Does the TeSeek NanoTracker have go-to?

No. It tracks at the rate set on its four switches or on its WiFi web page, and I find and frame targets myself with the phone or the camera.

Can the TeSeek NanoTracker carry a telescope?

Only a very small one. TeSeek give no payload figure and the estimates I found ran from 3 kg to 5 kg. I use it with a phone or a camera and lens; for a telescope my recommendation is the TeSeek 11, a go-to harmonic mount rated for 5 kg.

How long can you expose on the NanoTracker?

TeSeek quote 5 minutes at 24 mm, 4 minutes at 70 mm, 1 minute at 200 mm and 30 seconds at 450 mm with the laser roughly on the pole. My phone frames were 30-second exposures at 3x and 5x zoom.

Can you use the NanoTracker with a smartphone?

Yes, that is how I use it most: a phone clamp on a ball head, 30-second exposures in the camera app, and the phone's stylus to fire the shutter so the phone does not shake.

How do you polar align the NanoTracker?

Point its built-in green laser at the North Star, or the South Star in the southern hemisphere, and set the hemisphere on the switches.

What powers the NanoTracker?

A power bank through its USB-C port; there is no battery inside. Mine ran from an ordinary phone power bank.

TeSeek NanoTracker or TeSeek 11?

The TeSeek 11 can go to and track targets and carries 5 kg; the NanoTracker is set and forget, for a phone or a camera and lens.

TeSeek NanoTracker review: a pocket star tracker with a laser

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 18 mounts on my board, against price
Rank	Mount	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	TeSeek NanoTracker	100 out of 100	£52
2	ClearSky ST25	94 out of 100	£1,259
4	MLAstro SAL-33	91 out of 100	£937
6	TeSeek 17	88 out of 100	£536
10	ZWO AM7	58 out of 100	£2,599
11	ClearSky ST17 Mini	56 out of 100	£712
16	ZWO AM3	34 out of 100	£1,599
17	Sky-Watcher GTi Mount	33 out of 100	£435
18	Celestron CG5	24 out of 100	£299

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 In the hand
04 From the review video
05 What would you put on it?
06 How well does it track?
07 What is it for? In my words
08 What it captured
09 Watch the review
10 Should you buy it?
11 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 100/100

Reviewed 29 Oct 2025 Updated 24 Sep 2026

Rank: #1 of 18 mounts
Verdict: Damon's pick

Written by Damon Scotting 6 min read

Buy it if

You want to start long-exposure astrophotography with a camera and lens, or a phone, for very little money.
You want a tracker that fits in a bag, needs no app and runs from a USB power bank.
You image wide fields such as the Milky Way, the North America Nebula or the Andromeda Galaxy at short focal lengths.

Skip it if

You want the mount to find targets for you: it tracks, it does not go to.
You want to carry and guide a telescope: it has no guiding input and no payload rating from TeSeek.
You image at long focal lengths: TeSeek quote 30 seconds unguided at 450 mm.

“This tiny tracker is amazing for one simple reason: it lets you start taking real astrophotography images.”

Specifications and features

Against the mounts I have reviewed

Compare with

TeSeek NanoTracker reviewed #1 of 18	Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i #14 of 18	TeSeek 11 #3 of 18
Recorded UK price	£52	£249	£252
Stars for Your Buck	100/100	42/100	93/100
Average guiding RMS	Unknown	Unknown	0.92 arcsec
Type	Star tracker (one tracking axis) with a built-in green laser	Star tracker (one tracking axis) with a polar scope	Harmonic drive go-to mount, both axes
No-counterweight payload	Not rated by TeSeek; about 3 kg estimated	5 kg	5 kg
Counterweight payload	not recorded	5 kg maximum	not recorded
Mount weight	0.5 kg (packed)	1 kg	1.3 kg
Periodic error	not recorded	Approximately 60 arcsec, reported by one 2i owner; method and amplitude convention unspecified	not recorded
Gearing	3000:1 reduction gear set	DC servo motor	Harmonic reducers on both axes
Control	Four DIP switches or a WiFi web page; no app	WiFi app; single-axis auto-guiding port	OnStep: phone app over Bluetooth or WiFi, ASIAIR
Power	USB-C from a power bank; no built-in battery	4 x AA batteries or 5 V DC	5 V, 2 A from a power bank
Tripod or pier	38 mm Arca-Swiss base; 1/4 inch output screw for a ball head	3/8 and 1/4 inch camera tripod threads	38 mm Arca clamp underneath
In the box	The tracker with its built-in laser pointer	Mount, ball head adapter, illuminated polar scope	The mount

