Review of the DWARF 3 smart telescope

[Reviews]

Review of the DWARF 3 smart telescope

Today I am bringing you a review of a product that is quite different from what we usually analyse on the forum. This is the DWARF 3, DWARFLAB's new bet on smart telescopes. The first thing that blows your mind is its form factor. Forget those huge tubes and heavy mounts, because this device is basically an observatory that fits in one hand, weighing just over a kilo and with a size similar to a thick dictionary. In essence, it is an "all-in-one" device designed so that any technology enthusiast can get into astrophotography without needing to be an astronomy expert. It is a gadget that catches your eye thanks to its compact and minimalist design, and it promises to simplify the process of finding and capturing objects in the sky or in nature as much as possible with just a couple of taps on your phone.

Let's take a look, it is well worth it.



Here we have the DWARF 3 box. It is the first visual contact and already gives us a hint of what we are going to find inside. The render on the front clearly shows that very distinctive and compact design, which looks more like a futuristic camera or a small projector than a traditional telescope with its tripod and counterweights.



When we open the main box, what we find is this padded and semi-rigid carrying case, a detail that screams quality from every angle and comes included as standard.



It is made with resistant materials and has a compact design perfectly adapted to the shape of the telescope, making that "dictionary-like" portability we mentioned earlier much easier.



As you can see in the photos, the details have been carefully looked after, from the thick metal D-ring loops for the shoulder strap to the buckles on the base to attach it, for example, to a larger backpack.



The inside is soft in light grey, with generous padding to protect the optics and the sensor, and it includes a practical mesh pocket in the lid for storing small accessories, such as the magnetic solar filters or the charging cable.



This case is not just an extra, it is a key part of such a portable piece of equipment, and its quality is well above what is usually seen in this price range.



This is everything included inside the bag, so let's go through it.



One detail I appreciate is the inclusion of a well-edited physical manual in several languages, including Spanish, something that is not always common.



As could not be otherwise with optical equipment, a microfiber cloth is included. It is a simple but essential detail to keep the lenses free of dust specks or fingerprints before each session.



To power the beast and manage the files, the package includes this USB-C to USB-C cable with a good length and finish. It is the direct way to charge its generous 10,000 mAh internal battery and, above all, the fastest way to transfer the captures to a computer in heavy formats such as FITS or TIFF generated by the Sony sensor. It is appreciated that they keep the current standard, which makes it easy to use almost any mobile charger or a power bank if the night goes on longer than expected, something that tends to happen quite often.



This is the dual magnetic solar filter, specifically designed for the DWARF 3. As you can see from the printed text, it is a neutral density ND100,000 filter, which means it reduces sunlight by a factor of 100,000, making it completely safe for the optics and Sony STARVIS 2 sensor.



The cleverest thing is that it is a "two-in-one": it has one filter for the 35 mm main lens and another for the wide-angle camera, covering both lenses at the same time. Its magnetic system lets you put it on and remove it in a second, with no threads or complications, allowing you to go from searching for birds to photographing sunspots instantly and in complete safety.



This is the strap for the bag we saw earlier.



Let's move on to the telescope. The design of the DWARF 3 is probably its biggest statement of intent. When you take it out of the case, you find a compact block with rounded edges and a metallic grey finish that feels very premium to the touch, moving completely away from the industrial look of classic telescopes. You would expect it to be almost anything except a telescope.



On one of the sides we see the power button, perfectly integrated and discreet, maintaining that minimalist line.



What you see on the front is the glass "window" where the optics appear; an important detail is that the device has IP54 certification, which means there is no need to panic if a bit of night dew falls on it or if the environment is somewhat dusty while we are watching birds out in the countryside. We will now see it unfolded.



If we look at the top and bottom, the level of detail is very high.



On the base we find the standard 1/4-inch tripod thread, compatible with any tripod you may already have at home.



It is curious to find speaker and microphone grilles, but it makes all the sense in the world when we remember that this device not only takes photos of nebulae, but also records 4K video and creates nature timelapses where ambient sound adds a lot to the experience.





You can also see the technical label confirming the 10,000 mAh battery, a very good capacity that ensures autonomy for those long deep-sky sessions without having to worry about cables every half hour.



That flat and clean format, with dimensions of just 22 centimetres long, is what allows it to remain so stable even with some wind. Since it does not have a long "tube" acting like a sail, the centre of gravity remains very low. In addition, integrating the sensor and rotation motors inside this closed chassis protects the moving parts from accidental knocks.



It is a gadget you could leave on the living-room table and it would pass for a smart speaker or a designer projector, but inside it hides optical technology capable of peering at galaxies millions of light years away.



Seeing it like this, held in one hand, perfectly sums up the philosophy of this device. It weighs just 1.3 kilos, a ridiculous figure when compared with any traditional astronomy setup that requires heavy mounts and counterweights. It is light enough to carry in a hiking backpack for hours without becoming a burden, yet at the same time it feels solid and well built to the touch. This lightness, together with its compact design, is what really turns it into a telescope that you can "take out for a walk", removing that laziness that often comes with setting up a large piece of equipment for a quick session.



One of the things that tends to throw you off the most when you first see this device is how it starts up, because there is no tube that extends or that you have to "open" manually like on classic telescopes. In the DWARF 3, the entire optical system is integrated inside that central cylinder you see in the photos. When you turn it on and give the command from your phone, this cylindrical block starts to pivot upwards or downwards —the altitude axis— to reveal the lenses that are normally protected facing the inside of the chassis when it is switched off. It is a fully motorised and very smooth movement that makes it look like a piece of engineering straight out of a science-fiction film.



While that central cylinder searches for the right height, the whole base of the device rotates horizontally on itself to cover 360 degrees of view on the azimuth axis. This combination of automatic movements is what allows the telescope to locate any star, galaxy or terrestrial object with millimetre precision. Although the cylinder can be moved by hand when it is switched off to store it, the right thing to do is let the motors work their magic. Once you select a target in the app's Atlas, the DWARF 3 comes to life on its own and starts dancing silently until it nails the framing. It is a joy to watch it orient itself without us having to fight with adjustment knobs or cumbersome mounts, reinforcing the idea that this is a gadget designed to be enjoyed from the very first second.



Here you can see the optical heart of the DWARF 3, which uses a very smart dual-camera system. On the left we have the main telephoto lens, with a 35 mm aperture and a focal length equivalent to an impressive 737 mm, which is responsible for capturing the fine detail of nebulae or of that bird sitting hundreds of metres away. To its right is the wide-angle camera, whose function is vital: it acts as a guide so the telescope understands where it is pointing and can easily locate objects in the sky before switching to maximum zoom. Both lenses work together with the Sony STARVIS 2 sensor, which guarantees spectacular light sensitivity even on the darkest nights. It is a very clever configuration because it removes the need for external finders, integrating everything into a clean front protected by glass.



That is the magic of its compact design. You can take it anywhere and place it on a table, the bonnet of a car or that light photographic tripod you already have. You do not need complex installations. And pay attention, because although the telescope shines at night while searching for nebulae, this DWARF 3 is a true all-rounder. Thanks to the dual-camera system we have already seen, it is perfect for daytime bird watching, capturing distant details in landscapes or making brutal billion-pixel panoramas. It is a portable observatory that never rests, whether by day or by night.



Before continuing, let's take a look at how it looks on video.

Let's go a little deeper into the more technical side. To understand what this small device is capable of, we need to look at its dual-camera setup, which is where it really makes the difference. The heart of the telephoto lens is the Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor, 1/1.8" in size, which offers 8.3 megapixels with native 4K resolution (3840 x 2160). What makes it shine in astrophotography is its 2 µm pixel size, which together with a 35 mm aperture lens and a 150 mm focal length gives us a focal ratio of f/4.3. This translates into an impressive 737 mm equivalent in full-frame terms, optimised to capture deep detail with amazing light sensitivity.



On the other hand, the wide-angle camera uses a 1/2.8" Sony IMX307 sensor, with a resolution of 2 megapixels (1080p). This lens has an aperture diameter of 3.4 mm and a focal length of 6.7 mm, resulting in a focal ratio of f/2.0. With an equivalent focal length of 45 mm, it is the ideal complement for night landscapes, the Milky Way or for the system to perform plate solving and orient itself before switching to maximum zoom. In addition, the DWARF 3 includes three internal filters switchable by software (VIS, Astro and Dual-Band), removing the need for external accessories to highlight nebulae or fight light pollution.

As for the rest of the specifications, the device does not cut corners: a 5 TOPS NPU handles processing and intelligent stacking, while a 10,000 mAh internal battery ensures autonomy for the whole night. For storage, we have 128 GB eMMC, allowing us to shoot without fear in professional formats such as FITS or TIFF or record video in 4K at 30 fps. All of this is protected by an IP54-certified body weighing only 1.3 kg, confirming that we are dealing with a precision tool that is as powerful as it is ridiculously portable.

So you can see what I mean when I say it looks like something out of a science-fiction film, I have uploaded a small clip where you can see how it moves. It is hypnotic to watch the central cylinder rotate on its axis to "wake up" the lenses while the base turns with total smoothness. What impressed me the most is the silence. You barely hear a slight murmur from the motors, nothing like the gear noise from old mounts. These combined horizontal and vertical rotation movements are what allow the device to locate any object in seconds with surgical precision, whether it is a galaxy or a plane crossing the sky.

The best thing about this design is that, being so compact and motorised, it gives you incredible freedom to place it on any flat surface and start shooting without complications. There is no need to level it obsessively with bubble levels or search for magnetic north with external compasses, the software takes care of almost everything while you watch the device "dance" by itself until it frames the target. It is that versatility that lets you use it at night to hunt deep nebulae and, the next morning, take it out to shoot nature, follow birds in flight or simply enjoy a distant landscape with a sharpness no mobile phone can dream of. It is, literally, a pocket observatory that is always ready for action.

Let's move on to the tests. I wanted to start with the most basic thing to see how far the optics of this little beast can go before getting into night work, so I took it to a window to make a direct comparison. I put the DWARF 3 up against the OnePlus 15 and the Galaxy S23 Ultra, shooting the same mountain landscape with their respective telephoto lenses. And let me tell you one thing: there is no contest. Although the S23 Ultra and the OnePlus do a great job with processing and HDR, as soon as we enlarge the image a bit, the telescope completely sweeps them aside in pure detail. While on the phones the mountain peak starts to look smeared or with that typical software "watercolour" effect, in the DWARF 3 capture I can perfectly distinguish the textures of the rock and the cuts in the snow.







You can see the full-size images by clicking on them. In fact, I recommend doing so to really check the detail in the images.

Let's look at an enlargement of each one, it is quite revealing.







In the end, no matter how much mobile photography advances, physics rules. We are comparing the periscope telephoto lenses of smartphones with a real 35mm aperture lens and 737mm equivalent focal length. That pure optical magnification, together with the Sony IMX678 sensor, allows the telescope to capture information that a mobile sensor simply cannot see due to size limitations. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it resolves colour and contrast in full daylight. For nature photography or even to use it as an improvised "super-tele", it is an impressive tool that puts any digital zoom to shame, no matter how "Ultra" it may be.

Before continuing, let's talk about the app. To control all this technology, the brand offers us the DWARFLAB application, which is the real control tower of this beast. My first impression when opening it is that it is very visual and direct. As soon as you enter, you find a very clean main panel where you can see at a glance the battery status, the available internal storage —which in my case shows almost 100GB free— and the switches to customise the telescope's LED lights. The initial connection is surprisingly fast: you just have to enable Bluetooth on your phone and in a couple of seconds you already have full control of the device. In addition, the detail of including NFC for almost instant pairing is a great touch that saves you from having to search for the device in the settings list.



Although the interface is intuitive and allows any user to start tinkering without fear, you can tell there is still room for improvement in some aspects of navigation or in the polish of some secondary menus. Even so, it is appreciated that it is not an app overloaded with useless options, focusing instead on what matters: quick access to shooting, an album section to manage captures and that star Atlas where the magic really happens at night. It is a functional tool that does its job well, but leaves the impression that it will keep improving with future updates.

When we go fully into "Photo" mode, the feeling is completely familiar, as the interface is very reminiscent of the camera app on any high-end smartphone. On the right side we have the shutter button and quick access to focus and manual parameters, where we can play with exposure time or gain as if we were in the "Pro" mode of our mobile. What I liked most is the dual-window system: in the large view we see the general shot from the wide angle, while a small PiP (Picture-in-Picture) thumbnail shows us what the telephoto lens is seeing. It is a huge help to avoid getting lost, because it lets us use the 45mm lens to orient ourselves and locate the target before centring it with the power of the 737mm lens.



On the left side there is a very intuitive virtual joystick that allows us to move the telescope manually with surprising smoothness, ideal for those fine framing adjustments in landscapes or terrestrial tracking. If we go into the advanced settings, we see that the flexibility is total, allowing us to choose professional formats such as FITS for later processing on the PC or activate the stacking preview. It is an interface that does not intimidate beginners but offers advanced users everything they need to get the most out of the Sony sensor. Everything flows very organically and you can tell the software has been designed so that the transition from mobile photography is as painless as possible.



When we tap the mode selector, a range of possibilities opens up that confirms the DWARF 3 is much more than a simple telescope for looking at stars. It is, in reality, a multimodal smart camera. We have everything from General mode, which is what I would use for any quick photo or video by day or night with full control, to very specific options that take advantage of all the power of the internal NPU. I really liked seeing how they have separated Deep Sky from Solar System, making it easier for the telescope to know exactly what kind of tracking and stacking algorithm it should apply, whether to hunt a distant nebula with the IMX678 sensor or to bring out the details of the Moon's craters or the Sun's spots.

But where things really get interesting is in the automated modes that take advantage of its processor. The Auto Capture mode is the one that uses artificial intelligence to identify and follow birds or even planes in full flight, something that nature lovers will really appreciate. We also have the Star Trails mode to create those classic circumpolar shots and, of course, Panorama. This last one is especially powerful because it does not limit itself to using the wide angle, but instead automatically moves the 737mm telephoto lens to take dozens of photos and stitch them together using AI, creating landscapes with a brutal gigapixel resolution. It is a very well-structured menu that means, regardless of what I want to photograph, I have an optimised starting point just one tap away.



This is what "Solar System" mode looks like.



And this is "Deep Sky".





If we access "Auto Capture" mode, we can select what type of "object" we want to follow. Ideal for planes or birds. Once located, tracking is automatic.



I tested it with a beautiful hoopoe and it is quite surprising how well it works. It is a spectacular bird with that crest and those characteristic colours, but it is also quite restless, which makes it the perfect target to see what the telescope's artificial intelligence is capable of. As soon as I activated tracking mode, the system recognised the specimen and placed the yellow box you see in the screenshots, proving that the 5 TOPS of power from its NPU are not there just for show. What surprised me most was the smoothness with which the motors follow the animal's movement. It does not matter if it hops around the grass or suddenly changes direction, the telescope keeps it nailed to the centre of the frame without me having to touch absolutely anything. Logically, as long as the animal does not fly away.





I found it really curious to see how the software handles obstacles. You can see that there is a white post passing in front of it in the foreground and, even so, the system does not go crazy or lose track of the bird. It is a very "sticky" tracking algorithm that lets you relax and simply enjoy the observation on your phone screen, something that any fan of digiscoping or nature watching will greatly appreciate because it saves you the frustration of losing the framing every time the creature moves.



While the beast was doing its tracking work completely autonomously, I devoted myself to recording video in 4K resolution at 30 fps. This is how it looks on video.

And this is a photograph taken from that same video. Of course, if we could take it with a DSLR two metres from the animal it would be much sharper, but here we were about 20 metres away. It is quite surprising.



Another of the star features is "Schedule". It literally turns the DWARF 3 into an autonomous observatory while you have a nap or go to sleep. We will talk about it later.

The Album section could not be missing from the app, as it works as the control centre for everything we capture. From this same screen we have direct access to three key tools: Mega Stack (to manage the stacking of our deep-sky shots), Stellar Studio (for post-processing) and Pano Weave (to create those giant panoramas). I like having everything centralised: you shoot, review and process without leaving the app.





"Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars", Norman Vincent Peale.

Let's go with the jewel in the crown for any beginner in astrophotography: the Moon. The first thing I did was go to the app's Atlas to locate it. As you can see in the screenshots, the app told me it was at an altitude of 50°, a perfect position to capture it sharply. The best thing of all is the simplicity: you tap the camera icon and the DWARF 3 starts its motorised movement until it nails it in the centre of the screen.



It is amazing to see how it goes from being a tiny bright dot in the wide-angle camera to filling almost the entire frame when the system activates the telephoto lens.





Once you have it on screen, the DWARF app interface gives you all the information you need. In my tests, I was using a shutter speed of 1/250 with the VIS filter (visible light), and the level of detail in the craters and in the terminator area —that line where light and shadow meet— is simply spectacular. I really enjoyed playing with the 2x digital zoom. Although I am always sceptical about digital magnification, here the Sony IMX678 sensor has so much resolution that it lets you get a little closer without the image turning into a mush of pixels. The contrast between the illuminated part and the shadows in the lunar valleys looks super-defined, which says a lot about the quality of the lenses mounted on this little beast.

What you are seeing is the direct result of the telescope's internal stacking, and it is irrefutable proof that the combination of the Sony sensor with the optics is a winning one.



It is very important to stress that this is exactly as it comes out of the device. There is no Photoshop, no Instagram filters and no level adjustments. It is the DWARF 3 software managing the exposure parameters and noise masterfully. Notice how there is no annoying chromatic noise or strange halos around the edges, something that is usually the Achilles' heel of the most basic telescopes or of the experiments we do with a phone and an adapter. Seeing this final result after following the whole process from the app is extremely satisfying, because you realise that the equipment really delivers what it promises: bringing quality astrophotography closer to anyone, without needing a master's degree in image processing. With this level of detail, the Moon stops being a white lantern in the sky and becomes a world full of geography ready to be explored from the sofa at home.

If we crop and frame the image a little with PS, we get this. Quite impressive.



Another image of the Moon on a different day. Only cropped with PS.



"Here Comes the Sun"

The Sun is the next target on our list, a discipline that with any traditional telescope requires extreme care, but with this device becomes child's play. The key to not frying the sensor is this official magnetic accessory we saw earlier, the Magnetic Solar Filters ND100,000 from DWARFLAB. It is a dual piece of fantastic quality that attaches magnetically to the front of the device in a second and drastically reduces sunlight so we can shoot in complete safety. The best thing about this design is the convenience, because by covering both the telephoto lens and the wide-angle lens, it lets us keep enjoying the dual-window system in the application without any danger to the optics.



Once the filter is fitted, the process in the app is just as direct as with the Moon, simply selecting the specific Solar System mode and letting the motorised mount locate our star completely automatically. It is a real joy to see how the software calibrates exposure instantly, allowing us to observe the solar surface directly from the phone screen without risking our eyes at an eyepiece.







The 8.3-megapixel sensor performs extremely well in this task, managing to capture the contours of the solar disc and the active sunspots present at that moment with impeccable sharpness. For those who have never done solar astrophotography, the extreme ease of use of this set removes any fear of damaging the equipment and turns daytime observation into a hugely fun experience within anyone's reach.



It is very interesting to compare these captures over several days because the spots change position and size due to the Sun's rotation and the intense magnetic activity we are experiencing these years. Having a device that you can mount on a tripod on the terrace in less than a minute and that produces a scientific-quality photo of solar events is a luxury for any lover of technology or astronomy. The best part is that the photo comes out nailed in terms of focus and exposure from the very first second thanks to the software's intelligent processing, so you forget about burning the photo and focus only on looking for which active regions are crossing the disc at that moment.



Again, quite impressive.

"To infinity and beyond"

The assault on the galaxies begins in an astonishing way thanks to one of the most powerful and futuristic tools in the application: field recognition and augmented reality. When this option is activated, the software takes a few seconds to analyse the fixed stars through the wide-angle lens, a process known in astronomy as plate solving. Once the DWARF 3 knows exactly where it is pointing, the phone screen becomes a brutal interactive map that shows you, in real time and overlaid on the black sky, the galaxies within reach at that exact date and time. As you can see in the screenshots, the system displayed a spectacular range of targets in the area, highlighting classics such as the Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101), Bode's Galaxy (M 81), the surprising Fabergé Egg Galaxy (NGC 4605) or C 3.





The process to start photographing is so ridiculously simple that it is almost scary, since you only have to tap the screen on any of the suggested galaxies and the motorised mount immediately gets to work. The telescope moves by itself with millimetre precision towards the chosen target, centres it using the telephoto lens and sensor, and automatically begins fine focusing. It is an absolute joy for anyone who wants to get into deep sky because it removes in one stroke the most frustrating part of classic astronomy, which was spending half the night consulting star charts and searching for invisible smudges through a manual finder. Here the software does all the dirty work in the blink of an eye, leaving the scene ready so you can start accumulating light and watch the structure of a distant galaxy begin to appear on your smartphone screen.



The capture and stacking process is the real brain behind modern astrophotography with this type of device. As soon as we select the chosen galaxy, the application shows us a very explanatory warning on screen indicating that the session will require time, estimating around four hours to complete the optimal shooting plan. The smart telescope starts taking bursts of long-exposure photos using the sensor, configured here with a fifteen-second exposure and a gain of sixty using the internal Astro filter. The fantastic thing about the system is that the NPU analyses each individual shot in real time, automatically discarding images that come out blurred due to a gust of wind or the passing of a cloud, and perfectly aligning the stars before merging them.

As the software itself warns us, during the first few minutes of the session we will barely see any detail on the smartphone screen, showing a noisy and rather flat image. The magic happens as integration time advances, as the stacking algorithm keeps adding the light signal from each photograph while calculating and averaging out the background noise to make it disappear drastically. It is not strictly necessary to leave the DWARF 3 working for the full four hours to obtain an attractive result, but the golden rule in deep sky is unchangeable: the greater the number of accumulated shots, the greater the contrast, sharpness and fine detail we will be able to recover from the spiral arms of the galaxy. In addition, one of the greatest conveniences of this ecosystem is that once the sequence has started, you can completely close the application or go peacefully to sleep, as the telescope autonomously stores the FITS files in its 128 GB of internal memory while it does all the heavy work of tracking and stacking for you.





The final cloud processing is the last and crucial step offered by the application to squeeze every last drop of detail from our deep-sky captures. Once the telescope has finished accumulating and stacking all the images from the session, the software shows us a prompt encouraging us to upload the resulting file to the manufacturer's servers for advanced treatment. When we accept, the image is sent to the DWARFLAB cloud completely automatically. It is a fantastic solution because it delegates the heaviest and most complex calculations to external servers, preventing our smartphone processor from becoming overloaded or draining the battery completely in the attempt.

The biggest advantage of this system is the absolute convenience it offers, since it is managed through a Task List within the Stellar Studio tab where we can completely forget about the phone. The process takes only a few seconds of processing on the servers (sometimes a little longer), and there is no need to stare at the screen or keep the application in the foreground while the task runs. The image is processed in the cloud in the background and we simply return to the menu whenever it suits us to download the final result. From the bottom bar of this section we can see that the tool will allow us to apply very advanced algorithms such as Star Reduction, Spike enhancement or the Removal of annoying stars to highlight the gaseous structure of galaxies. It is a magnificent integration that puts within reach of a single click astronomical development methods that previously required installing extremely complex programs on the computer, making the step from a raw and noisy file to a spectacular photograph a completely painless and automated process.



The final result after cloud processing of this shot of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101) is a true visual delight.



But, what does the algorithm actually do?. The first thing that jumped out at me when downloading the photo is that the image is infinitely cleaner than the raw stack you see on the phone screen while the capture is being made. The spiral structures of the galaxy, its star-forming regions and the subtle streams of cosmic dust have gained spectacular contrast and presence against the black background of space, which now looks uniform and completely free from annoying digital grain noise. To answer directly the million-dollar question that I know many of you will be asking: no, the software does not invent details, stars or colours that have not previously been captured by the telescope's Sony IMX678 sensor. Here the artificial intelligence does not act in that aggressive and sometimes deceitful way we see in the night mode or zoom of some commercial smartphones, the ones that detect the Moon and paste a high-resolution texture on top of it downloaded from the internet. What DWARFLAB's server does is a rigorous process of automated astronomical development. The algorithm stretches the dynamic range, the famous histogram stretching, to make visible the extremely weak information that was already recorded in the shadows of the raw file, mathematically separates random noise from the real light signal and balances the colour channels based on the colour temperature of the stars so that the bluish tones of the young arms and the yellowish cores are optically correct.

Where I have noticed the hand of these servers is in features such as star reduction, which for me is one of the key points of the whole invention. If you look at my image, the hundreds of stars surrounding M 101 appear very precise, small and compact, allowing the galaxy to breathe and stand out in the centre of the composition instead of being buried under a blanket of giant white dots that would spoil the photo. The software manages to shrink the diameter of the stellar discs and clean up their halos without altering their real position or relative brightness in the sky.

Here are a few more images taken with the telescope.

M51 Galaxy



Sunflower Galaxy



The automated scheduling feature is, without a doubt, one of the most brutal and revolutionary characteristics of this telescope's entire ecosystem. The concept is as simple as it is brilliant: you open the corresponding menu in the application and the software automatically detects your geographic coordinates, although if you prefer, it also allows you to enter latitude and longitude manually for absolute precision. From that moment, by cross-referencing your location data with the current date and time, the app displays a personalised list with the best targets available for that specific night in your part of the sky.

What is truly spectacular about this system is the level of control and the ease with which you manage the session from the comfort of the sofa. When you select a target, the interface shows you a perfect visibility graph to know exactly when the object rises above the horizon, when it reaches its highest altitude point to ensure the sharpest possible shot, and when it starts to descend. Just below this graph, the application lets you configure the shooting parameters as you wish, allowing you to set the Shutter to 15 seconds, a Gain of 60 and directly activate the internal Astro filter so the sensor works in the best possible conditions. Once you have everything set to your liking, you simply save the plan and can completely forget about it.

The telescope remains switched on and, completely autonomously, it will wake up when the scheduled time arrives, move its motorised mount until the target is nailed in the centre of the frame, calibrate the focus and begin shooting and stacking images without you having to lift a finger. That said, it is extremely important to make sure you leave the device with plenty of battery or connected to a power outlet before going to sleep, because spending hours moving the motors and processing shots with the NPU uses a fair amount of energy, and there is nothing more frustrating than waking up in the morning excited and finding the session half-finished because the little beast has run dry. If you take the precaution of leaving it well charged, this tool is an absolute goldmine that lets you hunt the deep sky automatically while you rest peacefully in bed.



A rather curious detail of the application that I came across is that small green floating ball shaped like a little face that you see at the bottom right of the interface. I would say it was not there a few weeks ago. It is an artificial intelligence virtual assistant integrated by the manufacturer which, when tapped, opens an interactive chat to help you during the development process or answer questions about the status of cloud tasks. The big current problem is that this smart chat is completely in Chinese, so today it is not usable for the vast majority of us and it is one of those sections of the app that shows the software still needs to mature and be polished for the international market.
It is an idea with huge potential that shows DWARFLAB wants to integrate an interactive copilot to guide us step by step through astronomical processing, but until they release a firmware update that translates this interface into English or Spanish, it remains simply a visual anecdote that we will have to ignore during our editing sessions. Fortunately, it can be disabled.





We have reached the moment to take stock after thoroughly putting this DWARF 3 through its paces over the last few weeks, and the truth is that laying out its pros and cons is the best way to understand what kind of product we are dealing with. Let's break down, with complete honesty, the best and worst of this smart telescope so you have a clear picture before deciding on it.

What I liked the most:

• Absolute portability and compact design: Being able to carry a motorised telescope with dual optics in a small backpack without even noticing you have it on you is truly amazing. Forget those classic bulky setups that make you too lazy to take them out of the house; this little beast invites you to use it on any getaway.
• The Sony IMX678 sensor and 5 TOPS NPU: The combination of the internal hardware with the neural processor works wonders. Daytime tracking of birds in motion is super sticky and automatic deep-sky stacking works beautifully, achieving very clean images with barely any noise in a way that is transparent to the user.
• Automation and session scheduling: Being able to give it your coordinates, choose targets from the list recommended for that night and let the device work by itself while you sleep is, quite simply, a luxury that changes the rules of the game.
• High-quality magnetic filters: Both the internal system and the dual ND100,000 accessory for the Sun attach in a second thanks to the magnets, making solar and lunar observation impeccable, sharp and completely safe for the sensor.

The not-so-good:

• Absolute dependence on the battery in long sessions: By delegating so much processing and movement work to its motors, automated sessions lasting several hours happily devour energy. It is essential to leave it connected to a power bank or well charged if you do not want to find the capture half-finished in the morning.
• Software with sections still unpolished for the international market: The app ecosystem is very intuitive overall, but details such as finding the floating AI assistant entirely in Chinese slightly break the experience and show that the firmware still needs to mature in future updates.
• Physical limitation under extreme light pollution: Although the software and the internal Dual-Band filter work wonders with high galaxies from urban environments, miracles belong in Lourdes. If you try to shoot objects very low on the southern horizon from an area like Madrid, the glow of the city will end up swallowing the weakest details of the shot. Location is essential.

To close the review, I can say with complete honesty that this device has been one of the most fun and revolutionary technological surprises to pass through my hands in recent times. DWARFLAB has managed to break down the huge entry barrier that classic astronomy has always had, eliminating the frustrations of manual alignments and extremely complex computer editing programs to pack all that power into a compact format of barely a kilo that fits in the palm of your hand. It is a product that redefines what we understand by smart photography, proving that the combination of a good sensor like the Sony IMX678 with a 5 TOPS neural processor can put within anyone's reach captures that only a few years ago required professional equipment worth thousands of euros.

What has won me over most during these weeks of testing is the tremendous daytime and night-time versatility the device offers. I was equally amazed recording that beautiful hoopoe with impeccable robotic tracking in the garden as I was leaving the telescope completely alone on the terrace, programmed with its 15-second shutter speed to autonomously hunt the spiral arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101) while I rested. Obviously it is not a perfect piece of equipment and details such as the artificial intelligence assistant still locked in Chinese or the need to keep a close eye on battery consumption during long sessions remind us that the software still has room for improvement in future firmware updates, but they are small details that do not in any way spoil the excellent overall experience.

My final verdict is that, if you are passionate about nature observation, want to get into astrophotography without complicating your life with endless technical manuals or are simply looking for a powerful, portable and highly automated gadget to explore the cosmos from the sofa at home, this DWARF 3 is an investment that is very much worth it. It fully delivers on everything it promises, it is genuinely addictive to use and it will give you spectacular moments every time the sky is clear.

https://www.dwarflab.com/es/products...mart-telescope

Puedes leer la versión en español aquí