Hey Randall - Welcome Aboard - Now Please Provide EVO 1 Support

[GLEvideo]

We hear all the good talk from and about Randall Warnas joining the Autel team. We have great hopes of continued support for the EVO 1. I've got to say that for the consumer making the $1000 + investment in a hobby toy is not an easy thing to do but when we've done that we would certainly expect continued support for a long time. Is EVO now considered an End Of Life product? Sure seems so. Randall, please ramp up the support for this product. Many of us are still out here. We are not likely to make another major investment in an EVO 2 knowing what could happen to us again with that product. We have batteries failing all over the place and now find them difficult or in some cases impossible to replace. Firmware also has bugs that still have not been addressed and updates are needed. Now that things have slowed down due to the chip shortage we would hope Autel would direct some of it's time and energy into supporting EVO 1. At the very least, provide us with service manuals and parts for some of us to be able to perform our own repairs such as rebuilding battery packs. Please don't leave us behind and forget us or we will certainly forget you.

 

[ORANGE CRUSH]

Your funny, they are going to drop the Evo 1 line like they did the x-star, this is what Autel does!!

 

[ElectricPickle]

I'm 65 years old and have been a hobbyist R/C pilot my entire life. When the "quadcopter" craze started I built my own with instructions I found on the Internet and parts ordered online. None of these home-built drones had sophisticated GPS enabled controllers or high resolution cameras so you had to actually fly them within sight and correct for every gust of wind. I had been watching the DJI products for a while but really could not justify the cost of one as just a hobby. I ended up leaving the hobby for a couple of years and one day saw a review of the Autel EVO 1 and all of the nice things it did. I then did research of what was available from other drone makers and decided the EVO 1 would be the one to purchase - and a sale at Best Buy helped too. I was thrilled with it but I think the first week I flew into some moss hanging from a tree and crashed it. Autel replaced the camera and gimbal for a fee (no problem - the crash was my fault) and I was back flying again. All three of the original batteries now report as "Bad" and have been retired. I bought new/used ones off eBay to keep me flying, which I still enjoy.

Will I buy a product from Autel again? Probably not. Like GLEvideo said, they bring out a new model and totally drop the old one. I call that not supporting your $1,000 product.

 

[moodman]

All these posts reinforce what I have been saying to empty air on this forum. It seems that Evo 2 owners will have to learn the same lesson. I didn't buy the Evo 2 for EXACTLY the reasons stated above. That is, as soon as a new product emerges, Autel has proven, but their lack of ongoing support for legacy products, that they are more interested in new sales than supporting loyal existing customers. That business model will only work for a while, because eventually the word will get out on the street and suddenly Autel will find out the power of word of mouth. Then they will scratch their heads and wonder why new customers aren't buying the "next big thing". It's because eventually marketing can only create so much hype, beyond which customers get wise. This is happening with DJI, and they are not too big to fail. So Autel, you have an opportunity. I hope you don't blow it.

 

[GunnerBAC]

All these posts reinforce what I have been saying to empty air on this forum. It seems that Evo 2 owners will have to learn the same lesson. I didn't buy the Evo 2 for EXACTLY the reasons stated above. That is, as soon as a new product emerges, Autel has proven, but their lack of ongoing support for legacy products, that they are more interested in new sales than supporting loyal existing customers. That business model will only work for a while, because eventually the word will get out on the street and suddenly Autel will find out the power of word of mouth. Then they will scratch their heads and wonder why new customers aren't buying the "next big thing". It's because eventually marketing can only create so much hype, beyond which customers get wise. This is happening with DJI, and they are not too big to fail. So Autel, you have an opportunity. I hope you don't blow it.

Is there anybody else that you recommend that's better right now?

 

[OldBlueHeron]

Evo 1 is officially EOL now.

 

[JuanPablo]

Evo 1 is officially EOL now.

Which is exactly why Autel is EOL in my household!

 

[JuanPablo]

Just wanted to let everyone know that Autel has a survey out and while I have not personally seen it I have heard that it includes questions about how long to provide support for existing platforms! I will be looking into it today.

 

[GunnerBAC]

Just wanted to let everyone know that Autel has a survey out and while I have not personally seen it I have heard that it includes questions about how long to provide support for existing platforms! I will be looking into it today.

Yup! Here is the direct link to the survey:

Autel End-User Survey Summer 2021

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

www.surveymonkey.com

 

[Tman1265]

Autel is end of life in my household also. The geo fencing is not that big of an issue with DJI and the Air 2 S looks like it will do what I need when I can no longer get Evo batteries.

