As rival makers announce increasingly ambitious smart telescopes, ZWO has taken a different approach. Its new Seestar S30 Plus launched today and is available for $474 from Seestar’s website and Amazon, just in time for Christmas. Better still, we’ve been using it for a month and can bring you a first look.
Announced a few months after the flagship Seestar S50 Pro and replacing the now-discontinued Seestar S30, the new Seestar S30 Plus retains its 30mm aperture and compact chassis, but upgrades to four-element apochromatic optics with extra-low dispersion (ED) glass and two 3.7-megapixel cameras.
The ZWO Seestar S30 Plus is a new sub-$500 smart telescope with upgraded optics and dual 3.7MP cameras. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)
Seestar S30 Plus: was $499 now $474
It has a 1.2-inch (30 mm) aperture, two 3.7 MP cameras and four-element apochromatic optics bundled into a compact build. View Deal
Both produce 1,440 x 2,560-pixel images, while a much-improved 43.5-degree wide-angle camera can capture the Milky Way, constellations, star trails and nightscapes. Built-in filters, a mosaic mode and equatorial (EQ) tracking add considerable deep-sky astrophotography potential.
For a telescope weighing just 3.64 lbs (1.65 kg), it’s impressive. It easily fits into a camera bag and could happily live on a bookshelf.
The Seestar S30 Plus weighs just 3.64 lbs (1.65 kg) and fits in a camera bag easily. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)I’ve already photographed the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the Pleiades (M45), the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) and the North America Nebula (NGC 7000). The results are excellent for such a small instrument, especially when imaging nebulas with its built-in dual-band filter, which helps reduce light pollution.
The Seestar app adds new in-app post-processing options, so you don’t have to mess around with any of that — though you can also export everything as lossless FITS files. The S30 Plus also includes a magnetic solar filter, enabling you to indulge in solar photography safely.
The North America Nebula (NGC 7000), the Pleiades (M45) and a star trail imaged using the Seestar S30 Plus. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)With Dwarflab’s $1,299 Draco (3.5-inch/90mm aperture) recently landed in stores and Vaonis’ own $4,990 Atlas (3.1-inch/80mm aperture) not available until 2027, ZWO’s decision to offer an upgraded entry-level smart telescope that buyers can get their hands on right now looks particularly smart.
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) photographed using the Seestar S30 Plus. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)With ZWO's pattern of delivering cheaper smart telescopes without sacrificing on quality, the Seestar S30 Plus could be one of Christmas 2026’s best gifts for anyone interested in astronomy — and maybe that’s the point of it. Either way, first impressions are good. A full review is coming tomorrow, so check back at Space.com to find out our full thoughts and testing.