Meade telescopes and binocular deals: discounts & what's in stock

Meade Instruments deals
(Image credit: Meade Instruments)

We've scoped out the best Meade telescope and binoculars deals out there and put them in this handy guide, so you can find the right discount for you. 

The good news is there's something to suit every level of astronomer and every budget and as we keep this page updated year-round, it's always worth checking back. Meade telescope and binoculars deals can be a little thin on the ground, so we've included our favorite models displayed next to their lowest available price from reputable retailers.

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Of course, we recommend checking out Meade telescope and binoculars deals but they aren't the only discounts out there. We also have brand-specific guides for Celestron, Orion and Sky-Watcher deals too. 

When it comes to astronomy, people often think of the best telescopes but the best binoculars can offer stunning night sky views for a lower cost. You can also check out our guides for the best binoculars deals and best telescope deals on the market too. However, for the best Meade telescope and binoculars deals available today, read on below. 

Which Meade telescope should you buy?

Before you invest in a new bit of kit, you should factor in how experienced you are with astronomy. For example someone trying their hand at stargazing for the first time should consider something a little easier to use and budget-friendly. Whereas a seasoned astronomer could consider more advanced models for an upgrade on their current equipment. 

Whatever your level of experience though, Meade has a telescope to suit every budget. With the Meade Infinity 60 and Meade Infinity 70 refractors costing less than $100, beginners wishing to skip or upgrade on binoculars are well-placed to improve on their optics without needing to make a large investment. Novice skywatchers with a slightly bigger budget will be able to get improved views with the Meade StarPro 90 and the best-selling Meade Infinity 102. 

An increased aperture means there's more ability to collect light, thus improving your views of your night sky targets whether that be moons and planets or fainter nebulas and distant star clusters.  

Those with budgets of at least $500 and confidence in using computerized, or GoTo, mounts should certainly give the Meade ETX Observer series a look for clear and crisp views of solar system and deep-sky targets at the touch of a button. The Meade ETX125 Observer, which also offers fully multi-coated optics for high-definition observations, is our personal favorite.

Getting into the $800 to $1000 price range, we head into hobbyist territory. If you’re looking for an upgrade, the optics get even better — we recommend the Meade LX65 6-inch and Meade LX65 8-inch GoTo, of which you can find great deals for on this page.

If you have over $1000 to spend or even a few thousand dollars to the tune of up to $20,000 and skywatching is a serious hobby, Meade offers great deals on superior optics. What’s more, the aperture size increases, which provides even better views of the universe — we recommend giving the Meade LX600-ACF line of telescopes your full consideration.

Which Meade binoculars should you buy?

When it comes to picking the best binoculars for stargazing, getting a good aperture is key. The aperture is the diameter of the objective lens, which are the larger lenses that don't sit next to your eyes,  and the bigger this is, the more light will be gathered by your binoculars. This is useful, as it means you'll be able to see dimmer objects in the sky, which are further away, and it also means nearby targets will appear more brilliant.

We'd recommend aiming for an aperture of around 50mm, as this is large enough to gather plenty of light for stargazing. Any bigger than this and your binoculars will become much heavier, which in turn makes them harder to hold still for a good view. You'd probably need some kind of tripod to support anything with an aperture above 50mm, because of the added weight.

When it comes to magnification, we recommend opting for a model with either 8x or 10x. Sometimes going for something with more powerful magnifications can narrow the field of view, which in turn means you don't experience the truly immersive night sky views that you would get in a wider field of view. 

When you're considering the optics, we advise you look for models with a Porro prism design, multi-coated optics and have BAK-4 glass. You cant go wrong with these features so it's always worth looking out for. This is what will give you the crystal clear night sky views you're chasing.

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Gemma Lavender
Contributing expert

Gemma currently works for the European Space Agency on content, communications and outreach, and was formerly the content director of Space.com, Live Science, science and space magazines How It Works (opens in new tab) and All About Space (opens in new tab), history magazines All About History (opens in new tab) and History of War (opens in new tab) as well as Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) kids education brand Future Genius (opens in new tab). She is the author of several books including "Quantum Physics in Minutes", "Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manual to the Large Hadron Collider" and "Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manual to the Milky Way". She holds a degree in physical sciences, a Master’s in astrophysics and a PhD in computational astrophysics. She was elected as a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (opens in new tab) in 2011. Previously, she worked for Nature's journal, Scientific Reports (opens in new tab), and created scientific industry reports for the Institute of Physics (opens in new tab) and the British Antarctic Survey (opens in new tab). She has covered stories and features for publications such as Physics World, Astronomy Now and Astrobiology Magazine.