Telescope Comparison
Bresser Messier N-150/750 vs Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P
One finds objects for you. The other makes you earn them.
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 · £449
The guided beginner's telescope
- 150mm newtonian reflector on a computerised mount with motorised tracking
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright nebulae, star clusters, and deep-sky objects
- GoTo system finds any object in its database after initial star alignment — no star atlas needed
- Tracking motors keep objects centred as Earth rotates — useful above 100×, essential for photography
- 6.5kg total — requires a fixed garden spot or car 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
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 Virtuoso GTi 150P adds GoTo — it finds any target in its database after alignment. Bresser Messier N-150/750 requires manual navigation.
Weight (OTA)
Bresser Messier N-150/750's optical tube is 1.5kg lighter. Relevant if you plan to use it on multiple mounts or carry the tube to dark-sky sites separately.
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 Virtuoso GTi 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 resolves craters, rilles, and mountain shadows in fine detail; the fast f/5 ratio means slightly lower magnification per eyepiece, but a Barlow unlocks high-power lunar work |
| 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 Rings clearly separated, Cassini Division visible in good seeing; 750mm focal length benefits from a Barlow for higher magnification |
| Jupiter | Good Two main cloud belts and GRS visible; 150mm shows some detail in the equatorial bands at 150x+ | Good Two main equatorial belts, colour variation, and up to four Galilean moons; a Barlow helps push useful magnification |
| Mars | Good Disc and polar cap visible at opposition; some dark surface markings detectable in good seeing | Good 150mm aperture shows disc detail and polar cap at opposition; benefits from high magnification via Barlow |
Deep sky | ||
| Orion Nebula (M42) | Excellent Bright nebulosity with extensive structure visible; Trapezium resolved; f/5 gives good wide-field context | Excellent 150mm at f/5 delivers bright, wide-field views with sweeping nebulosity and a resolved Trapezium |
| 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 frames the bright core and inner halo well; 150mm aperture helps reveal outer structure in dark skies |
| Open clusters | Excellent Wide field at low power frames clusters like the Double Cluster and Pleiades beautifully | Excellent 750mm focal length gives wide enough fields to frame the Pleiades, Double Cluster, and similar targets attractively |
| 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 individual stars at the edges of M13 and M92; cores remain unresolved but granular |
| 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 dozens of Messier and brighter NGC galaxies as distinct shapes; structural detail limited to the brightest |
| 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 pleasant sweeping fields but falls short of the ultra-wide context a shorter-focus instrument provides |
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 doubles down to roughly 0.8 arcseconds; f/5 focal ratio is less forgiving on tight pairs than a longer-ratio scope |
| Astrophotography (planetary) | Good 150mm at 750mm focal length works well with a planetary camera and Barlow; no tracking needed for short video captures | Moderate 150mm aperture captures decent planetary video for stacking; GoTo tracking keeps the target centred, but 750mm native focal length needs a Barlow for image scale |
| 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 | Moderate Alt-az GoTo tracks objects but introduces field rotation, limiting exposures to a few seconds — useful for EAA and live stacking only |
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 the first few minutes of every session assembling the tube on the EQ mount and polar-aligning — it's a deliberate ritual, not a quick dash outside, but once aligned you can track objects smoothly by turning a single slow-motion knob.
- You're getting a genuinely excellent dual-speed Crayford focuser at a price where most competitors ship a rack-and-pinion — nailing focus on Saturn's Cassini Division or resolving the Trapezium feels precise rather than fiddly, and that focuser quality will matter if you ever try short-exposure planetary imaging.
- You'll save roughly £220 over the Virtuoso GTi, which buys a lot of eyepiece upgrades or a motor drive — but you'll earn every deep-sky target the hard way through star-hopping, and objects will drift out of view at high magnification without that motor.
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P
- You'll pull the tube out of a cupboard, set it on a table, open the SynScan app on your phone, align on two stars, and be looking at M13 within ten minutes — the grab-and-go promise is real, provided you actually have a rock-solid table or pillar at the right height.
- You'll find yourself visiting far more objects per session because GoTo removes the hunt; on a suburban evening with limited time, that matters more than any spec difference — both scopes show you the same photons through the same 150mm f/5 optics.
