Beware of Evo Max 4t/4n purchase

[wcsodennie]

Trying to purchase the pre order since December as they said it would be shipping mid March. Here’s the most recent email

“At present, the equipment you asked about is in stock, but it is only in the warehouse in China. Due to the restriction, it cannot be shipped temporarily.

We recommend that you wait a few months, waiting for policy changes, before ordering.

Thank you.

---

Kind Regards,
Sophia | Autelpilot Support Team
www.autelpilot.com“

Should have purchased the m30t. What a moron I am thinking Autel was coming along. More like still stringing along. I bit, hook, line, and sinker, all the pretty pictures and videos and new technologies. What a farce.
The aircraft isn’t bad but everything around it sucks.

 

[christr]

Which model did you buy? I bought one a few weeks back from an eBay seller and got it 2 days later. Odd that Autelpilot didn't have it in stock yet. I'd just cancel the order and charge back the credit card if they don't give you a refund promptly. Several places have them in stock.

Tho, be careful of the controllers... the one I got with my 4t isn't charging and now is totally dead. Didn't have any issues with the same kind of controller that I got with my 640 dual.

--Chris

 

[wcsodennie]

I bought the max 4t. It was in stock. I got that fine. It was the crap around the purchase then finding that nothing they promised as an enterprise drone is actually available. Spotlight/speaker combo which i have been waiting for and paid for, for 3 months while Autel robotics claimed to have them coming in mid march. I then get the run around about them still being in pre order. I asked how there is one on YouTube being demo’d by a company. Then I am told they have them in stock in China but now have a restriction to be able to ship. Maybe in a couple of months. It is the exact BS that I read before I purchased that made me leery….but I still went ahead like an idiot instead of sticking with the tried and true…DJIl THere is no way in hell Autel will every compete with DJI. They just dont commit themselves when offering up new products. The Evo Max 4t had to have a firmware update just to get half of what was promised in the advertisement you see on the websites. Probably still doesn’t do some of what was promised but I wont know until I get together with some other to form a mesh network with them. See if they can communicate. Now with the Autel Alpha out, this Evo Max is as good as shutdown. Just like the Evo II 640T v3. Versions are supposed to get better but I hear just about everyone on these forums say, Autel just dropped the ball on the product. Left the customers hanging. That Autel was shifting to Enterprise drones. Uh, no. They wont commit to that either.
I just cant take it any more. If i could get some fool to buy this set up I would pay the extra to go back to DJI and get the M30T in a heartbeat.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Trying to purchase the pre order since December as they said it would be shipping mid March. Here’s the most recent email

“At present, the equipment you asked about is in stock, but it is only in the warehouse in China. Due to the restriction, it cannot be shipped temporarily.

We recommend that you wait a few months, waiting for policy changes, before ordering.

Thank you.

---

Kind Regards,
Sophia | Autelpilot Support Team
www.autelpilot.com“

Should have purchased the m30t. What a moron I am thinking Autel was coming along. More like still stringing along. I bit, hook, line, and sinker, all the pretty pictures and videos and new technologies. What a farce.
The aircraft isn’t bad but everything around it sucks.

Just a heads up. Autelpilot.com is not affiliated with Autel in any way and they are a "basement" seller in China. We have massive amount of experience on the 4T / 4N / and Alpha and I can say without any hesitation that Autel is making the right strides to get their service and support reputation fixed.

 

[wcsodennie]

Just a heads up. Autelpilot.com is not affiliated with Autel in any way and they are a "basement" seller in China. We have massive amount of experience on the 4T / 4N / and Alpha and I can say without any hesitation that Autel is making the right strides to get their service and support reputation fixed.

Can you give me any information about the information about the shipping of the spotlight/speaker combo? I guess I need to be more patient. I see the huge potential of what I have in the Evo max but I want it yesterday as I think about what I could have purchased in the DJI product. I don’t want to be behind the competition with my business because I went the slow-to-the-plate Autel product. I want so badly for them to succeed. I would love to be a part of that movement but love information that I can feed people to keep them informed and optimistic.
In the law enforcement position I retired from recently I was always involved in research and development of products and services we used. Loved being a part of product development and know what goes into it so being on the outside of this product is frustrating not having information and sways me to the side of pessimism unfortunately.
Thanks you for the future outlook and other info you might be able to give me looking forward.

 

[GFields]

Should have purchased the m30t.

With congress trying to shut down DJI, I'm not sure that is the best option.

 

[wcsodennie]

They have said this for many years now. I’d at least be better off in the meantime. If the reasoning behind fcc cutting off DJI, then Autel is right behind them.

 

[jjradioactive]

Just be careful that autelpilot doesn’t ship you a used drone instead of new. They’ve sent me two used ones so far trying to pass them off as new. First one has obvious signs of wear. Second had several WiFi signals programmed in including the Autel service center in Bothel Washington and several hours of footage of flights in china saved on the remote.
If you get anything from autopilot.com that is not factory sealed, refuse it and send it back immediately.

 

[Syazoo]

Doesn’t sound like a great experience the OP is having. I’ve started buying autel Drones because I’m sick of DJI condescension. Their products have been good over the years no doubt about it. I had the fly safe fail on me one time too many. I have not sold my DJI enterprise Drones yet but I now I have bought a max 4T and a 640 T enterprise V3. So far I am getting great results with these Drones. Primarily using them for inspections. Have tried a couple of mapping jobs as well. I have no complaints whatsoever about the quality or accuracy. Both of my Autels have RTK modules on them. I am using Emlid stations and configure local NTRIP connections, which both drones connect to and produce fixed connections. I have contacted support with a couple of questions about the thermal behaviour on the 640 T enterprise. That was four days ago and I have not heard back.
I also bought a nano plus. Over the past couple years I have kept a sub 250 with me in the case of an emergency where I cannot get approval in time for a mission. Sometimes the sub 250 Drone save my bacon. That little nano has a fantastic camera. One thing that is consistent with all three of these recently bought drones is that the connectivity is for superior to anything I’ve experienced with my DJI Drones, including the Matrice series. I suppose I can’t really complain about matrice connectivity, but the autel is definitely better. The nano plus is night and day. Nano signal strength is much stronger and significantly better range than any of the DJI mini series drones I have used.
Both of my smart controller V3‘s have worked flawlessly. Great battery life and that screen is amazing. All three drones also have much better low light performance and the of the DJI enterprise or consumer drone I have. Again, I can complain about the DJI low light performance of the enterprise drones and also the mini three pro that I keep as my sub 250 emergency Drone. Autels are just simply better.
I sure never meant for this response to be so long winded. I’m just responding to share my experience with the Drones I have bought so far.

 

[christr]

Ordered my Autel Max 4T February 18th and this is April 09 and still do not have it! My first and last Autel!

Who did you buy it from and where are you located? Most of the resellers of Autel stuff have stock in the US and ship pretty quickly.

I'd just call your credit card company at this point and initiate a chargeback, then find a reputable dealer to buy from.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Ordered my Autel Max 4T February 18th and this is April 09 and still do not have it! My first and last Autel!

Autel 4T's are in stock and ready to ship. If you still do not have it from whoever you ordered it from, cancel that charge. I can have one at your door, tomorrow. Give me a call if you run into any problems - [email protected] - 239-790-1950

 

[Stormpro]

Who did you buy it from and where are you located? Most of the resellers of Autel stuff have stock in the US and ship pretty quickly.

I'd just call your credit card company at this point and initiate a chargeback, then find a reputable dealer to buy from.

They said they are going to make it right and I should have it by end of week. I am waiting. Two months is a long time!

 

[Lmccaskill]

Trying to purchase the pre order since December as they said it would be shipping mid March. Here’s the most recent email

“At present, the equipment you asked about is in stock, but it is only in the warehouse in China. Due to the restriction, it cannot be shipped temporarily.

We recommend that you wait a few months, waiting for policy changes, before ordering.

Thank you.

---

Kind Regards,
Sophia | Autelpilot Support Team
www.autelpilot.com“

Should have purchased the m30t. What a moron I am thinking Autel was coming along. More like still stringing along. I bit, hook, line, and sinker, all the pretty pictures and videos and new technologies. What a farce.
The aircraft isn’t bad but everything around it sucks.

Totally dissatisfied with Autel support or customer service. Has cost me thousands of dollars and reputation trying to promote their equipment

 

[Syazoo]

Totally dissatisfied with Autel support or customer service. Has cost me thousands of dollars and reputation trying to promote their equipment

Seems like you are blaming Autel Robotics for the actions of a reseller who tries to cloak their company to appear to be the manufacturer. The communications you are pasting into this thread are not from https://www.autelrobotics. .com. (I just added that space so that the URL would be displayed and not the tag description.)

 

[Stormpro]

They said they are going to make it right and I should have it by end of week. I am waiting. Two months is a long time!

I received my Max 4T and could not be happier. So glad I waited instead of cancelling and going with a different drone. This thing is awesome. There were some shipping issues from China but received a new great drone and flying the same day was a snap. I was use to my mini 4 and the Max 4T does fly different. My mini 4 gave me the bird and flew off (DJI is sending me a new one) so I got to use the Max 4T to try and locate it. The zoom and IR are just awesome. The stability in winds is great. I have already spent some time searching for a neighbors missing dogs which we have not found yet but it is cool to be able to help with this thing. I have flown it now for a couple of weeks and the only issue I had was right out of the box I knocked over the controller and both antennas popped off. Cheap arse antennas on a otherwise very good product. I actually flew the thing around my home without antennas while waiting on new ones. It would still fly and go up to around 130 feet before I would bring it down. Since I have the new antennas I have had 100% on the bars at all times. The ones I got from Amazon seem to be better than the factory ones. I have only flown out to about 1800 feet because I was nervous after the mini 4 fly away. Mini 4 cost me around $600 I think no big deal. Max 4T $8500 is a big deal. I spoke to another Max 4T pilot who flew his around 3 miles just to see how it would handle and he said his connection bars were full the whole time. He did not go further just because he was nervous like me. Whatever connection issues they had when they first came out I think are resolved. Still learning the system and getting the best use out of the cameras but I have used it in my work in insurance and I am getting top notch photo documentation on top of helping look for missing animals. We live close to a lake and river and have lost several people in the river and this will definitely be a great asset if that happens again. Deer, dogs, birds, people, and even squirrels show up on the IR even in the daytime. It is a little more difficult to see them if everything around them is warm but then you have the awesome zoom.

 

[christr]

I received my Max 4T and could not be happier. So glad I waited instead of cancelling and going with a different drone. This thing is awesome. There were some shipping issues from China but received a new great drone and flying the same day was a snap. I was use to my mini 4 and the Max 4T does fly different. My mini 4 gave me the bird and flew off (DJI is sending me a new one) so I got to use the Max 4T to try and locate it. The zoom and IR are just awesome. The stability in winds is great. I have already spent some time searching for a neighbors missing dogs which we have not found yet but it is cool to be able to help with this thing. I have flown it now for a couple of weeks and the only issue I had was right out of the box I knocked over the controller and both antennas popped off. Cheap arse antennas on a otherwise very good product. I actually flew the thing around my home without antennas while waiting on new ones. It would still fly and go up to around 130 feet before I would bring it down. Since I have the new antennas I have had 100% on the bars at all times. The ones I got from Amazon seem to be better than the factory ones. I have only flown out to about 1800 feet because I was nervous after the mini 4 fly away. Mini 4 cost me around $600 I think no big deal. Max 4T $8500 is a big deal. I spoke to another Max 4T pilot who flew his around 3 miles just to see how it would handle and he said his connection bars were full the whole time. He did not go further just because he was nervous like me. Whatever connection issues they had when they first came out I think are resolved. Still learning the system and getting the best use out of the cameras but I have used it in my work in insurance and I am getting top notch photo documentation on top of helping look for missing animals. We live close to a lake and river and have lost several people in the river and this will definitely be a great asset if that happens again. Deer, dogs, birds, people, and even squirrels show up on the IR even in the daytime. It is a little more difficult to see them if everything around them is warm but then you have the awesome zoom.

They're definitely nice aircraft when they run. But Autel's service is a bit sketchy. If you never need their service, and buy the drone for what it can do when it's sold (not what they often advertise it 'can do' at a later date) then again, great. But i've been wating for a couple weeks now on what to do with a controller that wont take a charge. They initially responded quickly, and when I sent the controller in for replace/replace they turned it around fast, but only replaced the battery. They never bothered to test to see if it would charge. So now I'm stuck with a Max 4T I still can't fly because I can't charge the controller. Every week I email asking for an update and they respond "it's been escalated to our technician and they'll respond soon". Sigh. At least I still have a functioning 640T and controller I can use, but I was hoping to sell that off.

--Chris