Sky-Watcher Wave 100i Review (2025)
- Katherine Miller
- Sep 16
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 26
One Year of Hands-On Astrophotography
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the astrophotography scene lately, you’ve probably noticed harmonic drive mounts popping up everywhere. The ZWO AM5 made a splash, iOptron has been steadily refining their HEM series, and recently Sky-Watcher stepped into the arena with their Wave series.
I’ve been using the Sky-Watcher Wave 100i for about a year now, and let me tell you, this little mount has become my go-to for every imaging session. It’s compact, surprisingly powerful, and has handled my medium-weight setup like a champ.
This review isn’t just a list of specs or marketing promises. It’s a hands-on, real-world account: the good, the great, and yes, a few minor quirks. I’ll share my experiences coming from a Saxon NEQ6 Pro, my first awkward attempts at polar alignment with Sharpcap, and how my back has thanked me for switching to something this light.
Plus, I’ll give you the lowdown on guiding performance, setup, and how it stacks up against its bigger sibling, the Wave 150i.
Oh, and one thing before we go any further, while I’m a Sky-Watcher ambassador, I bought this mount myself. Every opinion here is honest and based on a full year of use, weather permitting.
My Mount Journey: From Saxon NEQ6 Pro to Wave 100i
To give some perspective, I started astrophotography about 5 years ago using a Saxon NEQ6 Pro German equatorial mount. Reliable? Absolutely. Portable? Not so much.
Lugging that beast around gave my back a workout every time, and I dreaded taking it along to star parties. Its weight soon had me making excuses not to set up.
Switching to the Wave 100i was a revelation. At 5.5 kg, it’s light enough to carry in one hand and light enough to carry in two hands with all my gear still mounted. Setup is now a breeze, because with my gear always attached, I only need to plug in power.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing at first. Coming from a traditional EQ mount, the Wave 100i felt different in many ways. The lack of release clutches on RA or DEC to move the mount manually had me scratching my head. It took a few sessions to get fully comfortable with its nuances, but once I did, setup became faster and more enjoyable. Re-inspiring me to get out and capture the cosmos!
First-Time Learning Curve
When I first got the mount, I didn’t have an ASIAIR or other smart controller. I WAS a traditional astro-gal, using a laptop, with Sharpcap for polar alignment and APT for acquisition.
During computerised polar alignment you need to capture a couple of images, moving the mount about 90 degrees between each capture, so that the software can determine where the telescope is pointing. Sharpcap doesn’t automatically move the mount; you have to rotate it yourself. Queue me scratching my head, wondering how to rotate the mount because it doesn't have RA or DEC release clutches.
Eventually, I realised I had to move it through the SynScan app. Classic. I sometimes wonder how I have even made it this far in life.
But after that, things smoothed out quickly. I eventually added the ASIAIR to my setup, which ASIAIR users would know, does the rotating for you! Of course, now I look back and think about how much of a peasant I was. If you're not riding the smart controller train, what are you even doing.
The Wave 100i at a Glance
The Wave 100i is Sky-Watcher’s compact harmonic drive mount. Released in 2023, it’s designed to be lightweight, portable, and powerful enough for most backyard imaging setups. Here’s the headline specs:
Payload (no counterweight): 10 kg (22 lbs)
Payload (with counterweight): 15 kg (33 lbs)
Mount weight: 5.5 kg (12 lbs)
Drive type: Harmonic (strain wave)
Control options: SynScan app, hand controller, ASIAIR compatible
Big brother: Wave 150i (carries up to 15kg without a counterweight)
Price: ~$3,000 AUD (ouch)
Compared to the AM5 and HEM27, it’s right in the sweet spot for portability and performance vs budget.
What is a Harmonic Drive (For beginners because I am not an engineer)
Traditional EQ mounts use worm gears. These mounts are reliable but heavy and require counterweights. They can also suffer from backlash, which are small errors in the gear movement that guiding software has to correct.
Harmonic drive mounts like the Wave 100i work differently. A flexible gear (the “wave generator”) engages with a spline. The result is:
No backlash
Smoother tracking
High torque in a small package.
The trade-off is slightly higher periodic error, but as long as you’re guiding (like most astrophotographers), it’s negligible.
My Setup and Gear Weight
Here’s what I run on the Wave 100i:
Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P OTA – 5.3 kg
Coma corrector – 0.5 kg
ZWO ASI533MM Pro – 0.45 kg
7-position filter wheel with 7 filters – 1.25 kg
ZWO EAF focuser – 0.3 kg
ASIAIR Plus – 0.25 kg
Total: ~8 kg (17.6 lbs)
I don’t use a counterweight, and I haven’t obsessed over perfect balancing. Surprisingly, the Wave 100i handles it just fine. This is one of the things I love most, setup is faster, and I spend more time imaging and less time tweaking.