 

[JuanPablo]

Autel is end of life in my household also. The geo fencing is not that big of an issue with DJI and the Air 2 S looks like it will do what I need when I can no longer get Evo batteries.

I never thought I would say this but I am actually considering buying a drone from DJI and having it hacked. I own 5+ acres that is bordered on 2 sides by National Park Service property. Drones with NFZ restriction do not fly right or do not fly at all on my property so Autel was pretty much my only choice back a few years ago.

 

[GunnerBAC]

I never thought I would say this but I am actually considering buying a drone from DJI and having it hacked. I own 5+ acres that is bordered on 2 sides by National Park Service property. Drones with NFZ restriction do not fly right or do not fly at all on my property so Autel was pretty much my only choice back a few years ago.

Here is the link to what you're talking about just in case you didn't already have it:

nolimitdronez.com

www.nolimitdronez.com

 

[YuKay]

Yup! Here is the direct link to the survey:

Autel End-User Survey Summer 2021

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

www.surveymonkey.com

I responded to that survey but I fear it's an Autel PR exercise. They don't need to ask customers how long they want their expensive new drone to supported for...it's like asking how long you would like to live for, and everyone has the same answer.

I know for sure that if they had told me when I bought my EVO 1 two years ago that it would be EOL within two years, I would have kept my cash in my pocket.

And yes, I also fear the worst for anyone who has bought an expensive new EVO 2 product this year (or the LiveDeck or the new Smart Controller v1).

Why is there still nothing on the Autel website about this chip fandango? It is definitely big news but doesn't even rate a mention on their news page. So they are trying to keep it quiet - and presumably hoping to sell EOL EVO 2v1 stock to uninformed punters without telling them about the black hole they are investing in.

The longer this cloak and dagger comms carries on, the more I fear that they are opening themselves up to a class action. Their website is apparently controlled by the Three Wise Monkeys and the CEO is consciously duping the customers who come to his website - no matter how many vague, virtuous, weasel words he utters on this forum.

Tell them, Autel!

 

[ORANGE CRUSH]

Very well said!

 

[GunnerBAC]

I responded to that survey but I fear it's an Autel PR exercise. They don't need to ask customers how long they want their expensive new drone to supported for...it's like asking how long you would like to live for, and everyone has the same answer.

I know for sure that if they had told me when I bought my EVO 1 two years ago that it would be EOL within two years, I would have kept my cash in my pocket.

And yes, I also fear the worst for anyone who has bought an expensive new EVO 2 product this year (or the LiveDeck or the new Smart Controller v1).

Why is there still nothing on the Autel website about this chip fandango? It is definitely big news but doesn't even rate a mention on their news page. So they are trying to keep it quiet - and presumably hoping to sell EOL EVO 2v1 stock to uninformed punters without telling them about the black hole they are investing in.

The longer this cloak and dagger comms carries on, the more I fear that they are opening themselves up to a class action. Their website is apparently controlled by the Three Wise Monkeys and the CEO is consciously duping the customers who come to his website - no matter how many vague, virtuous, weasel words he utters on this forum.

Tell them, Autel!

I couldn't agree more. This is the conclusion I have come to as well since I talked to Blade Strike in another thread. Take a look for yourself, just read starting from this post and on:

EVO II V2 Units are now available!

With current public system updates, firmware and app, you won’t even be able to select it. Hi Blade Strike! Thanks for taking the time to give us some info! A lot of us are still confused though. Do you think you could answer some additional questions for us, please? 1. Wasn't the V1 Smart...

autelpilots.com

I guess it's on to DJI...

 

[bladerunner]

My story is very similar! Purchased an EVO about a year and a half ago after a lot of research. Now, the batteries seem to be failng and I can no longer fly it using the explorer app as Autel has apparently updated it for the Evo 2 with code that causes the EVO One to fail. Works with the controller, just not the app. From what I understand it's risky to use the controller as I don't believe it marks the home point. In addition the screen size is quite small and difficult to read. Autel, please fix this software problem as I have a drone with a relatively few hours on it and six batteries at this point just collecting dust!

 

[Autelguy]

Guys go read my post here. Their new CEO is gone only after 9 weeks.

What has happened to Autel?

It's been a few months since I've flown my Evo 1 and have woken up to what seems a nightmare. Where to begin... 1) The lastest app screws up the ability to change any of the camera settings. 2) Almost all of my 7 batteries are now bad even though I've followed all the instructions. Charged...

autelpilots.com