Last Christmas, I was gifted a $12 smartphone telescope. It was honestly nothing more than a stocking filler, with the buyer knowing that I like gadgets and that I’m a keen stargazer. So, what better than a fun little accessory for my smartphone? Sure, I could invest a lot of money in a proper telescope, but for an occasional glimpse into the heavens, this was a cheaper and less complicated option.

That said, I have to admit that it wasn’t very exciting at first. It actually took me a few months before I even took the smartphone telescope out of its box to give it a go. Living on the outskirts of a city isn’t exactly the best place for staring at the sky, and it’s even worse when you throw rain, snow, and cloud cover into the mix.

But I did eventually give it a go—and the first thing I noticed is that this smartphone “telescope” is actually a monocular. Calling it a telescope is great for marketing, but it’s really just a monocular that attaches to your phone. This is important to note because I found it a little flawed when it came to viewing the night sky. It does, however, work great as a zoom lens for objects closer to home than the moon.

It’s kind of fiddly to fit, if I’m being honest. You have to remove both lens caps, then attach the clip to the smaller end of the telescope, making sure it’s firmly secured without over-tightening it. Then clip the telescope to your phone, fitting it over the primary lens. You’ll have to open your camera app to make sure you’ve positioned it correctly. (Even when I’ve got it slap-bang over the lens, I can see the curved edges of the scope. You can see this in the photos later on below.)

Once the scope is lined up, just point it at something and tweak the focus ring until it’s in sharp focus. It only goes up to 12x magnification so you won’t see Mars in all of its glory, but you can see all kinds of stuff. I had a lot of fun using it to peer at full moons, birds and other critters, sporting events, and general landscapes. It’s way better than a digital zoom.

I had a fun couple of hours looking up at the sky from my back garden. However, given the mixed results from stargazing, I have since used this in other contexts instead. It’s small enough to throw in my bag on hikes and vacations, giving me an extra fun accessory to experiment with when I’m looking to get a closer look at and/or shoot photos of interesting subjects in the distance.

This smartphone telescope is a cheap little gadget that’s plain fun in a silly and lighthearted way. At worst, it offers a few hours of random gazing—and that’s not terrible for the price. I enjoy it as the gift it was, and it’s a great option if you’re struggling to come up with casual gift ideas for that techie acquaintance in your life.

Note: This smartphone telescope should fit most phones, but there’s a chance that it won’t fit all phones. Also, be aware that you’ll likely have to remove your phone’s case to use this gadget.

This $12 smartphone telescope is great as a fun little gift idea

Author: Dave Parrack, Contributor, PCWorld