I currently own a Spark and honestly don't fly that much but am looking to get back into it. The Spark is a lot of fun but the flight time is at best about 12 minutes. I also use Litchi for waypoint missions and that works pretty well; that is, until the flight time limits of the battery come into play. I have been doing a lot of research and am consider and EVO (1 or 2) and Mavic Air 2. I just learned that Mavic Air 2 doesn't support waypoints in the DJI Fly app. Apparently you need the Mavic Pro series to get DJI's waypoint. And DJI has not released the SDK for MA2 or their newer Fly compatible drones (and may never release the SDK).
I would also like the ability for autonomous tracking while hiking, biking, etc. and have looked into Skydio2 as well. The biggest downside for me is that there doesn't seem to be a way to do waypoint missions with the Skydio2. The Skydio2 appears to be a very nice and capabile "follow me" drone but that's about it.
While I do like the omni-directional obstacle avoidance of the EVO2, It's substantially more money than the EVO1 and also seems physically quite large. I'm also concerned about the waypoint mission capability since it does not appear that Autel waypoints will smoothly transition between waypoints or can focus the camera on a POI like Litchi does.
I'm leaning towards and EVO1 but it is now 2 years old. The software looks better than DJI and it includes a waypoint feature. I've been reading about the downsides of Autel (gimbal horizon issues, props in frame at high speeds, jerky waypoints) so it's a tough decision. I'm not enamored with DJI; not so much because of the NFZ and other nanny features but more because I would like to support an American company while paying a fair price.
So, in short, I'm looking for a capable drone with reasonable obstacle avoidance, 20+ minutes of flight time on a single battery, waypoint capabilities and good support if needed. It seems the EVO1 should work. One question I do have is whether there are waypoint differences between the EVO1 and EVO2. Thanks in advance.
I would also like the ability for autonomous tracking while hiking, biking, etc. and have looked into Skydio2 as well. The biggest downside for me is that there doesn't seem to be a way to do waypoint missions with the Skydio2. The Skydio2 appears to be a very nice and capabile "follow me" drone but that's about it.
While I do like the omni-directional obstacle avoidance of the EVO2, It's substantially more money than the EVO1 and also seems physically quite large. I'm also concerned about the waypoint mission capability since it does not appear that Autel waypoints will smoothly transition between waypoints or can focus the camera on a POI like Litchi does.
I'm leaning towards and EVO1 but it is now 2 years old. The software looks better than DJI and it includes a waypoint feature. I've been reading about the downsides of Autel (gimbal horizon issues, props in frame at high speeds, jerky waypoints) so it's a tough decision. I'm not enamored with DJI; not so much because of the NFZ and other nanny features but more because I would like to support an American company while paying a fair price.
So, in short, I'm looking for a capable drone with reasonable obstacle avoidance, 20+ minutes of flight time on a single battery, waypoint capabilities and good support if needed. It seems the EVO1 should work. One question I do have is whether there are waypoint differences between the EVO1 and EVO2. Thanks in advance.
