I am returning the Nano+

[Darkmatterx76]

Chris pulls no punches. lol

 

[Sdeups]

I have the impression that there is one barking on all the sposts!!!

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

I also have returned 2 x Nano+ up to now.
Issues at first one (purchased in March):
- hoovering all places, with up to 1 meter movements in hoover, up-down left-right front-back. Yes, had full sats, IMU calibrated, Compass calibrated, as i run a lot of Evo2 Pro and had to learn to do this properly to have flawless work of Evo 2 Pro and E2E.
- at movements in sides, a lot of up and downs, like 0.7 meters difference in only 20 meters.
This 1st drone was a wreck as it was for filming in parts of town that needs approvals for my Evo 2's. Nano+ was just impossible to work with, and I use manual mode from years...
Issues at second one (purchased April):
- Gimbal dead after boot....was just DOA.

Not to mention the firmware updates that were a "nice" experience (until this one, I thought Evo 2 is a nightmare compared to DJI, I just changed my opinion).

Hardware with a lot of issues....updates of firmware just uncovered a lot of poor quality components that failed at firmware update...

From my experience with 1st drone that actually flied, I have seen this issues:
1. Strong optical distortion that is needed to be fixed by Autel (RAW)
2. Strong vigneting (RAW)
3. Lack of proper color mapping for Raw for RYYB sensor (Huawei P40 Pro even now have issues with RAW, so be careful, this might be a very long term problem). Yes, we can fix it close to good ones, but will fail to achieve the right colors in all spectrum.
4. High instability on very light winds - breeze (was jumping like a drunk mule).
5. Improper handling of speed against wind (at each guts, the drone instead of increasing power to keep same speed, just was stopping = disaster at recording something).
6. Tracking inexistent...Just don't....
7. Battery not optimized as remaining time (does not know to calculate the return to home based on wind that is at departure)

So....I do not care what fan boys can say about Nano+....I own a lot of Autel products but I will never defend a producer just because "I own the products from him".
Conclusion:
- camera: good if you don't need Raw...Have sharpness, have good DR. For pictures = just don't...
- flight experience: you will get a nasty headache if wind starts...if is no wind, is nice, if is wind, is a crap.

At this point does not worth the money. Is unfinished, but is not just that, it seems to have a lot of hardware limitations related to wind that will make this drone a disaster, despite the good camera. And frankly, programmers from Autel seems to not learning a hard lesson from others: think the product like a user, not like an engineer... Fly with it for footage and see the weak points at beginning, don't just change the specifications because you are unable to program it properly

 

[OldBlueHeron]

I’m keeping mine. Just to see what Autel does with it. That camera is so good, but man that software just sucks. I got my GPC case for it today. That case may be too good for it.

 

[lifeisfun]

I’m keeping mine. Just to see what Autel does with it. That camera is so good, but man that software just sucks. I got my GPC case for it today. That case may be too good for it.

I got my Autel hard case couple days ago, Hard to complain @ $42 shipped. Great value, only thing I'll do is to swap the charging hub slot for phone that I use as dedicated controller/display.

 

[willyates]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[kyokushinkai]

I am already very happy with the Air2S.

I wanted a travel drone sub 250 grams (and definitely not something over 1 Kg) that cannot be detected by Aeroscope. Autel was the closest competition to DJI with some decent drone quality. What surprises me are the very positive reviews from all major influencers on Youtube over the Nano+. I'm starting to question the honesty of those reviews... Ok, I get it that they received an expensive drone for free for an "honest", "unbiased" review, but still...

I have the Evo for my everyday flying but purchased a Hubsan Mini Pro for travelling and motorcycle trips. Just returned from the Rio Grande and shot hours of good video with the Hubsan Mini Pro, cant beat the price and has all the right stuff including sensors and night light.

 

[lifeisfun]

I have the Evo for my everyday flying but purchased a Hubsan Mini Pro for travelling and motorcycle trips. Just returned from the Rio Grande and shot hours of good video with the Hubsan Mini Pro, cant beat the price and has all the right stuff including sensors and night light.

Sadly the Hubsan can't compete with the camera image to the Nano+

 

[kyokushinkai]

Sadly the Hubsan can't compete with the camera image to the Nano+

Well we all have to give up something to fly! At least I can take pictures with the mini when the DJI products lock you out in the geozone crap. I do agree with you but was willing to give up something to get distance and flight time of 40 minutes versus 23-25 min with DJI.

 

[ramalonz0]

I want to buy an EVO Nano+, but I'm unsure which color to get. If I purchase multiple and need to make a return, what is the process? What courier is used? Also, do I have to buy the warranty initially, or can I purchase it within two days of activating the drone as DJI does? I've attempted to phone Autel but have been unsuccessful. I'm in the US btw. If you know the answer, please message me or post on this thread; thanks.

