Is it time to switch to DJI because of a lack of support?

[Jagerbomb52]

this is post covid, everything is a mess.. your not gonna gain any improvements by switching to DJI.. theire products also have bugs and major issues..

i also had motor failure on a DJI mini3 , lucky for me i wasnt over water and it crashed into a snow bank, so I still had log files and something to return.

Where the heck do you live that it crashed into snow? It was Released on 10 May 2022.

 

[flyingfool]

Where the heck do you live that it crashed into snow? It was Released on 10 May 2022.

working on other side of the equator

 

[kyokushinkai]

I am in the market for a new drone because my EVO II Pro crashed in the river. I wanted to replace it with a refurbished EVO II Pro but they are out of stock and apparently the new ones are out of stock also.

Ive been a loyal Autel Robotics Robotics customer since the X-Star Premium was released, I'm now thinking of switching to DJI because I'm concerned about the future of Aitel Robotics. The last few times I needed tech support it literally took weeks and several emails to get a reply.

I can't even replace my drone or get an answer from tech support and I'm growing impatient. With each passing day, I'm having second thoughts about investing this much money in a drone if the company can't support it.

I suspect others here have had similar experiences and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you think the problems with Alltel Robotics are temporary or, is it a sign of the way things are going to be from here on? This is been going on for at least a couple of months. I realize they are extremely short staffed but you would think they could hire some extra people if they are serious about the drone business.

I've been trying to get an answer from tech support for over a week now and I've decided to give them one more week before I move to DJI to get my replacement drone. You would think they wouldn't want to lose long-term customers who give them repeat business but it appears that's not a priority for them. However, I'm hoping they will come through for me so I can continue to be in Autel Robotics customer because I have really enjoyed their drones. We will see.

Autel is a China company and that's that! They have had support problems from day one. All of their advertising about being in the USA and support being online is all a lie just to push China made drones. When a company acts like Autel and does not provide support for customers they loose them, that's plain and simple. They do make a good Evo 2 drone and I love it but would never buy again from them. Still waiting on my return money for a Nano + which was a piece of 18 minute flying junk!

 

[flyingfool]

only good drone they made was the evo 1 and 2 with the old controller, with built in oled screen, try finding a sealed NOS box out there.. the new autel drones are untrustworthy with the software and new SKY app. i don't like how older phones cannot download the new app. which tells me Autel and China are adding background software and possibly exposing the pilot to government and corporate spying on the user. dont trust the new tech. the better it gets the more they can see our data.

learn to build your own drones

 

[uberamd]

I’ll say that I have my gripes about the performance of my E2Pv2 but when I needed to get the drone inspected because it was obviously broken: I called them on their support phone number, they made a ticket, and started a repair request. I mailed the drone in, they fixed it, and I got it back within 10 total days.

To the folks who keep having their emails unanswered: are you willing/able to call them? Note this experience was from within the US.

 

[Felix the Cat]

only good drone they made was the evo 1 and 2 with the old controller, with built in oled screen, try finding a sealed NOS box out there.. the new autel drones are untrustworthy with the software and new SKY app. i don't like how older phones cannot download the new app. which tells me Autel and China are adding background software and possibly exposing the pilot to government and corporate spying on the user. dont trust the new tech. the better it gets the more they can see our data.

learn to build your own drones

... and DJI don't collect user data? Both companies are as bad as each other in this respect - at least DJI actually produce a damn good product to begin with. It might take them 6 months to get the firmware updates in place and working properly, but at least the drone works closer to 100% out of the box and all the pre-release advertised features are there from the off.

Got to be honest - I bought Autel because I thought they were a hairs-breadth away from being a DJI equal, I also bought Autel because I was seriously ticked off with the DJI Big Brother mentality. Now I've had hands-on experience with an Autel product: I can truthfully say that I will never waste my money or my time with Autel again.

I'll tell you what the single biggest problem is with Autel - it's Autel. The management of this company are operating it as if they've got a "fire-sale" mentality. Instead of developing and then perfecting what are the bare bones of genuinely impressive drones: they chuck part-finished products out to the fanboy market they developed with their only two successful folding quad drones: the EVO 1 and the first release EVO 2 (v.1) because they know they're going to get a sale and then get away with dragging their heels dodging the complaints until their next "Big Thing" gets leaked to the fanboy market - who they know will go mental and buy the thing as soon as it's thrown out into the marketplace in the hopes that this one will actually work properly.

