New Autel Robotics Drone

DesertWindAero · Jan 14, 2018

If Autel doesn't send imagery and GPS flight track info back to their servers like DJI does, I'm sold.

Moggymoo · Jan 14, 2018

I'm just going to hang fire on this one! I was going to buy a mavic platinum but have just got wind of the autel evo, a company until just a day ago I've never heard of. From what I've seen, this drone has a higher spec than the mavic and a lower price! Interesting times ahead. I think I've already fallen in love with the EVO!

dewster · Jan 14, 2018

I'm sure Mavic 2 or whatever DJI calls their next portable drone, will have at least the same features. Autel will certainly beat DJI to getting their craft on the market. I'm not impressed with my Mavic's camera quality. Takes too much tweaking when I just want to fly and get a nice shot. I'm willing to bet that EVO will out perform the current Mavic unless they have issues like Gopro's drone falling out of the sky.

Owlpic · Jan 15, 2018

What is important to me is Autel like DJI where Communist Chinese can at-will shut off my ability to fly?
My Mavic is useless in many places I want to fly, such as inside my house, in an emergency Search & Rescue, or within a mile of a small national historical park.

The uploaded image are current DJI NFZ (No-Fly-Zones) from Maine to Virginia. (These are NOT FAA, but DJI's NFZ's)

FlashGJ · Jan 15, 2018

I agree with most of what you stated. If Autel holds back and does not release the best of what they have to offer then the same thing that happened to Karma will happen to the Evo. DJI will, as soon as possible, anounce what they have on the table to either compete or out-do the Evo, in an attempt to stop the Evo from taking market share. DJI doesn’t care if they are not actually ready to ship such a product, just announce it and build the hype in an attempt to delay people from jumping to the Evo.
Then if what Evo does initially release does not offer all the upgrades that they are claiming, like far superior camera, then those that are not completely feed up with DJI support will stay with them. Because I guarantee you, even if DJI is not quite ready to ship such a product, there next announcement will include an updated MP with better camera and more sensors... , in an effort to prevent EVO sales.

It is in Autels hands, either release a great product that will get people seriously thinking about their product and choosing them, or release a product that is only marginally better, but unproven, and DJIs next announcement will keep most people waiting and holding off until they have it ready to ship.

I hope that Autel can release the very best they have shown and very soon. It is in the best interest of all of us to see some serious competition, regardless of which bird you choose to purchase!

Dronin · Jan 15, 2018

Kewlio said:
7km range, 30 minutes flight time. If the camera is better than the Mavic's (which I'm not that impressed with) then this will gain serious attention and I will consider selling my Mavic and getting the Evo. There's chatter that this thing has a 1" sensor.

The elephant in the room is DJI's very poor customer service. Autel's is the best in the biz so if this drone works well it will be trouble for DJI.

just my .02 euros...

"The elephant in the room is DJI's very poor customer service." <= I couldn't agree more. I can't speak to the Autel part though.

I have only had DJI drones, but I want things like this to succeed, we all should. Even the most strident DJI fanboy should want competition to keep DJI in check, otherwise there's no incentive for them to improve on customer service or products. I'm an Android guy, but I don't hate iPhones, instead, they keep my side on their toes and give me better options and features. Wise Apple Fanboys should feel the same about Android.

Apple is a tyrannical, but they be worse if there were no other options.

just my .02 USD

toddellis · Jan 15, 2018

1" sensor in a small package for $1,299? bye-bye- DJI.

#28 · Jan 15, 2018

HWCM said:
Maybe there will not be a Mavic 2. No one ever said that there will be.
Either way, the EVO looks fantastic.

Completly agree with you about mavic 2... DJI has already phantom 4pro with a better camera and obstacle avoidance, a mavic 2 doesn't have a place in the market with dji's point of view..hope I am wrong

Gray_seagull · Jan 15, 2018

To me, I will make my next drone purchase if it is:

Well built
Longer range and flight time
Faster
Safely & anti-crash features
The best camera available
Support
Good accessories

All those features are possible to be in the next generation drones

toddellis · Jan 15, 2018

i'm curious about this one. so much is put on "longer range" by pilots AND manufacturers when flying outside VLOS is against the law. range doesn't really matter to me - but - i agree with the rest - unless it's DJI - then i'll keep waiting.

dsd317 · Jan 15, 2018

toddellis said:
i'm curious about this one. so much is put on "longer range" by pilots AND manufacturers when flying outside VLOS is against the law. range doesn't really matter to me - but - i agree with the rest - unless it's DJI - then i'll keep waiting.

