Unistellar Odyssey vs ZWO Seestar S50: Premium vs Budget Comparison

Unistellar Odyssey vs ZWO Seestar S50: 10 Second Summary

The Unistellar Odyssey is a premium smart telescope. It is relatively small and light, user experience is ultra-slick, and with it you can take part in Citizen Astronomy initiatives.
It consists of a better telescope and camera than the ZWO Seestar S50, however it is heavier and significantly more expensive.
The ZWO Seestar S50 is a great budget smart telescope. It is smaller, lighter, and much cheaper than the Unistellar Odyssey, but the key specifications are lower.

Check Unistellar Odyssey Price

Check ZWO Seestar S50 Price

Read the Unistellar Odyssey review

Read the ZWO Seestar S50 review

Why choose the Unistellar Odyssey over the ZWO Seestar S50?

The Unistellar Odyssey is a premium smart telescope from French manufacturer Unistellar that is brand new in 2024.

The main reasons to consider it over the ZWO Seestar S50 are:

It is designed to be extremely easy to use, with no knowledge of telescopes or astrophotography required. The target audience is the user that wants a premium model that they know they can pull out at any time without having to think too much about it. The Seestar S50 is much cheaper but does require a bit more work to use and to get great images.
The key telescope specifications of aperture, focal length and focal ratio are higher.
The camera is better with a higher resolution.
With all Unistellar models you can take part in Citizen Astronomy initiatives and join missions to track asteroids and hunt exoplanets.
Whilst bigger than the Seestar S50, it is still very small and light.
It is beautifully designed and looks great if on display at home.

Why choose the ZWO Seestar S50 over the Unistellar Odyssey?

The Seestar S50 is a compact, budget smart telescope from Chinese manufacturer ZWO that was released in 2023.

The two reasons to consider it over the Unistellar Odyssey are:

It is substantially cheaper. At retail price, you could buy five Seestar S50s for one Unistellar Odyssey.
It is smaller and lighter – 2.5 kg to the 4 kg of the Odyssey.

Telescope Specifications

The Unistellar Odyssey has 85 mm (3.3 inch) aperture, 320 mm focal length, f/3.8 focal ratio, and 0.56° x 0.75° field of view.

The ZWO Seestar S50 has 50 mm (2 inch) aperture, 250 mm focal length, f/4.9 focal ratio, and 1.29º x 0.73º field of view.

Camera Specifications

The Unistellar Odyssey has a 3.4 MP resolution camera using a Sony IMX615 sensor and a pixel size of 1.45μm.

The ZWO Seestar S50 has a 2 MP resolution camera of 1920 x 1080 size using a Sony IMX462 sensor and a pixel size of 2.9 µm.

Unistellar Odyssey vs ZWO Seestar S50 resolution

Size and Weight

The Unistellar Odyssey weighs 4 kg (8.8 lb) and has dimensions of 13 x 20 x 43 ((H x W x L in cm).

The ZWO Seestar S50 weighs 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) and has dimensions of 14 x 13 x 26 ((H x W x L in cm).

Price and Value for Money

The Unistellar Odyssey costs $2,499, and the ZWO Seestar S50 costs $499.

Note, these may vary so check the links to compare retailers if thinking about buying.

Specifications

	Unistellar Odyssey	ZWO Seestar S50
Year	2024	2023
Aperture	85mm (3.3 inch)	50mm (2 inch)
Focal Length	320mm	250mm
Focal Ratio	f/3.8	f/4.9
Limiting Magnitude	12.35	11.19
OTA type	Reflector	Refractor
Eyepiece	No	No
Field of View	0.56° x 0.75°	1.29º x 0.73º
Resolution	3.4MP	2MP
Sensor Size	?	1920 x 1080
Sensor	Sony IMX615	Sony IMX462
Pixel Size	1.45μm	2.9 µm
Image Formats	FITS, TIFF, PNG, JPEG	MP4/AVI/TIFF
Mosaic Mode	No	No
Size (H x W x L) cm	13 x 20 x 43	14 x 13 x 26
Weight	4kg (8.8 lb)	2.5kg (5.5 lb)
Mount	Included	Included
Tripod	Included	Included
Battery Life	5 hrs	6 hrs
Internal Storage	64GB	64GB
Dew Control	None	Built-in
Retail Price*	$2,499	$499

*Price may be subject to change, so please use the links on this page to check at various retailers

ZWO Seestar S50 vs Unistellar Odyssey: Verdict

The price difference between these two means that it should be fairly easy to make a decision what is right for you.

If you have the budget and want the slickest experience and the higher performance, then the Unistellar Odyssey is for you.

If, however, the Odyssey is out of your price range, then the Seestar S50 is an excellent option and possibly the best budget smart telescope available.