A fool and their money are easily parted... and I lump myself in with that quote.

 

[flyingfool]

DJI looks like a good product until the motors fail in flight.. DJI barly got thier sh*t together on puting out a good product. both DJI and AUtel do things better than the competition in certain aspects but niether one has the leg up on each other

I CAN Not build anything close to dji or autels 250 gram drones, but when I scale it up to say 450 size quads I can make stuff as good as them. anything thats fixed wing or larger drones I got covered

 

[flyingfool]

A fool and their money are easily parted... and I lump myself in with that quote.

I just chalk it up to the cost of education!!! don't learn the same lesson twice, then thats foolishness

 

[VdoMemories]

Its a miracle, I just got back both my Autel EVO2 Pro 6K drones right after paying the R A N S O M $ $ Autel had put on me.
** -- * * It took 6 to 8 months after they held both my drones " Hostage " and if that's not enough well over a years Harassment and hair pulling experience's.

Both drones are pretty much brand new but I'm afraid to even power them up since my experience with Autel was so bad ! !
I still need to power them to see if they even work before selling them off.

Autel has a mess with so many different firmware not knowing which one is right and which one will Stun your drone Helpless due to no fault of yours but stupidness on Autels firmware developer not knowing how to put-in the safe guards that the wrong firmware will not load and how can a wrongly placed firmware break the Remotes mother board and the drone housing, How ! !

The DJI Air 2 S is indeed a little " Beast " they keep updating the firmware every few days, never ever have to write or even call DJI.
I'm very lucky to have the left over of my hairs from Horrible Autel Hair Pulling experience !

My other one is DJI Mavic 3 Classic, " She is a Lady and well behaved " get constant firmware updated.

I'm a former Quality Control Manager by profession and speak my mind above all.

 

[Andre Autel EVO II Pro V2]

Curious... I have had some minor issues with my EVO II Pro v2 and Lite + and Autel responded within three days in each case. I had to send the EVO II back for repairs and it was returned to me within ten days.

Hallo, were did you send it because we can’t find a address in Europe .
thanks.

 

[ethelsnakes]

I sent the drone to Autel's U.S. headquarters: 22522 29th Dr SE, Ste 101, Bothell, WA 98021, United States.
Have you contacted their support email in Europe ([email protected])? Hopefully, they will send you an address.

 

[GeekOnTheWing]

learn to build your own drones

That's where I think I'm headed. Have you any resources you can point me to? Thanks.

 

[GeekOnTheWing]

I'll tell you what the single biggest problem is with Autel - it's Autel. The management of this company are operating it as if they've got a "fire-sale" mentality. Instead of developing and then perfecting what are the bare bones of genuinely impressive drones:

Yep. They come close to greatness: and then they abandon their creations like cereal box toys. It's mind-boggling.

I can rattle off any number of other vendors who take their support obligations more seriously; but in my opinion, the one that epitomizes what technology support should be is Apple. Specifically:

• Apple sells quality products at all "trim" levels, for lack of a better word.
• They support those products for as long as the limitations of the hardware make it possible to do so. The average is about six years.
• They offer generous trade-ins on upgrades.
• They make factory-quality repairs ridiculously easy to obtain at reasonable prices.
• They make sure, to the maximum extent possible, that all their devices are compatible with their other devices and work seamlessly together.
• They answer the blasted phone when you call.

What I see from AR is pretty much the exact opposite:

• Autel's support cycles are short, averaging about two years.
• I'm not aware of any two series of Autel drones that work with each other.
• They don't backport upgrades (for example, RID), nor provide add-on modules, not even for sale let alone free.
• They do nothing to compensate owners when they obsolesce products that they claimed would be future-compatible (for example, the EVO 2 V1 Smart Controller).
• They offer no trade-ins on upgrades.
• They don't provide retrofit upgrades on essentially-identical airframes or controllers.
• Support is hit or miss. Sometimes they answer the phone, sometimes they don't; and email replies can take week.
• Repairs are also hit or miss. Some take a week, some take months.

This is on products that cost more than about half the cars I've owned, mind you.

I love my EVO 2 Pro 6K (V1). But sometimes I feel more like a foster parent than an owner. It's actual parent has abandoned it, leaving me as the one person in the world who loves it.

I've had it with this company. Unless they make some major changes, which is unlikely short of legal action, I can't see myself ever buying another one of their products. That's a shame because the products themselves are good (albeit overstated in their advertising). It's the company I hate, not the drones.