Some people inter-change "long range" and "stronger/better signal performance in wi-fi and obstacle (trees, buildings, power lines, etc.) congested areas. If the aircraft can fly further than the competition with similar aircraft, then there is a very good chance it would perform better in congested areas within VLOS.

wowography · Jan 15, 2018

I’ll stay with my MPP, However, I think they are on the right track with that OLED (think iPhone X) screen technology in the RC.

toddellis · Jan 15, 2018

Some people inter-change "long range" and "stronger/better signal performance

i'll buy that.

OldBlueHeron · Jan 15, 2018

I want the competition, but Autel has hurt their credibility with the disappointing promises not kept to XSP owners at last years CES. Between that and not releasing the SDK for third parties, my reservations remain high.

maven4336 · Jan 15, 2018

Mr. Moe said:
I would like to see in the wild if it actually does obstacle avoidance like the video shows. That is the one thing i think DJI should change the name on. Instead of calling it obstacle avoidance it should be called obstacle detection sensor and stop. Anyhow, I am still getting a Mavic, but will keep my eye on this EVO.

Good choice , luv my mavic, be carful cleaning front sensors, scratched mine using a q-tip now have to turn over front sensors, everything else is good to go

Lon Denard · Jan 15, 2018

m0j0 said:
I own Autel, DJI and Yuneec. I have had problems with all of them to some degree. I can say I am one that has had no problems with DJI at all. From P3 to Mavic not a single problem with customer service. I had more problems with Yuneec than DJI

Me too, brother! I had no response from GoPro what so ever. DJI had answered my emails and phone questions without issue.

Lon Denard · Jan 15, 2018

audioguy said:
Given my experience in the A/V world, a lot of the success of this product will be the price differential between it and the Mavic. Priced at $700 vs the $1000 for the Mavic, it could be a "Mavic Killer". Priced at $900, not so much. If I were making the decision on purchasing today, and given minimal price differentiation, and even being aware of the really crappy customer service of DJI, I would still select the Mavic.

That said, I most certainly would agree that DJI's customer service redefines the word "horrible". I called this past week to ask a simple question about the cable to connect the Mavic to my new Crystal Sky and neither of two people I was forced to talk to had any idea what I was talking about - I mean completely clueless. I never could get the answer to my question so posted it on this board and got an immediate answer.

If Autel really provided far superior customer service, that might also get them some traction.

With technology, it is always about "better, faster, cheaper". To the extent this Autel product addresses those, the more likely it could be a very interesting alternative. Hopefully, it will be a sort of "Mavic Killer" as that might provide incentive to DJI to up THEIR game and continue to improve the Mavic, their customer service (not likely) and their next set of products. Competition is always a good thing.

Okay, this must be what I'm missing in the "DJI customer service sucks" discussion. You all are taking about tech support! Every time I'm thinking actual customer service. They may have horrible tech support. I haven't called them for that... The manuals and YouTube have taken care of those kinds of questions for me. I've called them for repairs, sales, returns, etc and have always gotten a swift answer.

This isn't a contest but before I bought my Karma. There was confusion whether it used both glonass and standard gps. So I called GoPro. Over an hour of hold times and several calls later, I was told that it did have both. If course I later learned that was a lie.

Lon Denard · Jan 15, 2018

Endeavor said:
Being a novice and admittedly rookie flyer my first concern is parts availability. I have crashed and rebuild both my P3 and P4 so far and found parts easy to acquire. I have to assume I will need parts so ease of acquisition is important to me. Support is a non issue as I never call support as I do all my own trouble shooting. Price I imagine will be inline with dji however here for me I only buy refurb units as they are basically new at a substantial discount. I paid $599 for my mavic pro and it's perfect in every way. Then there is the software. I use litchi exclusively as it allows me to program missions in advance and offers most of the benefits of djigo and more. For me I look at every aspect not just the quad itself. As far as aesthetics I think it looks just fine with a friendly face not the intense face of the mavic but acceptable.

How are you a "rookie" and you own 3 drones? Anyway, fwiw, when Best Buy carried Autel you could get all kinds of parts from them rather inexpensively, I might add. I took a hard look at Autel before I purchased the Mavic.