In the hand

From the review video

Frames from my videos

The NanoTracker on its tripod and ball head

Comet Lemmon, one 30-second phone exposure on the NanoTracker

What would you put on it?

The NanoTracker's 3 kg rating under a rig you can change part by part, then the same rig on six other mounts

How well does it track?

In my words, from my videos

“To give you an idea of how a 30-second exposure looks at 3x zoom with the S24 Ultra without the help of a star tracker, here's an image that I took, which is not great. Now here's the first shot that I captured with a star tracker turned on: much better.”

“Even without the help of the star tracker you can still make out this faint cloudy patch of light from my light polluted garden. But with the help of the NanoTracker you start to notice a little more definition.”

“This is another 30-second long exposure at an ISO of 500, and you can still technically see the comet, but it is very much a blurry mess.”

What is it for? In my words

Four things it is for

A built-in green laser

Its design is simplistic but incredibly effective, with the cherry on top being a built-in green laser to help you polar align the mount for the best possible tracking experience.

Switches for every sky

It even has multiple switches on the back that allow it to track at different rates that correspond to the Moon, the Sun or the southern hemisphere.

A ball head and a phone

I need at least one ball head so that I can slide the NanoTracker into it and align the mount towards our North Star. The mount then rotates at a rate that matches our planet, eliminating the star trailing motion.

A comet with a phone

After we've polar aligned our tracking mount with the inbuilt laser, it's time to zoom in to five times magnification, open the Expert RAW section of the camera app and start taking repeated 30-second long exposures at an ISO of 500, clicking the Galaxy pen so as not to vibrate the phone.

What it captured

Three targets

Andromeda, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, 14 min stacked

Integration: 14 min
Field: Unknown
Telescope: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Mount: TeSeek NanoTracker
Target: M 31 Andromeda Galaxy
Type: Spiral galaxy
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Orion, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, 4 min stacked

Integration: 4 min
Field: Unknown
Telescope: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Mount: TeSeek NanoTracker
Target: M 42 Orion Nebula and the Belt of Orion
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Comet Lemmon, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, one 30 s exposure

Integration: 30 s (1 x 30 s, ISO 500)
Field: Unknown
Telescope: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra camera, 5x zoom
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Mount: TeSeek NanoTracker
Target: Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)
Type: Comet
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Watch the review

This £69 Star tracker mount lets you take INCREDIBLE Deep sky images with your SMARTPHONE!? · published 29 October 2025 · 4:50 · Watch on YouTube · 82,001 views, 2,595 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

0:33 Meet the TeSeek Nano
0:41 The built-in green laser
1:23 My smartphone rig
1:52 Switches for the Moon, the Sun and the south
2:00 The Pleiades at 3x zoom
2:23 Without the tracker, then with it
3:15 The Andromeda Galaxy
3:41 Stacking for more detail
4:04 A phone telescope on the tracker next

Transcript of the review video 975 words · 10 chapters · searchable

Press a time stamp to play from there.

0:00 The opening

0:00 Imaging the night sky is by far one of the coolest things that us humans have ever figured out how to do. 0:05 It's enabled us to go from taking images like this to this. 0:05 How you ask? 0:05 By simply counteracting the rotating motion of our planet. 0:11 You see it's not the stars that are moving, we are. 0:16 As our planet rotates our view of the night sky changes, but if you learn how to counteract this then you can capture billions and billions of photons from these incredibly distant objects of unimaginable sizes and create masterpieces like these. 0:29 And now for the first time ever you can take these star-trail-free long exposure images for cheaper than ever before at just £69.