 

[Eagle928]

Yep. They come close to greatness: and then they abandon their creations like cereal box toys. It's mind-boggling.

I can rattle off any number of other vendors who take their support obligations more seriously; but in my opinion, the one that epitomizes what technology support should be is Apple. Specifically:

• Apple sells quality products at all "trim" levels, for lack of a better word.
• They support those products for as long as the limitations of the hardware make it possible to do so. The average is about six years.
• They offer generous trade-ins on upgrades.
• They make factory-quality repairs ridiculously easy to obtain at reasonable prices.
• They make sure, to the maximum extent possible, that all their devices are compatible with their other devices and work seamlessly together.
• They answer the blasted phone when you call.

What I see from AR is pretty much the exact opposite:

• Autel's support cycles are short, averaging about two years.
• I'm not aware of any two series of Autel drones that work with each other.
• They don't backport upgrades (for example, RID), nor provide add-on modules, not even for sale let alone free.
• They do nothing to compensate owners when they obsolesce products that they claimed would be future-compatible (for example, the EVO 2 V1 Smart Controller).
• They offer no trade-ins on upgrades.
• They don't provide retrofit upgrades on essentially-identical airframes or controllers.
• Support is hit or miss. Sometimes they answer the phone, sometimes they don't; and email replies can take week.
• Repairs are also hit or miss. Some take a week, some take months.

This is on products that cost more than about half the cars I've owned, mind you.

I love my EVO 2 Pro 6K (V1). But sometimes I feel more like a foster parent than an owner. It's actual parent has abandoned it, leaving me as the one person in the world who loves it.

I've had it with this company. Unless they make some major changes, which is unlikely short of legal action, I can't see myself ever buying another one of their products. That's a shame because the products themselves are good (albeit overstated in their advertising). It's the company I hate, not the drones.

Once again I must say I understand your frustration. This is a fixable issue. The question is if the parent company is willing to put the time, money, and effort into fixing it. Autel is very successful and also known for high quality vehicle diagnostic scanners. They have the resources.

 

[FreedomFlight]

i wont go anywhere near DJI, my mini 2 fell out of the sky on its second flight, DJI has major QC issues with the motor manufactuer.. they lock up inflight

bought a brand new Nano+ and I'm getting ready to ship it back..

does anyone know of an un used EVO1 in box for sale? lol that work horse never failed me

I have had over 160 flights on my DJI Mini 2, no difficulties.
I suspect that as with many different products, there are some "lemons" out there. We just have to hope that the one we buy isn't a lemon, and hope that the company is ethical enough to replace one that immediately has problems out of the box.

 

[JonasSiljan]

TL;DR : YES. Autel is a mess.

 

[VdoMemories]

Yes, DJI is moving forwards with leaps and bounds, every 3 days they have an update to help their drone move to finer heights.

I have two Autel EVO 2 Pro 6K first they were being held Hostage by Autel for 6 to 8 months due to no fault of mine ! Now I'm a Proud and Happy owner of DJI Mavic 3 loaded with

DJI Mavic 3 - Waypoints & Course Lock Hyperlapse (a badass feature) unlike any.​

Next I bought their DJI Air 2 S a little " Beast " it does it all with style !

After I got my Autel EVO 2 Pro back after paying Ransom none of my three cell work now with their Autel Explorer, now.

 

[JonasSiljan]

Also ordered a Mavic 3 FMP with RC Pro. The RC Pro is expensive. but unlike the Smart controllers by Autel I have some faith it will work 2-3 years, and I can fly a Mini 3 Pro with it, which I will get once I have the Nani plus working do I can sell it. Shame on the Nano, I really like it when it works (and it worked super well for almost a year, but completely bricking it on the last firmware evaporates and business use for myself. I can simply not agree to a client shoot involving several managers to then have a non-binding drone acting up, that is so embarrassing. With the RC Pro, I should be able to fly either the Mavic 3 or the Mini 3 Pro / Mini 4 / whatever future little backup drone with a killer transmitting power and image quality.

 

[VdoMemories]

Autel lacked the resources to develop further and give us updates every 3 to 4 days to help improve their Autel EVO 2 Pro flagship drone. They started to hold customers " Hostage " for ransom. Their Grease Monkeys in Customers Service were further Sabotaging the company but mind you the top leadership too was involved just as bad !

The Autel Explorer no longer work with my cell phones after I got my Autel EVO 2 Pro back after being held hostage ! !
AE keeps crashing.