There's plenty of telescopes at Walmart to choose from and many deals to scope out this holiday season.
We've rounded up the best telescopes at Walmart and the best deals we can spot in the process. The online retailer has a huge range of models to choose from, so it's no surprise you'll find some of the top budget telescopes under $500 and Celestron telescope deals on there too. With the holidays in full swing, we've included some handy buying advice, so you know what to be on the lookout for.
We keep this page updated year-round and we're keeping a keen eye out for deals on telescopes at Walmart. If it's skywatching discounts you're chasing, our guides for telescope deals, best binoculars and binoculars deals are worth checking out.
Of course, we're hoping to see some of the best telescopes heavily discounted but, if there's a manufacturer you know and trust, our guides for Sky-Watcher telescope deals, Meade telescope deals and Orion telescope deals are worth checking out. However, for the best deals on telescopes at Walmart, read on below.
Telescopes at Walmart in 2023
Telescopes at Walmart: Best deals
Buying advice
When it comes to buying a telescope you need to consider two main factors: Your budget and what you're wanting to view. Black Friday is here on November 24 and there are some deals ahead of the annual sales event worth checking out, but we'll also likely see some large discounts then too. There are three main types of telescopes out there, and figuring out what you want to view will help you decide what type of telescope you will need. There are refractors, reflectors and catadioptric telescopes.
For beginners, refractor telescopes are often a popular choice due to their easy to maintain and use style. They're often mounted to alt-azimuth mounts so they're straightforward to use and the mounts themselves are easy to manufacture so the price tends to be cost-effective too. They're best used for focussing on specific targets like moons and planets due to the fact that they're good for showing high-magnified and high-contrast images.
Reflector telescopes tend to have larger apertures and are better for low-magnification targets like nebulas and galaxies. You get two types of reflector telescope: Dobsonians and Newtonians, although there’s some crossover between these. In brief, though, Dobsonians are easier to maintain and often found attached to the alt-azimuth mount. Newtonians are more commonly affixed to equatorial mounts, which allow you to follow the rotation of the night sky more accurately, but they require more upkeep.
Finally, catadioptric telescopes fix issues found in both of the above types of scope – such as chromatic aberration and the coma effect – and they are typically equipped with a GoTo system. These systems are essentially mini computers that align your telescope to particular night sky objects. You get two types of catadioptrics, the Schmidt-Cassegrain and the Maksutov-Cassegrain. As a general rule, the Maksutov-Cassegrain is better for viewing planets, while the Schmidt-Cassegrain models are a little more versatile and feature bigger apertures, so they’re preferred by astrophotographers.
