Still on the fence with brand of choice?

QuadSquad · Sep 9, 2017

Take a look at this, if you're undecided between DJI, or Autel.

Tufargon · Sep 9, 2017

I told the guy about the XSP so he might show up here asking questions about it.
A lot of people don't know about Autel. Even people that are very familiar with the drone world.
I for one love my XSP and the CS and plan to tell anyone looking for a drone about them.

arto.inetco · Sep 9, 2017

This happened to me with our dji phantom4pro on a client shoot. It need a mandatory firmware upgrade from the internet to the drone....direct....I could not mess with it....ditched the dji and flew all day w the pumpkin. This was the third time since March that has happened where something needed updating right then and there or it would not fly...I fly the autel on old firmware, not beta, no internet needed...and it just works! That's what I like about the xsp, stable and no surprises.

LuvMyTJ · Sep 10, 2017

I have owned a few DJI products... I just didn't do the update... they are not mandatory. Besdies, the Spark was a special situation where they were losing power, this was done to be sure that people had a safe product. Updates are normal with other brands. Autel seems to be the only company to leave their customers hanging forever. Again, DJI updates are not mandatory on all quads other than the Spark and that was a one time thing. I love my Autel but DJI is hands down the king of quads.

ovrszd · Sep 10, 2017

LuvMyTJ said:
I have owned a few DJI products... I just didn't do the update... they are not mandatory. Besdies, the Spark was a special situation where they were losing power, this was done to be sure that people had a safe product. Updates are normal with other brands. Autel seems to be the only company to leave their customers hanging forever. Again, DJI updates are not mandatory on all quads other than the Spark and that was a one time thing. I love my Autel but DJI is hands down the king of quads.

So what parts of the video are you disputing?

Tufargon · Sep 10, 2017

LuvMyTJ said:
I have owned a few DJI products... I just didn't do the update... they are not mandatory. Besdies, the Spark was a special situation where they were losing power, this was done to be sure that people had a safe product. Updates are normal with other brands. Autel seems to be the only company to leave their customers hanging forever. Again, DJI updates are not mandatory on all quads other than the Spark and that was a one time thing. I love my Autel but DJI is hands down the king of quads.

I'd say rather than shutting it down they should give a warning saying something like if you fly without the update and something happens it will void your warranty even and tell the user what the update is about.
Would be the same as Microcrap shutting me down after their OS I bought and own on my PC.
Sorry I just don't agree.

LuvMyTJ · Sep 10, 2017

If he paid attention to the emails & notices he would have know about it. They made notice of both issues well before and the Phantom was only to sign in, the drone was not locked down ( they did limit it to shorter distances). All updates on Phantoms, Inspires & Mavic Pros is optional. The Spark had a serious safety issues. I am not sure what kind of professional footage a Spark will provide with it's 1080P camera. Also, a pro would test all his equipment prior to the shoot. Basically, his issues could of been avoided with some due dilligence on his part. Now I am not a fan of these types of actions, just like he says, it is his, he should be able to do what he wants with it. But until someone can make a drone equal or better than DJI that has a plethora of good third party apps I will put up with those minor issues for the supurb machine they can offer.

PS - did you notice he took the video down?

Tufargon · Sep 10, 2017

LuvMyTJ said:
If he paid attention to the emails & notices he would have know about it. They made notice of both issues well before and the Phantom was only to sign in, the drone was not locked down ( they did limit it to shorter distances). All updates on Phantoms, Inspires & Mavic Pros is optional. The Spark had a serious safety issues. I am not sure what kind of professional footage a Spark will provide with it's 1080P camera. Also, a pro would test all his equipment prior to the shoot. Basically, his issues could of been avoided with some due dilligence on his part. Now I am not a fan of this type of actions, just like he says, it is his, he should be able to do what he wants with it. But until someone can make a drone equal or better than DJI I will put up with those minor issues for the supurb machine they can offer.

Still an issue to me. Not gonna argue. Just seemed a lot of worthless issues especially if you go out thinking that everything is fine..

Tufargon · Sep 11, 2017

go out saying that to a job..... Who checks that?

LuvMyTJ · Sep 11, 2017

No need to argue, thats the beautiful thing about competition, we get more choices.

A professional always checks their gear before going out to a job site to avoid the very issues he ran up against.