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

I want to buy an EVO Nano+, but I'm unsure which color to get. If I purchase multiple and need to make a return, what is the process? What courier is used? Also, do I have to buy the warranty initially, or can I purchase it within two days of activating the drone as DJI does? I've attempted to phone Autel but have been unsuccessful. I'm in the US btw. If you know the answer, please message me or post on this thread; thanks.

What an issue you have, indeed )))))
Choose a color, orange is seen better on sky.

 

[ramalonz0]

thanks for your reply but the red one looks nice too

 

[OldBlueHeron]

If you buy the grey one it gains DJI reliability +3.

 

[GeoDrone SRL]

If you buy the grey one it gains DJI reliability +3.

Also the grey one is more wind resistant...seems to be Cat 7 wind resistance )))))))))))))))

 

[Beaver]

The reasons for returning it:

1. Poor flying in relatively low wind. It takes ages to accelerate and it crawls against low wind where Mini 2 would fly 3 times as fast.
2. No manual camera controls for AEB and Panoramas
3. Significant vignetting and corner distortion.
4. Color inaccuracy. Even with the correct profile correction, the photos tend to have a greenish tone which needs tint correction. Also, some roof tops developed yellow/magenta zebra stripes -> a lot of work to correct this in Lightroom.
5. It takes 2 minutes to shoot a 360 panorama in low wind (mini 2 needs not more than 40 seconds).
6. Significant video feed delay causing me to loose time trying to frame a photo as the drone will move after I stop touching the controls.

Take into account points 1, 5, 6 combined with the flight time of 28 minutes (22 real) and you are left with very little usable time in the air. If I shoot 3 panoramas at 500 meters away in 15 kmph wind, I will come back on fumes with the drone in auto landing mode, needing to fly with the left stick up so the drone would not land automatically on a roof top.

The drone is launched way too early to the market, a clearly unfinished product, way too expensive for what it offers.

The advantage of non-detection by Aeroscope (no. 1 reason for purchasing it) cannot compensate for all the drawbacks.

Good Luck with that.

 

[izometric]

Thanks, it is returned and reimbursed for a long time already. I am enjoying to the fullest the DJI Mini 3 Pro. Amazing drone.

 

[Karatekid1800]

I own both, Mini 2 and Nano Plus. Already wrote this at another thread: Since I've got the Nano, I did not fly my Mini 2 a single time. First exception yesterday: I went out with a friend and her two little daughters (6 and 8) - I flew my Nano and took bad videos (because I am a bloody video novice), the kids had fun with the Mini 2.

So let's serve some facts ...

1) Mini 2 is easier to fly, also stops faster if you take your hands off the joysticks - the Nano has a longer "braking distance". Again, this is software-related.

2) Airborne stability is just comparable. The Nano works better with hovering near the ground. If the Mini 2 moves about 5 cm, it's just about 1 cm with the Nano. Two cameras plus ultrasonic sensor at the bottom of the Nano, just one tiny camera and infrared diodes with the Mini 2. Nano Plus also does real precise landings, Mini 2 doesn't.

3) I found the Nano's transmission to be more stable - I could easily reach places and keep control where the Mini 2 lost it's connection.

4) Nano Plus has a more serious video lag than the Mini 2 - video response while flying is a bit sluggish. I guess that's caused by the high bandwith used for video transmission.

5) I did NOT experience ANY issues with stronger winds with the Nano Plus. It was just as stable as the Mini 2, also I did not experience any accidental "gimbal drops" with the Nano, but countless ones with the Mini, even at slower speeds.

6) I DID experience the Nano being unable to move forward under strong wind, this is TRUE.
Just try to imagine you've got a car with three gears. Gear 1 is restricted to 10 km/h, gear 2 to 20 km/h, gear 3 to 55 km/h.
Restrictions for gears 1 and 2 are set for driving on a plain even street, power is limited to 10 HP and 20 HP for gears 1 and 2 for reaching 10 or 20 km/h on plain level ground, gear 3 is unrestrictred.
Now imagine what will happen if you go up a hill. Gears 1 and 2 are restricted to 10 and 20 HP, so your car won't reach 10 and 20 km/h because acceleration will be stopped as soon as the HP limit is hit. You switch to gear 3 - and easily go up that hill.
This is why the Nano struggles with strong wind. It CAN reach it's speeds, but the software restricts the motor power to a level which is just suitable for reaching it's speed with no wind. Simple software correction, problem solved.

7) I was surprised about the Nano Plus' batteries lasting longer than the Mini 2's, I did not expect that. I was wildly swirling around in Ludicrous mode while the kids crawled the meadows in the slowest mode the Mini 2 allows - and still the Nano lasted longer. Might've been just luck, but that's the way it was.

