Looking for an easy-to-setup refractor beginner telescope? Look no further than the Encalife ENTE501P which we reviewed earlier this year.
The Black Friday discount provides a generous 20% off this telescope (opens in new tab) to give a decent $50 saving. It ships with everything you need to get started including a 1.25-inch KM eyepiece, a collapsible aluminum alloy tripod, a handy backpack to transport the device and a 5x24 finderscope for locating night sky objects.
We like that this telescope is a good entry-level device that would suit those new to astronomy and comes in at a reasonable price. The 501P is an incredibly simple telescope. The 2.75-inch/70 mm refractor is mounted on a small, portable and lightweight aluminum tripod in a bid to make it utterly transportable.
The telescope even comes with an erect image diagonal to bring the 20mm (20x magnification) eyepiece to a comfortable angle for viewing.
(opens in new tab)The Encalife ENTE501P telescope has fully multi-coated optics that keep views clear and relatively bright. Astrophotographers and videographers will feel some familiarity with the tripod as it comes with a panhandle (not a traditional telescope mount) to move the telescope through 360 degrees. The finderscope helps to line up celestial objects approximately before fine-tuning through the 20mm eyepiece to find the best views of the cosmos.
We noted in our review of the telescope that when viewing the moon it's possible (and helpful) to remove the puck on the dust cap. Doing so reveals a 1-3/4 inch / 42mm hole that restricts the light that reaches the telescope cube. This helps when observing full moons because, otherwise, the glare can be overwhelming for some.
Be sure to check out Space.com's Black Friday deals page, or our guide to the Best telescopes, Best telescopes for deep space or the Best telescopes for seeing planets. Alternatively, take a look at our Best telescopes for beginners page if you want to search for other types of entry-level telescope optics.