0:33 Meet the TeSeek Nano

0:34 Meet the TeSeek Nano. 0:34 It's a super tiny star tracker mount that I found on AliExpress a month ago and I've decided to take a gamble on. 0:41 Its design is simplistic but incredibly effective with the cherry on top being a built-in green laser to help you polar align the mount for the best possible tracking experience.

0:41 The built-in green laser

0:50 It's estimates for payload capabilities varied from three kilograms to five kilograms which are pretty significant payloads. 0:58 For context the new Askar 80 ED is only 1.8 kilograms in weight. 1:03 It seems like it's a perfect mount for a camera and lens setup to take long exposure images of deep sky objects but tonight I'm going to be doing something a little more extreme. 1:11 I'm going to be trying to image the night sky with my smartphone. 1:14 Can it be done? 1:14 Let's find out. 1:18 I'm the telescope man and this is Astronomical.

1:23 My smartphone rig

1:24 Right, so here's my complete rig. 1:29 I'm using a Samsung S24 Ultra held by a £5 phone holder mount, and collectively two Andoer ball heads, priced at just under £20 each. 1:38 So overall the setup exceeds £100. 1:41 I need at least one ball head mount so that I can slide the TeSeek NanoTracker into it and align the mount towards our North Star. 1:48 The mount then rotates at a rate that matches our planet, eliminating the star trailing motion.

1:52 Switches for the Moon, the Sun and the south

1:52 It even has multiple switches on the back that allow it to track at different rates that correspond to the moon, the sun or the southern hemisphere.

2:00 The Pleiades at 3x zoom

2:00 I decided that my first target would be one of the easier targets to find with my phone and that was the Pleiades. 2:06 Using a 3x zoom I focused in on the star cluster and very importantly used the included pen accessory of my smartphone to remotely take a 30 second long exposure image of the Seven Sisters. 2:18 Why is this important? 2:19 I tap the screen to take my shot it will very likely lead to a vibration that would cause the phone to shake and my stars to blur.

2:23 Without the tracker, then with it

2:23 To give you an idea of how a 30 second exposure looks at 3x zoom with the S24 Ultra without the help of a star tracker here's an image that I took, which is not great. 2:34 Now here's the first shot that I captured with a star tracker turned on, much better. 2:39 It doesn't really need restating that this is a smartphone we are using here to capture the night sky but I've got to say I'm so impressed that we've reached this point where I can actually image one of the most spellbinding open star clusters in our night sky with a slim device that goes in my pocket and has been designed to enable us to talk to each other from far away. 2:58 Samsung really have a golden opportunity here to push the camera capabilities of their phones just a little bit further and unlock the beauty of our cosmos. 3:05 All of the smartphones have gone for a fad this last decade of being able to image the Milky Way but now we're at a point where you can image entire other galaxies. 3:13 The marketing potential is off the charts.

3:15 The Andromeda Galaxy

3:15 Now it's time to point it towards the galaxy next door, Andromeda. 3:19 Even without the help of the star tracker you can still make out this faint cloudy patch of light from my light polluted garden. 3:23 But with the help of the NanoTracker you start to notice a little more definition. 3:27 So I think we can all agree that this is really freaking cool. 3:32 That a 69 pound lightweight tracker mount powered by a 10 pound power bank can help you capture images of entire galaxies from your back garden.

3:41 Stacking for more detail

3:42 But what if you want to perfect this craft? 3:42 What if you want your images to get even better? 3:47 Well then you could start by taking multiple repeated exposures of these deep sky objects and then stacking them to produce far more detailed shots like this. 3:55 Thanks to the help of a star tracking mount I was able to create these beautiful images of some of the most iconic deep sky objects in our night sky. 4:01 This is only the beginning and who knows what we'll be able to do in the next 10 years with our smartphones.

