# Benro Connect — user reviews > 27 indexed App Store user reviews of Benro Connect by Benro Image Technology Industrial Co., Ltd., rated 2.32/5 from 28 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/benro-connect/id1599659331/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/benro-connect/id1599659331.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 5 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 15 ## Newest reviews (7 of 27) ### 3/5 — Still lacking documentation and basic photography features *2026-04-09, version 1.5.1* No documentation for the app. Only documentation is for the Benro Polaris and even then that’s only basic. Lacks some basic photography functions like exposure bracketing. ### 3/5 — iPad support *2023-11-28* May you please build the application as a universal app that would support iPad ? It is very needed feature and should not add much work ! I know some iPads don’t have compas and GPS but cellular versions have it ! ### 3/5 — Still missing features *2023-06-08, version 1.4.4* It took a week for customer service to respond to a password reset request, so that wasn’t great. We are still missing 2 star alignment, which many Astro photographers believe would significantly improve the star tracking. Holy grail seems to work well so that is positive. ### 2/5 — Functionality of the app etc. *2022-11-08* It would be nice to simply tap the background of a page to return to where you were. Navigating the app is made impossible when you press soMe items and realise you’re in the wrong place. You can’t then return to the previous page to try again. Also some markers to let new users know which way to mount a lens including the Astro module. And an arrow showing which way your phone should be pointing when calibrating the compass. Does this really need to be done every time you start the tool 🤷🏼‍♂️ surely once calibrated it should remember and only need recalibrating if it goes off target. It would be better to use two or even three stars to align with for pinpoint accuracy. In future plate solving should be introduced, far more accurate than GPS, I know, I’ve been shooting with the Pentax Astrotracer for years. A big issue today, I got a perfect 3x3 practise panorama this morning then another 4x3, wonderful ….. but ….. this afternoon it won’t do it, no matter what I try it displays “shoot failed”. Extremely disappointing. Earlier I ,because I shoot Pentax (and you still haven’t sorted out the support properly) used liveview on my camera and when the Polaris knobs had stopped spinning I used an IR remote to fire the camera and got a perfect 3x3 pano. The issue was there was not enough time between shots for it to settle and me to fire the IR remote so I had a look to see if there was a way to adjust the time between shots. After that I can’t use the pano function at all 🤷🏼‍♂️ It’s a wonderful and surprisingly well built item but it needs tweaking. Incidentally, I noticed earlier on Facebook a post that said there is an update to the app that includes the Messier objects, as I had downloaded the app only yesterday I’m a little surprised I didn’t get these in my app, I’ve been to the App Store and it says I’m up to date. Very odd. ### 4/5 — Best Astro head *2022-09-19* The Polaris Head is great - I love it, also the app is full packed of features. But there is one problem: there are so many possibilities to do with the app and head, so it is often not easy to find out how. The app is not full translated to englisch (often just in Chinese 🙈) and there is not handbook. The in the app included handbook is much to basic and explains just the hardware and not the app) I wish the where a good handbook and video tutorials with a step by step instruction to learn everything. The Polaris hardware is a stunning piece of hardware in perfect quality. Now it is time to get the same quality in the app and the handbook! 🤗 ### 3/5 — Shows promise but not there yet *2022-07-20, version 1.2.7* A kickstart hardware campaign, this is the controlling app. Some great features that partially work or have inconsistent outcomes. Yet to be supported by good documentation/guides. Fairly regularly app and firmware updates which show improvement. Happy to stay along for the ride (well I did purchase the hardware), it is a kickstarter after all. Fingers crossed as the concept is fantastic and less weight and hopefully consistently easier set up than alternatives. ### 1/5 — Can’t upgrade polaris *2022-05-15, version 1.2.1* It won’t let me upgrade polaris even after upgrading app. Gets stuck at 50% ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — $1k on hardware…garbage app *2026-06-18, version 1.5.1* This really could be a huge deal. But you spend $1k on glitchy hardware and the company hasn’t updated firmware or app in over a year… pathetic! ### 1/5 — Not worth the cost *2026-02-06, version 1.5.1* The hardware is top-notch, robust, and high quality. The software is terrible, and one-star alignment results in poor tracking. My comments are related to astrophotography use. Too expensive for the current user experience. ### 1/5 — App fails to connect to device *2024-10-17, version 1.5.1* I purchased a brand new Benro device. App doesn’t connect. It gets stuck in an infinite retry loop and never connects. Seriously disappointing that I haven’t even been able to use this once! ### 1/5 — Astro kit broken *2024-10-16, version 1.5.1* Can no longer use