8) Photo quality of Mini 2 and Nano Plus is roughly on par with "simple" scenes, scenes having high contrasts, strong light. Same as with cheap digital cameras - work pretty well with bright and simple scenes, but struggle with more complex subjects, especially under low-light conditions. That's the situation with Mini 2 and Nano Plus: On par with simple scenes, but the Nano nailing the Mini to the wall as soon as subjects get more complex. Plus, there's strong noise in each and every picture the Mini 2 takes, even in very bright areas. Drawback of the Nano: Post-processing RAW files is possible and results in even better quality than JPG, but it's a bit difficult, a novice would be clearly overchallenged. But the JPGs are quite great, especially in low-light conditions. The Mini 2 is NO match, not at all.

9) Video quality is like day and night. Mini 2's 4K videos are like 1080p upscaled to 4K, Nano Plus' videos are 4K. Dynamic range is low with the Mini 2, far better with the Nano. In low-light situations, Mini2 produces a slurry, Nano delivers sharp pictures. Drawback of the Nano: 1080p recordings are unusable, grainy, unsharp, small field of view, unusable because they just take a crop from the center of a 4K video instead of recording 1080p using the full sensor. You need to record videos in 4K. But those really shine. You might have seen Vics low-light videos. They are real. If filming with the Nano Plus after sunset or before sunrise, the videos look like taken under regular light. Mini 2's videos at such points of time are just a pixelated mess of noise. But of course it's also game over with the Nano if it's pitch dark.

I could write a lot more - but I guess it's enough for now.
As said: I own both drones, thus I know what I am writing about. Picture quality is always of my highest concern if it comes to binoculars (I am also a hunter), smartphones or drones. I bought the Nano just a week after I got the Mini 2. I liked the Mini 2's flight characteristcs, but it's camera is a simple no-go for me. A great drone for learning to fly (or teaching kids how to fly without greater risks), a great drone for taking pictures, even videos under ideal conditions. The Nano is a bit more difficult to handle, but has the same wind resistance (and still that power limiting issue in "low gears"), but the Mini is no alternative if you wish to capture pictures and videos you will always like.
If Autel corrects the power limit issue and hones the obstacle avoidance a bit, it would be almost all I could wish for. Add a color correction profile for working with RAWs - and I would be just happy.

Hi there, thank you for the thorough comparison and apologies for jumping this thread.

Regarding point number 6 - can anyone confirm whether this issue has been resolved via firmware update? This thread is old so I hope it was.
I own a Mini 3 pro and I'm very disappointed with the video quality when comparing it to the Nano+, I'm thinking of returning the M3 Pro and getting the nano+. Any suggestions where I can get the nano+ for a good deal on Canada?

Cheers

 

[Eagle928]

Hi there, thank you for the thorough comparison and apologies for jumping this thread.

Regarding point number 6 - can anyone confirm whether this issue has been resolved via firmware update? This thread is old so I hope it was.
I own a Mini 3 pro and I'm very disappointed with the video quality when comparing it to the Nano+, I'm thinking of returning the M3 Pro and getting the nano+. Any suggestions where I can get the nano+ for a good deal on Canada?

Cheers

These little birds are tiny and weigh almost nothing so it's not surprising they struggle in winds above 15 mph. The Mini 3 does a little better but it still struggles. Camera wise the Nano+ wins all day long and twice on Sunday.

 

[Andrewe66]

The reasons for returning it:

1. Poor flying in relatively low wind. It takes ages to accelerate and it crawls against low wind where Mini 2 would fly 3 times as fast.
2. No manual camera controls for AEB and Panoramas
3. Significant vignetting and corner distortion.
4. Color inaccuracy. Even with the correct profile correction, the photos tend to have a greenish tone which needs tint correction. Also, some roof tops developed yellow/magenta zebra stripes -> a lot of work to correct this in Lightroom.
5. It takes 2 minutes to shoot a 360 panorama in low wind (mini 2 needs not more than 40 seconds).
6. Significant video feed delay causing me to loose time trying to frame a photo as the drone will move after I stop touching the controls.

Take into account points 1, 5, 6 combined with the flight time of 28 minutes (22 real) and you are left with very little usable time in the air. If I shoot 3 panoramas at 500 meters away in 15 kmph wind, I will come back on fumes with the drone in auto landing mode, needing to fly with the left stick up so the drone would not land automatically on a roof top.

The drone is launched way too early to the market, a clearly unfinished product, way too expensive for what it offers.

The advantage of non-detection by Aeroscope (no. 1 reason for purchasing it) cannot compensate for all the drawbacks.

All of the above, I would have sent it back if I could find it. It was homing but struggled made little progress finally it did get within 200 m but battery ran down. And it came down in high trees. As for the Autel care, that really sucks they want so much information but I cannot even log into the ap so I cannot send the logs. Here I am screwed yet again pretending to fly with a useless hand controller, i thought DJI were bad Autel are no better.