Hestia vs Vespera II: 30 Second Summary
- The Vaonis Hestia is a compact and easy to use device that enhances your smartphone’s capacity for astrophotography. It doesn’t have a camera in-built like a smart telescope but instead uses your smartphone’s camera.
- It is small and light, relatively affordable, and will effectively be upgraded every time you get a new smartphone with a better camera in the future.
- However, it will not track objects in the night sky like the Vaonis Vespera II. This is a barrier to deep sky astrophotography and will mostly limit you to photographing the Sun and Moon, but the app can guide manual tracking and an accompanying tracking mount will eventually be released.
- The Vaonis Vespera II is a premium compact smart telescope. It has a higher aperture telescope than the Hestia and while relatively small and light, it is still bigger and heavier than the Hestia.
- It is more expensive, but it is an all-in-one package including telescope, camera and mount, which the Hestia is not.
- The Hestia also occupies your smartphone, which means you cannot set it up in your backyard and operate it from inside while it takes images, as you can with the Vespera 2.
Why choose the Vaonis Hestia over the Vespera II?
The Hestia, from French company Vaonis, is not a smart telescope. It is a device to use with your smartphone for astrophotography to effectively turn it into a smart telescope.
Its advantages over the Vespera 2 are:
- It is cheaper.
- It is smaller and lighter.
- Because it has no camera or electronics inside, it is safer to carry and travel with without risk of breaking anything.
- It can improve as your smartphone camera improves. I.e. if you get a better phone that upgrades you from a 20 megapixel to a 60 megapixel, then so does your Hestia.
Why choose the Vaonis Vespera II over the Hestia?
The Vaonis Vespera 2 is a compact, premium smart telescope from French manufacturer Vaonis that was released in 2024.
The reasons to consider it over the Hestia are:
- The key specifications are better – it has higher telescope aperture and a wider field of view.
- It is an all-in-one smart telescope package, that includes a tracking mount so that you can photograph deep sky objects.
- You can set it up in your backyard at night and from inside with your phone. With the Hestia, you have to have the phone on it so you cannot operate it remotely and you have to stay close to it as you are unlikely to want to leave your smartphone in your garden or anywhere unoccupied.
Telescope Specifications
The Vaonis Hestia has 30 mm (1.2 inch) aperture and 1.8° x 1.8° field of view.
The Vaonis Vespera II has 50 mm (2 inch) aperture, 250 mm focal length, f/5 focal ratio, and 2.5° x 1.4° field of view.
Camera Specifications
The Vaonis Hestia uses your smartphone’s camera and so we cannot make a direct comparison here, but, for example, the Google Pixel 8 Pro has a 50 MP resolution camera and a pixel size of 1.2 μm.
The Vaonis Vespera II has a 8.3 MP resolution camera of 3840 x 2160 size using a Sony IMX585 sensor and a pixel size of 2.9 µm.
Size and Weight
The Vaonis Hestia weighs 0.85 kg (1.9 lb) and has dimensions of 17 x 24 x 5.5 ((H x W x L in cm).
The Vaonis Vespera II weighs 5 kg (11 lb) and has dimensions of 48 x 20 x 9 ((H x W x L in cm).
Price and Value for Money
The Vaonis Hestia costs $299, and the Vaonis Vespera II costs $1,590.
Note, these may vary so check the links to compare retailers if thinking about buying.
Specifications
| Vaonis Hestia | Vaonis Vespera II | |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 2024 | 2024 |
| Aperture | 30mm (1.2 inch) | 50mm (2 inch) |
| Focal Length | Unknown | 250mm |
| Focal Ratio | Unknown | f/5 |
| Limiting Magnitude | 10.09 | 11.19 |
| OTA type | Refractor | Refractor |
| Eyepiece | No | No |
| Field of View | 1.8° x 1.8° | 2.5° x 1.4° |
| Resolution | N/A | 8.3MP |
| Sensor Size | N/A | 3840 x 2160 |
| Sensor | N/A | Sony IMX585 |
| Pixel Size | N/A | 2.9 µm |
| Image Formats | JPEG, TIFF | TIFF, FITS |
| Mosaic Mode | No | Yes |
| Size (H x W x L) cm | 17 x 24 x 5.5 | 48 x 20 x 9 |
| Weight | 0.85kg (1.9 lb) | 5kg (11 lb) |
| Mount | Not included | Included |
| Tripod | Included | Not included |
| Battery Life | N/A | 4 hrs |
| Internal Storage | N/A | 25GB |
| Dew Control | None | None |
| Retail Price* | $299 | $1,590 |
Vespera II vs Hestia: Verdict
Overall, this is a choice between a casual device to use with your smartphone for photographing the Sun and Moon (the Hestia), versus a premium smart telescope for those that also want to do deep sky astrophotography in their backyard (the Vespera 2).
If and when Vaonis release the tracking mount for the Hestia, this difference may lessen as the Hestia will then be able to do deep sky imaging but it will still be weaker than the Vespera 2.
You will also still have the challenge of the Hestia occupying your phone, so you are unlikely to want to set it up outside doing long exposure images of far off galaxies for extended periods.
The Vespera 2 is one of the best smart telescopes in terms of value for money in 2024 and undoubtedly a better device than the Hestia but it is a lot more expensive.
It just depends on what you want it for – you’d mostly use the Vespera 2 in your backyard, whereas the Hestia is something you’d be much more comfortable travelling with.
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Budget Portability
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Premium Performance
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Related content and more information
- Best Smart Telescopes Comparison
- Vaonis website: Vespera II
- Vaonis website: Hestia
- Skies & Scopes Vespera II review
- Skies & Scopes Hestia review
Other Hestia comparisons:
- Vaonis Hestia vs Celestron Origin
- Vaonis Hestia vs Dwarf II
- Vaonis Hestia vs ZWO Seestar S50
- Vaonis Hestia vs Vespera Pro
Other Vespera II comparisons:
