Autel EVO III "Leaks" over at DroneDJ.com

[spicynujac]

do not forget that the release of an Evo 3 will surely mean the abandonment of the Evo 2 v2 since the Evo 2 v1 is already obsolete. Think carefully .

How exactly is the Evo 2 obsolete?
Still getting new features all the time, best camera, new autopilot modes came this year.

Here I am thinking I still have the best drone on the market...

 

[herein2021]

How exactly is the Evo 2 obsolete?
Here I am thinking I still have the best drone on the market...

He/she did mention the V1 specifically. I still agree with you, mine is a V1 and it is far from obsolete, but I do think it would be rather challenging getting a V1 controller if mine were to break. Other than that, my V1 flies like the day I got it and is still paying for itself nearly daily.

 

[MikeReidPhotography]

The Evo 2 Pro is the best photographers folding drone on the market

 

[OldBlueHeron]

I would argue the v1 is less obsolete then the v2. They’re both less obsolete then the Nano or the Lite. Those have been forgotten by Autel.

 

[Dale EVO 2 V2]

I love my EVO II Pro V2 and my Smart Controller V2 but I really feel I have obsolescence in my V2 equipment. Almost $5,000.00 Canadian dollars wrapped up and I feel I have been left at the station. AlienTech antenna booster was another $600.00 that seems to be wasted too. I was getting just as much distance with the SMA antennas. The DJI people waited a long while and upgraded their existing equipment before throwing all their money at something “new and improved” and forgetting their legacy customers at the “station”. I believe Autel dumped their CEO Randall Wornos because he called them on these points and they couldn’t afford to move ahead with a CEO who had the vision of taking care of their older customers. Autel feels they can only survive with new “money” and new “products”. I strongly disagree.

 

[TomRaz]

Any idea when the rumored release date of the new model is going to be announced ?

 

[herein2021]

I love my EVO II Pro V2 and my Smart Controller V2 but I really feel I have obsolescence in my V2 equipment. Almost $5,000.00 Canadian dollars wrapped up and I feel I have been left at the station. AlienTech antenna booster was another $600.00 that seems to be wasted too. I was getting just as much distance with the SMA antennas. The DJI people waited a long while and upgraded their existing equipment before throwing all their money at something “new and improved” and forgetting their legacy customers at the “station”. I believe Autel dumped their CEO Randall Wornos because he called them on these points and they couldn’t afford to move ahead with a CEO who had the vision of taking care of their older customers. Autel feels they can only survive with new “money” and new “products”. I strongly disagree.

Your buyers regret is why I don't buy anything other than batteries, a case, and a tablet holder when I buy into a drone system.

Drones, especially Autel drones, aren't really like anything else on the market today. They have a very limited life (2yrs is the average according to one study that I read awhile back), they are expensive when compared to many other things that last longer, and even if you don't crash your drone with two years, with Autel you will be unable to get batteries within 3yrs (if history is any indication of the future).

That's why I would never buy a smart controller, or filter kit, or range extender...etc. They are just expensive accessories that you are buying for an ecosystem with a very short shelf life.

 

[Dale EVO 2 V2]

Your buyers regret is why I don't buy anything other than batteries, a case, and a tablet holder when I buy into a drone system.

Drones, especially Autel drones, aren't really like anything else on the market today. They have a very limited life (2yrs is the average according to one study that I read awhile back), they are expensive when compared to many other things that last longer, and even if you don't crash your drone with two years, with Autel you will be unable to get batteries within 3yrs (if history is any indication of the future).

That's why I would never buy a smart controller, or filter kit, or range extender...etc. They are just expensive accessories that you are buying for an ecosystem with a very short shelf life.

If I thought the way you do then I wouldn't buy ANY drone on the open market.

I have had Phantom drones from DJI that were 5 or 6 years old. Still fly great and batteries and other accessories are still available.

I don't see a doomsday clock ticking on my Phantom drones or my EVO 2 Pro V2. I'm not smelling what you're stepping in..........Hmmm.

 

[Felix the Cat]

Never mind the all-singing all-dancing new models. Autel would be better serving its customer base by fixing all the bugs and filling in all the blanks in their existing drones. Apart from that - you can guarantee that the EVO III: NANO++: LITE v.2 will be just as buggy and short on features as all the others have been. Something the Faithful will only discover AFTER they have forked out a disgusting amount of money for a 3/4 finished product.

 

[Felix the Cat]

That’s complete nonsense.. DJI drones do force landings and have caught many people with their pants down. Especially when DJI activates a TFR when they have no rights to do so?

How do I know so much about DJI and their geo fencing? well let’s just say I worked for them for many years and actually was one of four people with the authority to unlock craft .

This is true. Geofencing forces the UAV towards the ground at about 30 degree downward angle. My oppo was flying his Mav Pro and had forgotten to port his unlock certificate to the aircraft. As he approached the locked zone, it was like he had hit a soft net and his drone had no stick control. Forced landing. This was the single biggest reason why I bought Autel: no enforced geofencing... YET... arbitrary DJI geozones have made multiple legitimate deployments a real pain in the arse - a lot of the blue locked areas are STILL airfields and military sites that are defunct and haven't been used since World War 2. The same with exclusively interior shoots (the one reason I bought the Nano+). The drone never gets to see the open sky: it is being used to shoot internal architectural features; but if the built asset is inside a blue or red zone: it's time to jump through red-tape hoops instead of just getting the job done.

 

[kenautelevo2pro]

v3 and smart controllers?

Autel EVO II V3 drones, Smart Controller hit the FCC

Autel Robotics is readying to release six EVO II V3 drones and two new smart controllers, the company's recent FCC filings indicate.

dronedj.com

 

[AstroNoot]

You have to be sh1tting me...

 

[OldBlueHeron]

WTF Autel? Seriously? I’m so done.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

WTF Autel? Seriously? I’m so done.

I have been done with Autel for over three years now. One and half years ago I broke down and bought my first DJI drone and never looked back at Autel. Some of you older guys know I preached the bible for Autel and never thought I would enjoy the life on the dark side so much but Autel sucks big time. They are like a women on welfare that has babies to get money from the system. She don't know how to take care of them or bring them to maturity but has no problem producing more of the same crap.
Anyone who buys into Autel is just asking to be let down. When RID comes out the geo fencing argument will mean very little.

 

[Bigdz]

I have been done with Autel for over three years now. One and half years ago I broke down and bought my first DJI drone and never looked back at Autel. Some of you older guys know I preached the bible for Autel and never thought I would enjoy the life on the dark side so much but Autel sucks big time. They are like a women on welfare that has babies to get money from the system. She don't know how to take care of them or bring them to maturity but has no problem producing more of the same crap.
Anyone who buys into Autel is just asking to be let down. When RID comes out the geo fencing argument will mean very little.

If this isn't an indicator that Autel just makes products and leaves its customers hanging after every new reiteration. I don't know what is... I bought my first and last Autel product when the Evo 2 Pro released in 2020. I have no plans to ever buy Autel again. Geofence isn't an issue as getting clearance via Fly Safe-DJI is easy to obtain.

 

[Cicero24]

Never mind the all-singing all-dancing new models. Autel would be better serving its customer base by fixing all the bugs and filling in all the blanks in their existing drones. Apart from that - you can guarantee that the EVO III: NANO++: LITE v.2 will be just as buggy and short on features as all the others have been. Something the Faithful will only discover AFTER they have forked out a disgusting amount of money for a 3/4 finished product.

This right here!!!! Nothing more true than this statement in regards to anything Autel. Effff the EVO II, Nahno, Lite - and anything else Autel. No more.

 

[Brock Inspector]

Timing says it's highly likely that the FCC filing has to do with the FAA Final Rule and MOC for Remote ID that was just published in the Federal Register just Aug 11.

I see absolutely nothing new speculated here besides chipset changes needed to remain in regulatory compliance. Batteries and airframes are unchanged. All the bells and whistles of the Enterprise models and the RTK modules and cameras look to remain the same as the currently existent Autel lineup.

If there isn't going to be forwards and backwards compatibility with V1 or V2 Smart Controllers--well, that could certainly be a disappointment for anyone still believing in Santa Claus. (You've had 18 mos to prepare for this moment. It's not like the FAA just sprang Remote ID on us)

 

[Dave Pitman]

I see absolutely nothing new speculated here besides chipset changes needed to remain in regulatory compliance.

It is extremely likely that all versions of the current Evo2 have the ability to comply with RID by implementing the recently approved ASTM roadmap in firmware. It's not that difficult, technically speaking.

Besides, ASTM was just approved by the FAA Aug. 11 so it is basically impossible that Autel instantly decides to comply with yet another version of the chipset. The FCC application was likely submitted before the FAA approval of ASTM.

Good guess though! And not meant to disparage your comments.

 

[Brock Inspector]

Aug 11 was the date of publication in the Federal Register. The MOC approval itself was leaked in the news weeks earlier, without specifics. But technical specs would have been known to the petitioners for licensing them to 3rd parties (e.g. Autel Robotics) before they became general knowledge with Aug 11 publication. Whether they worked it out before or after (or even whether they licensed the lone MOC approved scheme) isn't all that important to know. What can be said with more certainty is that any FCC approved implementation going forward will have some form of compliant RID or it won't get approved. AFAIK, there's still only one such MOC to date; it's not clear that it's the only means of compliance that will ever be approved-- just the one that's known to get them over the hump now. Autel may have the luxury of time with backwardation for existing product once they've got a path forward with minimal parts change-out that can be fabbed and sold beyond the middle of next month. They have no regulatory requirement to make drones that are already out-the-door compliant. That's more of sales, marketing, and cost-savings win, for instance if they could just flash the F/W of their production already somewhere in the supply chain. Too, they could be pursuing both things at the same time, in parallel.

Anyway, besides the uncertainty of Remote ID, the one big gaping hole in the lineup for more than a year has been that V2 chipset took away the possibility of Live Deck. If it returns with Live Deck 2 (or 3?)-- say with the 2.7K over-the-air resolution that the Autel Lite remote feed already has--that would be a very positive, game-changing development

 

[Dave Pitman]

I totally agree that we do not know.

You've been around the uas block. I don't think that there is a debate whether or not current, (last 3 or 4 years) platform's hardware is capable of ASTM's model for RID. It's a matter of manufacturer willingness to provide the firmware for them. Remember that DJI Aeroscope was / is a working proof of concept basically meeting the requirements of RID. And it was developed in 2016/17. And it works with craft going back to the P3 (I think).