Smart telescopes have made amateur astronomy easier than ever. And with the technology getting even better, those telescopes are getting even more portable, too. Take for instance, the new DwarfLab Dwarf Mini, a smart telescope that collapses to the size of a chunky power bank.
Billed as “the smallest smart telescope ever made” (yes, even smaller than their already-compact Dwarf series), the device measures just 7.2 x 4.1 x 2.4 inches (height x width x thickness) when folded and weighs 1.8 pounds, allowing you to comfortably slip it in a backpack pouch or a jacket pocket. Even better, it can quickly set up in just three minutes, allowing you to start observing celestial objects without the long wait.
The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini actually reboots the form factor for the outfit’s line of smart telescopes. There’s no more cylindrical spine that puts the optics along the edge like their previous releases. Instead, it takes on a design reminiscent of Vaonis’ Vespera telescopes, which puts the optics on a motorized barrel that slides out of place, allowing it to move around over a 225-degree range and aim its lenses towards the right spot in the sky. The base section holding that barrel is similarly motorized at the bottom, allowing it to a pan a full 360 degrees to face any direction.
Inside, it houses a 1/2.8-inch Sony IMX662 imaging sensor that’s paired with a 30mm aperture telephoto lens, as well as an OS02K10 sensor with a 3.4mm wide angle lens. The telephoto lens comes with a trio of filters, namely a dark frame filter for suppressing thermal noise, an astro filter that boost contrast for nebulae, and a narrow band filter that suppresses light glow. They also include an external solar filter, in case you need it.
The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini works much like other mini telescopes, so you use it with a companion app (iOS and Android). You choose your celestial target from the app and the telescope automatically aligns itself towards that target’s position, making adjustments all on its own as it deems necessary. From there, you just enjoy the visuals it captures directly from the app. Unlike the outfit’s previous smart telescopes, this one is intended purely for astrophotography. That means, there are no integrated functionalities you can use for birding and panoramas, which are available in their larger models. If you’re looking for a compact telescope strictly for astrophotography, though, this makes perfect sense.
According to the outfit, the telescope should be powerful enough to take photographs of the Milky Way, star trails, nebulae, galaxies, and eclipses. It doesn’t have the optical muscle to take closeups of planets in the Solar System, though, so there are definite limitations that come with the portable size. The whole thing, by the way, runs on a 7,000 mAh battery that’s rated for around for hours of astrophotography before needing to be recharged. As always, make sure to have a power bank on hand, unless you’re fine with cutting your nighttime space adventure short.
The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini is now listed for preorder with a January 2026 ship date. Price is $399.
