is a DOBSONIAN. Different optical formulas produce different strengths — reflectors give more aperture per pound; refractors give sharper contrast and require no collimation.
At the eyepiece
| Target | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Skyliner 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 and f/8 focal ratio reward high magnification — craters, rilles, and shadow detail are crisp and high-contrast |
| 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 and 1200mm focal length put this squarely in the top tier — rings well-defined, Cassini Division visible in good seeing |
| Jupiter | Good Two main cloud belts and GRS visible; 150mm shows some detail in the equatorial bands at 150x+ | Excellent Multiple cloud bands, GRS, and Galilean moon shadow transits visible at 150–200x |
| Mars | Good Disc and polar cap visible at opposition; some dark surface markings detectable in good seeing | Good 150mm shows the disc clearly at opposition with polar cap and dark surface markings; needs very steady seeing |
Deep sky | ||
| Orion Nebula (M42) | Excellent Bright nebulosity with extensive structure visible; Trapezium resolved; f/5 gives good wide-field context | Excellent 150mm gathers plenty of light for nebulosity and the Trapezium; the 1200mm focal length crops the outermost extent but core detail is superb |
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Excellent 750mm focal length and 150mm aperture show the core, dust lane, and outer halo in a wide-field eyepiece | Moderate 1200mm focal length shows only the bright core and inner halo — the full 3° extent of the galaxy is well beyond the field of view |
| Open clusters | Excellent Wide field at low power frames clusters like the Double Cluster and Pleiades beautifully | Moderate Narrower field means large clusters like the Pleiades overfill the view; compact clusters like M35 and the Double Cluster 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 resolving individual stars at the edges of M13 and M92 — a clear step up from smaller scopes |
| 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 pulls in galaxies like M81, M82, M51, and M104 as soft glows with hints of structure under dark skies |
| 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 too narrow a field for sweeping star fields — a job better suited to binoculars or short-tube scopes |
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 long f/8 focal ratio produce clean Airy discs — splits close pairs like Albireo, Epsilon Lyrae, and Castor easily |
| Astrophotography (planetary) | Good 150mm at 750mm focal length works well with a planetary camera and Barlow; no tracking needed for short video captures | Not applicable |
| 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 first few minutes polar-aligning the equatorial mount, and you'll need to learn what that means — but the reward is smooth, single-axis tracking by hand that keeps objects centred more intuitively at high power than nudging a Dob.
- You'll notice the difference the dual-speed Crayford focuser makes the first time you try to nail focus on Saturn's rings — it's a genuinely unusual inclusion at £229 and saves you an early upgrade.
- Your wide-field deep-sky sessions will be noticeably richer: the f/5 focal ratio gives you around 1.6° true field with a 25mm eyepiece, enough to frame the Pleiades whole or sweep Milky Way star clouds — but you'll also see coma smearing stars at the edges of wide-angle eyepieces, which the Skyliner's f/8 avoids.
Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P
- You'll set the rocker box on the ground, drop the tube in, and be observing in under two minutes — no polar alignment, no counterweights, no tripod legs to level, just point and look.
- You'll find the f/8 focal ratio more forgiving at high magnification: planets snap into focus with less fuss, coma is negligible even with budget eyepieces, and collimation doesn't need to be as precise to deliver sharp views.
- You'll feel the narrow field of view as a real constraint when you want to frame the full sweep of M31 or drift through Cygnus — at 1200mm focal length, your widest true field is about 1°, roughly half what the Bresser delivers.
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 field edges with wide-angle eyepieces — a coma corrector is an additional cost that undermines the budget appeal.
The included EQ mount has no motor drive, so objects drift out of view at higher magnifications; adding a motor or GoTo upgrade to enable astrophotography pushes the real cost well beyond £229.
The mount is adequate for visual use but shows flexure and vibration with camera equipment attached, meaning even basic astrophotography beyond lunar snapshots is compromised without a full mount replacement.
Sky-Watcher
Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P
There is no tracking whatsoever — at high magnification you'll be nudging the tube to re-centre objects every 30–60 seconds, and there is no upgrade path to motorised tracking on a Dobsonian rocker box.
The tube is approximately 1.2 metres long, making it awkward to store in a small flat and heavy to carry to a dark-sky site compared to shorter or collapsible designs.
The included 25mm and 10mm Plössl eyepieces are basic — serviceable but noticeably soft compared to even modest aftermarket replacements, so budget for at least one better eyepiece early on.
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 the option to try astrophotography someday, even if it's just short-exposure shots of the Moon and bright planets — the equatorial mount gives you a foundation the Dobsonian simply can't. You're also drawn to wide-field deep-sky sweeping: framing the Pleiades, scanning the Sagittarius star clouds, or fitting all of M31 in one view. You don't mind spending five minutes on setup and polar alignment, and you're willing to learn collimation on a fast Newtonian that punishes sloppiness. If you value the dual-speed focuser and the EQ mount as stepping stones toward more serious astronomy, this is the scope that grows with you — but not if you want to just plonk something down and start looking.
The maximum-aperture visual reflector
Sky-Watcher · Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P
You want to walk outside, set up in sixty seconds, and spend your evening looking through the eyepiece rather than fiddling with a mount. You're drawn to the Moon and planets first — Saturn's rings, Jupiter's cloud bands, lunar craters in sharp relief — and the f/8 focal ratio rewards exactly that kind of high-power observing without demanding expensive eyepieces to control aberrations. You're happy to learn the sky by manually finding objects, and you don't care about astrophotography. If you live in a flat with limited storage, though, think carefully: the 1.2-metre tube is the biggest single object either of these scopes asks you to house.
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 Skyliner 150P 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 Skyliner 150P
View Sky-Watcher Skyliner 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 Skyliner 150P |
|---|---|---|
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 | Dobsonian |
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 Skyliner 150P |
|---|---|---|
Mount Type The mechanical system that holds and moves the telescope | Equatorial | Dobsonian |
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 Skyliner 150P |
|---|---|---|
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 Skyliner 150P |
|---|---|---|
OTA Weightⓘ Optical tube only — useful for comparing mount load capacity | 5kg | 6.8kg |
Total Weightⓘ Full setup including mount — this is what you lug to the car | 13.5kg | 13kg |
Tube Length | 670mm | 1150mm |
Tube Material | Steel | Steel |
What's in the box?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P |
|---|---|---|
Eyepieces Included eyepieces — more is better, but quality matters more than quantity | 25mm and 10mm eyepieces | 25mm and 10mm Super eyepieces |
Finder Scope Helps you locate areas of the sky before switching to the main eyepiece | 8x50 optical finder | 6x30 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 Skyliner 150P advantage · Greyed cells: equal or subjective.