- You're paying nearly double the Bresser's price and getting cheaper included eyepieces and a basic focuser — the premium buys you automated finding and tracking, not optical superiority, so budget for a 2-inch wide-field eyepiece and possibly a Barlow to unlock what the optics can actually deliver.
The dark side
Every scope has a personality. Here’s where each one gets difficult.
Bresser
Bresser Messier N-150/750
The included EQ mount has no motor drive, so at 150x or above you'll be nudging the slow-motion controls every 30 seconds to keep Jupiter centred — long-exposure astrophotography is simply off the table without purchasing a motor upgrade.
The f/5 focal ratio is unforgiving of collimation errors and produces noticeable coma at the field edges with wide-angle eyepieces; you'll need to learn collimation early and may want a coma corrector that costs a meaningful fraction of the scope's price.
The ~700mm tube on an equatorial mount with counterweights is not something you casually carry into the garden — assembly, balancing, and polar alignment mean this scope punishes spontaneity.
Sky-Watcher
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P
The tabletop design is only as good as the surface you put it on — a wobbly patio table turns every touch of the focuser into a vibration nightmare, and you may end up buying a dedicated pillar or stool that adds cost and complexity.
The alt-az GoTo mount introduces field rotation during tracking, so astrophotography is limited to exposures of a few seconds at most — this is not an entry point into deep-sky imaging, despite having motorised tracking.
There's no hand controller included; the scope is entirely dependent on the SynScan smartphone app for alignment and GoTo, so a dead phone battery or app glitch leaves you with a manual push-around Dobsonian that has no setting circles and no slow-motion controls.
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'll love this if you're a budget-conscious beginner who wants the most aperture and optical quality per pound, and you're happy to learn star-hopping and equatorial mount handling as part of the hobby. You're the type who enjoys the process — polar aligning, hunting down targets with a finder, learning the sky. If you're eyeing short-exposure planetary or lunar photography as a future step, the equatorial mount gives you a foundation the Virtuoso can't match. This isn't for you if you want to observe on a whim with five minutes' notice, or if the idea of manually tracking objects at high power sounds tedious rather than meditative.
The guided beginner's telescope
Sky-Watcher · Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P
You'll love this if your observing sessions are opportunistic — clear skies on a weeknight, thirty minutes before the clouds roll in — and you want to maximise what you see in limited time without wrestling a tripod and counterweights. You value finding dozens of objects over perfecting the view of one, and you're comfortable relying on a smartphone app as your primary interface. This isn't for you if you don't have a sturdy, height-appropriate surface to observe from, if you want an astrophotography stepping stone, or if spending £449 on a scope that ships with mediocre eyepieces and no hand controller feels like paying a premium for convenience you could learn to live without.
Our verdict
The Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P handles object location automatically — align once, the scope slews to anything in its database. The Bresser Messier N-150/750 asks you to navigate by star-hopping, which takes longer but builds real sky knowledge.
For most beginners, the Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P removes the biggest early frustration: not being able to find anything from a light-polluted garden. The Bresser Messier N-150/750 is the better choice if learning the sky manually is part of why you want a telescope. If I had to choose for a first-time buyer: the Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P — find things first, learn the sky later.
Bresser Messier N-150/750
View Bresser Messier N-150/750 →Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P
View Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 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 Virtuoso GTi 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 with multi-coated optics |
How do you point it?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P |
|---|---|---|
Mount Type The mechanical system that holds and moves the telescope | Equatorial | GoTo (Computerised) |
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 Virtuoso GTi 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 Virtuoso GTi 150P |
|---|---|---|
OTA Weightⓘ Optical tube only — useful for comparing mount load capacity | 5kg | 6.5kg |
Total Weightⓘ Full setup including mount — this is what you lug to the car | 13.5kg | 6.5kg |
Tube Length | 670mm | — |
Tube Material | Steel | Steel (collapsible FlexTube) |
What's in the box?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 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 | Red dot finder |
Diagonal Tilts the eyepiece 90° for comfortable viewing — useful on refractors |
Smart features
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P |
|---|---|---|
Built-in Camera Records and stacks images automatically — no separate camera needed | ||
App Controlled | ||
WiFi | ||
Battery Included |
Blue highlight: Bresser Messier N-150/750 advantage · Amber highlight: Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P advantage · Greyed cells: equal or subjective.