Tufargon · Sep 11, 2017

LuvMyTJ said:
No need to argue, thats the beutiful thing about competition, we get more choices.
A professional always checks their gear before going out to a job site to avoid the very issues he ran up against.

Agree to disagree for me.

Kcender · Sep 11, 2017

As my old man used to say: don't make me stop this car boys! LOL

Tufargon · Sep 11, 2017

Kcender · Sep 11, 2017

This may be a little off subject, but I tried to describe using the XSP to a friend recently, but it's true of all drones I suspect: instructions are weak, but inviting for customization and potential. Sales department implies that it is as easy as using a refrigerator, but it's not. Service is good, but they don't know what you have done to it and struggle to fix it when you screw it up. It seems that if more time was spent creating the user manual, it would benefit everyone. I guess that would defeat their implication that it is easy to configure.

runxtc · Sep 11, 2017

arto.inetco said:
This happened to me with our dji phantom4pro on a client shoot. It need a mandatory firmware upgrade from the internet to the drone....direct....I could not mess with it....ditched the dji and flew all day w the pumpkin. This was the third time since March that has happened where something needed updating right then and there or it would not fly...I fly the autel on old firmware, not beta, no internet needed...and it just works! That's what I like about the xsp, stable and no surprises.

It just works = Well Said!

Clint H · Sep 11, 2017

I really like my XSP; however I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that they are another casualty of the 1000 lb gorilla. Autel Robotics has been left in the dust.
Yunecc has just released their new H520 Series with interchangeable cameras. DJI just keeps burning and churning...meanwhile....Autel still hasn't completed the firmware update, still no FLIR, still no 1" sensor, no updated Bird.
Guess it's time for me to wake up and smell the coffee. Autel and Solo gave it their best shot...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

intrepidusa · Sep 13, 2017

Clint H said:
I really like my XSP; however I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that they are another casualty of the 1000 lb gorilla. Autel Robotics has been left in the dust.
Yunecc has just released their new H520 Series with interchangeable cameras. DJI just keeps burning and churning...meanwhile....Autel still hasn't completed the firmware update, still no FLIR, still no 1" sensor, no updated Bird.
Guess it's time for me to wake up and smell the coffee. Autel and Solo gave it their best shot...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm of the belief that every product has it's market and that the XSP's market is a little different than the DJI market. The XSP is definitely not a Phantom 4 or Phantom 3 Pro, it also doesn't cost as much. For a first generation product that is just a year old it is a great drone. Every manufacturer has their issues, DJI is full of issues...possibly more than Autel. The Spark is a toy, plain and simple, it doesn't make hobbyist class in my opinion and I don't think it was made to compete there either. Autel WAS little too ambitious, also my opinion, and tried to sweep the market too quickly...focused on a huge sales team before they got priority 1 under control...FIRMWARE and STABILITY of the platform. Lesson learned? For the previous CEO I think so. They wanted to chase and catch the 800lb gorilla with a single product, also overly ambitious. With their focus now they will surely gain market share, their price point is hard to beat. They do need a second product though, or at least the modules promised (FLIR, etc) and they need obstacle avoidance to keep pace.

I'm still holding off on my next drone to see what they come up with...

Clint H · Sep 13, 2017

Very well stated. I am indeed hopeful.

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SuperN00b · Sep 14, 2017

On-the-fencer here, folks...
I currently own a 4 month old Mavic Pro (fly more combo) that has about 2 hours of flight time. The low flight time is for two reasons:
1) Image quality (to me) is a bit underwhelming.
2) Plain and simple: I am afraid to fly it and lose it.
I also own a Yuneec Breeze which I feel is the underdog of the consumer drone world. But I digress...
The pixel peeper in me is now looking at 1" sensor models. Obviously I have only one choice currently, the P4P. But based on what I've read about Autel's seemingly far superior customer support, I'd gladly hold out for the supposed 1" sensor camera/XSP successor, even if the XSP/new camera combo is the exact same price as the P4P. I'm in no hurry. But any leaks here from the Autel camp on the release date? I know it was scheduled for Q2 and here we are coming up on Q4. I am tempted to grab a used XSP on eBay (many great deals with extra batteries) and wait for the new camera. But if it's pushed out to 2018, I may spring for the P4P (after I've sold me Mavic, of course.) Thanks for any input!