Astro kit ### 1/5 — Hopeless *2024-02-11* The app is an afterthought, hopelessly glitchy and unreliable. ### 1/5 — Expensive and great hardware but an awful app *2023-12-18, version 1.4.4* This app and its capabilities renders the hardware useless. The alignment method is insufficient and it doesn’t work consistently. The UI is awful. The camera interface doesn’t function properly and overall makes this awesome hardware almost completely useless. The focusing is incredibly hard with the app and sometimes, I just align then disconnect the camera to focus and by some miracle able to take a few photos before something else goes wrong. If I knew about the horrible app experience, I would have never dropped $1200+ on the hardware. Please fix this. ### 1/5 — Canon R5 *2023-07-14, version 1.4.4* The concept and idea is great. But the equipment fails and does not connect to the App when “Cellular data” is “on”. When data is turned off, it connects only to the Benro device, but after connecting all cables…the app does not connect to the live view on the camera. Canon R5 ### 1/5 — 100% Trash *2023-03-16, version 1.3.9* Congratulations, with your latest update my phone will no longer connect! Awesome Benro! ### 1/5 — Terrible *2022-11-27, version 1.3.3* Can’t connect to a7riii with iOS 16 without turning off cellular. Once connected you can’t get the camera in live mode so you have no visual. You can’t kill the app without resetting your phone. Returned the Benro Polaris. Nice try but it is far from a usable product. ### 1/5 — Extremely frustrating *2022-11-27, version 1.3.3* Arrrrggggg ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Excellent même si ... *2024-02-25* Excellent! Même si il reste des imperfections et notamment l'utilisation avec l'Ipad . J'attends toujours les mises à jours avec impatience pour des améliorations possible . Bravo aux développeurs en tous les cas . ### 5/5 — Works poeroectly *2022-10-31, version 1.3.3* Useful ### 5/5 — Finally arrived *2022-09-21, version 1.3.2* Backed the kickstarter campaign and with over a year of waiting I have just received my polaris today. Amazing quality of the hardware and app is also working as expected. ### 5/5 — Great intelligent tripod head! *2022-08-10* Bellissima “testa intelligente”. Dopo i primi upgrade di firmware e app (ovviamente è un prodotto di grande precisione e di tante funzionalità… e deve gestire una miriade di cam e produttori diversi!), ora funziona molto bene. Eccezionale per astrofotografia: io la uso con Sony Alpha A7r3 e ottiche Sony 16-35GM e Sigma 600mm. Regge molto bene. Raccomandata. Pls Benro guys keep on to upgrade the app and include new functionalities. Great work! ### 5/5 — Updates keep Improving the functionality *2022-07-27, version 1.2.8* The Polaris was a crowd source funded product and Benro has been busy working on getting units delivered to backers while also adding promised functionality to the app. They are also listening to users who are using it in the field and are making tweaks and improvements based on these suggestions. While not perfect, the software / hardware combo is very usable for star tracking even with longer lenses (100-500mm range), panoramas and more. I give the software 5 stars because it’s very functional and getting better all the time. And Benro doesn’t deserve the 2 stars they are getting from those that seem to not realize that “Kickstarter” type purchases is like purchasing beta units are we are the beta testers. For those that have issues with firmware updates they need to do 2 important things. 1) Format the micro SD card in the Polaris right before attempting the update and 2) Make sure you have good cellular reception on your phone since your wifi is being used to connect to the Polaris. The. your firmware update will work. Keep up the good work Benro and continue to make this product better with each update. ### 5/5 — It gets better! *2022-07-17* Thank you Polaris for listening to your customers, this software gets better with each and every update. I love the way you take note of the comments in the forums and emails, the potential for this app and the Polaris hardware is amazing. Looking forward to an interesting future. :) ### 5/5 — Amazing *2022-06-28* I was an early backer on kickstarter for the Benro Polaris mounting and recently got it delivered. The app only works with this mount - and it works great for my main purpose astrophotography! I only did a few shots at night and the results were amazing. The app is clearly structured and does its job. I would wish for a better way to handle the „AR“ overview, since it is quite hard to distinguish the real stars from the augmented stars… Keep on the good work!!! ### 4/5 — Unable to connect to apple macbook pro M1 *2023-10-06, version 1.4.4* All seesm well if running off iphone, but can not connect to mac book pro with M1 chip as stated in information sestion. Love the platform but it would be noce if it worked as stated for Macbook Pro M1. ### 4/5 — sehr gutes Produkt! *2023-03-02* Man kann mit dem benro polaris wunderbare Panoramen und anderes mehr auf einfache Art und Weise fertigen. Auch die zugehörige App wird zunehmend besser. Ich bin begeistert. RP ### 4/5 — Great device but App software😟 *2022-09-21* The App is complex, why is there no manual? Many pages are in Chinese please Benro, fully localize the app to english. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-14.*