The nights are drawing in, bringing more opportunities to observe the wonders of the night sky. If you want to get a closer look at the moon, planets and deep sky objects without the hassle of transporting or setting up a telescope, we’d recommend a pair of large astronomy binoculars. One of our top picks, the Celestron SkyMaster 15×70, is great quality, relatively lightweight and is now just $75 at Amazon for Prime Day — the cheapest they’ve been all year. Our optics writer bought them last year and uses them regularly.
These 15x70s strike a perfect balance of price, portability and performance, treating us to beautiful views of the moon, Andromeda Galaxy, Jupiter and its four Galilean moons and the Pleiades during our full Celestron SkyMaster 15×70 review, where we gave them 4 out of 5 stars.
Kimberley Lane
Kimberley has been reviewing optics equipment for over 4 years and has tested a wide range of cameras, binoculars and telescopes. Based in South Wales, she is just a stone’s throw away from the dark skies of the Bannau Brycheniog National Park, where she conducted the majority of her review of the Celestron SkyMaster 15×70 binoculars.
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While there is some chromatic aberration around brighter objects like the moon (which is to be expected at this price point), we had hours of fun with these binoculars, and they’re a fantastic option to get a better look at the upcoming supermoons on November 5 and December 4 without breaking the bank.
The 15x magnification and large 70mm objective lenses are a fantastic combination for stargazing, but a magnification this high, combined with their size and weight, means they’ll need to be mounted on a sturdy tripod to prevent shaky views. Luckily, a tripod adapter is included, alongside lens caps, a rainguard, a carrying case, neck strap, lens cloth and instructions. They’re waterproof, but not fogproof, which is good if you get caught out in the rain, although we wish it were the other way around, given their intended use. Still, we’ve never had too much trouble with them fogging up.
If their size and weight are a dealbreaker, you can still get great handheld views of the night sky with a pair of compact binoculars, but they won’t have as powerful a magnification. Or, if you want to invest a bit more, a pair of the best image-stabilized binoculars will prevent shakes at higher magnifications.
Key features: 15x magnification, 70mm objective lenses, water-resistant, 18mm eye relief, 52.5 feet (16m) close focusing distance.
Price history: They were $79 last Prime Day in July, but otherwise, this is the cheapest we’ve seen them all year.
Price comparison: Amazon: $75.69 | Walmart: $109.99 | B&H: $109.99
Reviews consensus: Combining performance, price and portability, they’re a brilliant option for beginners or anyone on a budget, and we actually preferred their handling compared to the Celestron SkyMaster 15×70 Pro ED.
Featured in guides: Best binoculars for stargazing
✅ Buy it if: You want to get a better view of the moon, Jupiter and its moons and some closer deep-sky objects on a budget.
❌ Don’t buy it if: You want a pair of binoculars that you can use handheld, or you want to use them for birdwatching.
Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors and much more.
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