Guiding Performance
For those curious about the numbers behind the images, my guiding performance with the 100i usually sits around 0.5–0.7" RMS most nights. That little double-quote symbol (") means arcseconds, which are tiny slices of the sky. There are 3600 arcseconds in just one degree.
In astrophotography, accuracy is measured in fractions of an arcsecond, because even the slightest wobble can smear your stars. RMS stands for Root Mean Square, a statistical way of showing how far off the mount drifts from perfect tracking on average. Lower is always better. Under 1" is considered solid, while under 0.7" is excellent.
I adjusted my guiding settings from ASIAIR's default. They are currently RA aggression 110% and DEC aggression 100%, which means the software corrects fairly strongly when the mount wanders.
What’s interesting is that even when my guiding error increases to over 1.0" RMS, my stars stay sharp, even during 5-minute exposures. This is because the error is smaller than my image scale (the angular size each pixel on my camera covers), so the stars never drifted enough to blur.
In other words, you don’t always need to chase impossibly low RMS numbers. If your guiding error is comfortably below your pixel scale, your images will still come out crisp. This is the sweet spot that keeps my nebula shots clean, detailed, and star-tight.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert on guiding or the science behind it. If my stars are sharp, that is all I care about.
SynScan App Compatible
One of the biggest perks, besides weight and portability, of the Wave is its compatibility with the SynScan App. The app basically turns your phone or tablet into a telescope hand controller. Instead of fiddling with buttons, you can align, slew, and track the night sky with just a few taps. The app comes loaded with a database of more than 10,000 celestial objects, galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, planets, and even comets, so finding your target is as easy as searching and pressing GoTo.
It also offers star alignment options, custom target input via RA/Dec, and different tracking modes (sidereal, solar, or lunar) to keep your object centred. For nights when you’re not sure what to look at, the “Tonight’s Best” feature serves up a curated sky tour based on your location. You can even integrate camera control, use polar alignment tools, or connect it with third-party software like SkySafari or ASIAIR.
The SynScan App makes the Wave feel modern and intuitive, a proper control hub in your pocket that replaces the old-school hand controller and adds a whole lot more flexibility.
While the app is excellent for alignment, slewing, and basic tracking, it’s not designed to handle the full astrophotography workflow. It won’t control things like filter wheels, electronic focusers, plate solving, or autoguiding. For that, you’ll still need a dedicated hub such as the ASIAIR or other smart controller, or a laptop/PC to run your full setup.
Why I Love the Wave 100i
Portability. Out the door in minutes. Back-friendly, no more heavy EQ6 lugging.
No counterweights. One less thing to carry or balance.
Reliable tracking. Smooth and consistent.
Compatible with smart controllers.
Small gripes
I’ve only have a couple of small gripes with the mount. The polar alignment knobs are smooth. More than once, I’ve found myself overshooting alignment because the tiniest adjustment sends things sliding further than intended.
Like most women, I’d prefer knobs to have a little more rigidity.
Another hiccup has been with ASIAIR’s homing function. After unexpected power loss, it doesn’t always return the mount to its true “home” position. It’s not a deal-breaker since SynScan handles homing reliably, but it’s worth noting that ASIAIR can be a bit unpredictable in this situation.
Real-World Imaging Results
Over the year, I’ve captured nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters with the Wave 100i.
Wave 100i vs Wave 150i vs ZWO's AM series
The 150i is for heavy setups. For rigs around 8–10 kg (like mine), the 100i is more than enough. Travel-friendly, lighter, and easier to manage.
Pros
Excellent guiding
Portable and light (5.5 kg)
Counterweight-free operation
SynScan app, Wireless and ASIAIR integration
Solid build quality
Cons
Slightly pricier than some competitors
After a year, the Sky-Watcher Wave 100i is my primary mount. Lightweight, reliable, easy to use, and surprisingly capable. It’s not perfect, but its small quirks are far outweighed by its performance.
Coming from an EQ6 Pro, this mount feels like freedom. My back is happier, setup is faster, and I can spend more nights imaging instead of wrestling with gear.
Would I buy it again? Absolutely. For medium rigs, travel setups, and anyone wanting smooth, reliable guiding, the Wave 100i is my top recommendation!
⭐ Rating: 9/10
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do I need counterweights?
Not for setups under ~10kg. I run my 150P Newt + ASI533 + filters with no counterweights.
Q: Is the Wave 100i Beginner-friendly?
Yes. Slight learning curve if coming from a traditional mount, but tools like ASIAIR simplify setup. If I can do it, you can to!
Q: Wave 100i vs AM5?
Similar performance. Sky-Watcher ecosystem might sway some users.
Q: Should I get the 150i?
Only if your rig is heavy (>12kg) or you need future-proofing.
Great review - thank you. Been thinking about getting one of these, as I currently use a traditional setup, like you did. So does the SynScan app do polar alignment as well as guiding? I currently use PHD2 guiding via a laptop but would like to ditch the laptop without having to buy an ASIAIR.