Which is the best home planetarium? We pit three of our favorites against one other

If you're considering a home planetarium, you'll want to check this out. We've tested and compared three of the best on the market so you can see what's different, what makes them stand out and more importantly, which one is right for you.

You may have seen some of the best star projectors on the market, and you may have seen some of the best star projectors for kids and the best under $100. Here, you'll get an in-depth look at why the National Geographic Astro Planetarium, Dark Skys Pocket Planetarium and Pococo Galaxy Star Projector are some of the best, the quality of their projections, their features, prices and more.

Home planetariums are often dome or round-shaped and offer more than just lasers making out to be stars on a wall and they can definitely be used as STEM and learning tools. Scroll down to find out which of these three is best.

Features and functionality

• The National Geographic Astro Planetarium is packed with useful features
• The Dark Skys Pocket Planetarium lacks some useful features
• The Pococo Galaxy Star Projector lacks a speaker but offers plenty

Starting this in-depth battle of pitting planetariums against each other, we'll take a look at the functionality and the features each of these three offers. These can help make a product stand out from the market by making it extra useful or versatile in its use and not just something that will project an image onto a wall.

Right off the bat, the National Geographic Astro Planetarium is a stand-out for features and functions. It offers many useful things like rotation, a speaker, and a sensible sleep timer. The rotation can help people relax while looking at projections and stop the feeling of "is that it!?" after turning the projections on. The speaker requires a connection through a cable, as it isn't Bluetooth compatible and it has a built-in radio.

The sleep timer can be set to 30 or 60 minutes, so if you do choose to sleep with this on, you don't have to worry about it running all night. It also features a focus wheel, which is easy to use, and a disk tray, so you can insert one of the two disks included.

The Dark Skys Pocket Planetarium doesn't share the same useful features of the National Geographic model, but then again, it's not designed to. It does offer image rotation, but that's about it. There's no sleep timer, speaker or remote control. But it will fit in your pocket and it will offer images of Northern Hemisphere constellations. It's far more lightweight and its class two laser and silent operation make it a decent choice for those looking to relax in a darker room.

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Then there's the Pococo Galaxy Star Projector. A surprise when we reviewed it for sure as it gives some of the premium models a run for their money. In terms of functions and features, it offers a sleep timer that can be set to 15, 30 or 60 minutes and a two-hour auto shut off, so there's no fear of it running through the night. It also offers image rotation, which many will see as a positive.

What it lacks, though, is a remote control or app, so it can only be controlled by the buttons on the unit itself. It also doesn't have a speaker, so if you're looking to unwind to music or a podcast, you can't do it through the projector itself. However, these aren't terrible omissions given its quality of projections and realistic imagery, which we'll get onto shortly.

Projections and ambiance

• National Geographic's projections are true to the chosen date/time
• Dark Skys projections are realistic, but only of the Northern Hemisphere
• Pococo offers realistic imagery through disks

Above all else, what makes a good projector is how good its projections are. It's the fundamental quality in a projector and all three of these perform well. A planetarium should project realistic images of the night sky as opposed to a regular star projector, which can get away with space-like projections and lasers that mimic stars.

The National Geographic again is the stand-out thanks to its ability to project images true to a chosen date and time. When the unit is positioned to face North, you can use a dial to select a specific date and the projector will project what the night sky will look like that night. It will use LED bulbs to project the vivid imagery and a focus wheel can be used to make the images appear as clear as they possibly can. Overall, the National Geographic scores very well here.

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Then there's the Dark Skys model, which does project realistic imagery and is therefore a good option if that's what you're looking for, especially if you want portability too. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite possess the same power or brightness as the National Geographic. It will project images of Northern constellations onto any surface and you can opt to have an overlaying star map projected too. But, you will need prior knowledge to know exactly what you're looking at and you will need to be in a dark environment as the projections aren't the brightest available.

Pococo's offering to this head-to-head-to-head again delivers the goods, this time for its projection quality. Its use of LED lighting allows it to project the images from its many disks onto any surface clearly and brightly enough. While it doesn't quite match the power of some high-end projectors, it more than holds its own. The good news is that there are loads of disk packs available, meaning the Pococo can clearly project many different images, with a projection surface of 12 square meters, or about 130 square feet.

Price

• The National Geographic is good value, if you can get a good price
• The Dark Skys is comfortably the cheapest option here
• Pococo is often on offer and costs similar to the National Geographic

Finally, we move on to the business end of the article, the price. How much is each set going to set you back and are they really worth it? In short, yes. You do actually get quality when you buy these models.

The National Geographic Astro Planetarium shouldn't really cost you any more than $110, and if you're lucky, you can get it below $90. It gives you real quality with quality projections, a sleep timer, a speaker and the ability to see night sky targets on any given date.

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The Dark Skys Pocket Planetarium should set you back about $45, which is considerably less than both the National Geographic and the Pococo models. It's pretty neat as it works perfectly well in dark conditions, fits in your pocket and doesn't need to be powered by the mains. The only downside to it is that the other two can be made portable thanks to being battery-powered. Still, though, it's perfectly good on its own.

Lastly, the Pococo Galaxy Star Projector. You can often find it on offer for less than $80 on several occasions. It's great value and can rival the premium models, even if it doesn't quite stand up to them. It has a sleep timer, rotation, realistic imagery and an LED bulb. There's a lot to like and it costs a similar amount to the National Geographic.

Verdict

Overall, as nifty as the Dark Skys model is, and as handy as its lightweight and pocket design is, we're looking to figure out the best of the best.

In short, the National Geographic Astro Planetarium takes the crown. It has all the features you want, has quality projections and the ability to show you what the night sky will look like on any given date is just too irresistible. It's even in the same price range as the Pococo, which is a not-too-distant second.

Both the National Geographic and the Pococo have their pros and cons, but both can rival some of the heavy-hitters in the star projector world and neither costs anywhere near as much.