The best iPhone 14 accessory? The new Vanois Vespera smart telescope—launched this week—is a strong ... [+] contender.

When will the iPhone 14 be announced? Will it have an always-on display? How about a version called the iPhone 14 Max? At the time of writing all of that remains to be seen, but I already know what the best new iPhone 14 accessory is because I’ve been using it for an entire month—and it’s out of this world.

Welcome to the Vanois Vespera, the most affordable and most travel-friendly “smart telescope” yet with a definite Apple aesthetic. This 2” refractor telescope is white, it’s curvy and it weighs just 11 lbs./5 kg. Sure, at $2,499/£2,170 it’s not exactly cheap (blame inflation supply chains, which has seen the price jump by about a third in recent weeks), but what it does with an iPhone under urban skies is incredible.

Able to cut through light pollution like it wasn’t there, this tiny portable and autonomous telescope can be operated solely by an app called Singularity.

Here’s how it works and what kinds of images it produces:

The best iPhone 14 accessory? The new Vanois Vespera smart telescope—launched this week—wearing its ... [+] light pollution filter.

A night’s observing using the Vespera is nothing like using a “proper” telescope. It goes something like this:

The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) after 59 exposures stacked by the Vanois Vespera smart telescope.

You may have noticed that in all of that there is no talk about an eyepiece. That's because on smart telescopes like the Vespera light is focused solely onto a Sony image sensor, in this case the IMX462. Nor can the Vespera observe planets. It makes only a rudimentary stab at the Moon. This is for deep sky only.

A whole host of extra features are also available, from a well-made backpack for transporting it to the very darkest of skies—where, undoubtably, it will perform at its very best—to a larger tripod (recommended) and various filters for light pollution, nebula-viewing and solar viewing.

The Singularity app makes it so easy to use the Vanois Vespera smart telescope.

The Vespera isn’t the last word in smart telescopes. Its images are HD—just two megapixels—and are a touch soft. In that way it’s not quite as advanced as its big sister the Vanois Stellina ($3,999/£3,460) nor rival brand Unistellar’s eVscope 2 ($4,899/£4,199) or eVscope eQuinox ($1,999/£1,749). Its battery lasts for only four hours.

However, stupidly easy to use, maintain and travel with is the Vanois Vespera that it has to go down as one of the best iPhone accessories for urban dwellers with designs on the cosmos.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.