4:04 A phone telescope on the tracker next

4:05 I've just finished another review on a $28.50 telescope which funnily enough is designed to work with a smartphone like the Samsung S24 Ultra and perfectly mounts onto my star tracker mount. 4:15 So I think I might go ahead and try this in a future video. 4:19 By combining the two I could make an all-in-one astrophotography rig for a little over 100 pounds, potentially capable of taking some really impressive images. 4:26 If you'd like to see a video like that in the future then let me know in the comments down below and make sure you are subscribed. 4:32 Links to the mount and telescope are in the description down below. 4:36 Thanks for watching and I hope to see you again soon. 4:39 I'm the telescope man and this was Astronomical.

Check out more videos on the TeSeek NanoTracker

Can I PHOTOGRAPH a COMET with my SMARTPHONE?!

28 Oct 2025

What YOU can SEE with a $28.50 Telescope...

31 Oct 2025

Should you buy it?

100/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

It is affordable, incredibly light and tiny enough to fit in a bag.
This little tracker has let me take some insanely good images of our night sky with my phone.
It is just a motor: aligned on the North Star, or its southern equivalent, it tracks well enough for long-exposure images.
It needs no app: four switches or a WiFi web page set the tracking rate, and a USB-C power bank runs it.

Cons

It has no go-to: it tracks at the rate you set, and you find and frame each target yourself.
TeSeek's own figures fall to 1 minute at 200 mm and 30 seconds at 450 mm, so long lenses and telescopes are not what it is for.
You need your own ball head and tripod, and most ball heads need a 1/4 to 3/8 inch adapter for its camera screw.
TeSeek publish no payload rating; the estimates I found ran from 3 kg to 5 kg.

If you want to put a DSLR on it and track the Milky Way or a wide-field target like the North America Nebula, it is perfect.

Who the NanoTracker is for

Camera owner starting out

Buy

A camera, a lens and this tracker are the cheapest way into tracked long exposures of the Milky Way and wide nebulae.

Smartphone stargazer

Buy

With a phone clamp on a ball head, a modern phone takes 30-second tracked exposures of the Pleiades, the Andromeda Galaxy and even a comet.

Traveller

Buy

It weighs about half a kilogram packed, needs no app and runs from a power bank.

Telescope imager

Skip

My recommendation is the TeSeek 11: a go-to harmonic mount rated for 5 kg that guides.

Galaxy hunter with a long lens

Skip

TeSeek quote 30 seconds at 450 mm; long focal lengths need a guided go-to mount.

Owner of a working star tracker

Skip

It does the same set-and-track job in a smaller box; the real step up is a go-to mount such as the TeSeek 11.

Three alternatives I have reviewed

Questions and more about this review

Reviewed by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Seven questions, answered

Questions about the TeSeek NanoTracker

Reviewed 29 October 2025 ·Updated 24 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Shop links marked Ad are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded

Does the TeSeek NanoTracker have go-to? No. It tracks at the rate set on its four switches or on its WiFi web page, and I find and frame targets myself with the phone or the camera. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Can the TeSeek NanoTracker carry a telescope? Only a very small one. TeSeek give no payload figure and the estimates I found ran from 3 kg to 5 kg. I use it with a phone or a camera and lens; for a telescope my recommendation is the TeSeek 11, a go-to harmonic mount rated for 5 kg. What would you put on it? ↓
How long can you expose on the NanoTracker? TeSeek quote 5 minutes at 24 mm, 4 minutes at 70 mm, 1 minute at 200 mm and 30 seconds at 450 mm with the laser roughly on the pole. My phone frames were 30-second exposures at 3x and 5x zoom. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Can you use the NanoTracker with a smartphone? Yes, that is how I use it most: a phone clamp on a ball head, 30-second exposures in the camera app, and the phone's stylus to fire the shutter so the phone does not shake. What is it for? In my words ↓
How do you polar align the NanoTracker? Point its built-in green laser at the North Star, or the South Star in the southern hemisphere, and set the hemisphere on the switches. What is it for? In my words ↓
What powers the NanoTracker? A power bank through its USB-C port; there is no battery inside. Mine ran from an ordinary phone power bank. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
TeSeek NanoTracker or TeSeek 11? The TeSeek 11 can go to and track targets and carries 5 kg; the NanoTracker is set and forget, for a phone or a camera and lens. The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