AUTEL EVO with BEST in class CAMERA

AUTEL is BACK - The much anticipated EVO, announced at CES 2018 are finally shipping.
The EVO is promoted with claims to have best in class camera (more on that later), but also with great new features for this category of drones, such as a build-in display on the controller, so you can fly without plugging in your phone, rear facing obstacle avoidance and 30 minutes of flight time. Along with the now standard for the category 4.3mile 7km range.

Click through for more details.

IM CURRENTLY WRITING THIS BLOG POST, it is NOT complete. ask questions below and I will try to include as many answers as possible in the post. thank you for your patience :-)

AUTEL have finally launched their next and much anticipated drone
To set the stage, let me quickly fill you in on Autel, you may not be familiar with the previous AUTEL drone, the xStar premium, which gained quite a cult following for its outstanding camera, the xStar delivered a camera far better than the original Phantom 4, sporting a impressive dynamic range and outstanding optics, while the xStar did not best the P4pro camera in dynamic range, many users would be quick to point out that they still consider the optics on the xStar superior to the Phantom.
So this is the stage unto which the Autel EVO launches. Reading from the top of the box, it looks like Autel have checked all the right check boxes, with 7km range, 30 minute flight time, high-quality 4K camera, and the very cool build-in color screen on the controller.

The UNBOX

The CAMERA DYNAMIC RANGE.
Lets just skip straight to the beef in this story. The camera ROCKS.
The preliminary test suggest a dynamic range of 11.5+ stops. I tested the DJI P4pro to a similar number. Read that again slowly. The AUTEL EVO have a dynamic range comparable to the Phantom 4 pro, or at least very close.

**** quick disclaimer here. my tests are very careful, but in general I find my tests show a little less DR than similar tests by DXO, routinely they show 0.5 to 1 stop more than I do. I can live with that, simply because my numbers are consistent, so im confident the EVO is right there with the P4pro, it may be a little better or a little less. but its right there VERY close.

While talking about the camera, its worth mentioning that the camera have screw mounted UV filter, this is brilliant because it makes it incredible easy to mount ND filters, as I always say, if you are serious about your video, your kit need to include a set of ND's and preferably a graduated ND if you can get hold of one.

The CONTROLLER
Autel have made a very interesting choice for the controller and have included a full color screen, you can fly the EVO without ever using a smartphone, for me this is a bigger feature than I initially expected, because whenever your phone is low, you can keep flying another flight using just the screen on the controller.. and also, if you are one of the many people who have chosen to simply not have the latest smartphone, this controller will still work perfect for you.

Quickly working our way around the controller, you will see on the left the video-record button and still capture on the right shoulder, on the left is the camera pitch angle dial. and the right dial is used for adjusting camera settings, AUTEL did a smart move with the right dial, and you can navigate camera settings and toggle from ISO to shutter speed and even select camera-modes with the dial.
On the top side of the controller, one could say on the front edge, there are the now standard RTH button and also the auto-take-off and auto-land button.
** worth noticing, you can live without the auto-take-off button, you can arm and disarm the drone by simply pushing the sticks DOWN and CENTER. I prefer that as Im not keen on any button that start my drone and put it 6 feet in the air.
The controller have two programmable buttons on the underside.

The BATTERY
You are looking at a typical modern smart-battery, the battery give you about 30 minutes of total flight time, but the low battery warning is going to go off sooner than that. Its a good idea to have a mental idea how far you have flown and how many percent of battery power you will need to get back home.

On the underside of the AUTEL EVO you can see the two acoustic sensors which manage flight altitude at low level. also the forward and rear mounted down-facing cameras are clearly visible, these cameras manages the position at lower levels and are very successful at keeping the EVO locked in place.
The alloy base plate also have a heat-sink, you can see the cooling ribs, im always amazed how drones have changed, a few years ago nobody expected a portable minidrone to have have cooling fans.

CHARGER
The included wall-charger works with multiple voltages so you can travel with it, the charger have a dedicated plug for the battery, and a USB plug for charing the controller, its a pretty powerful USB charger so its also good for iPhones and tablets when not charging the controller.
The charger is also reminding me of maybe the one accessory I very much wish for, there are no 12v car charger on the accessory page, for me this is a important accessory and I hope they will be adding one in the future, until then I just have to use a inverter when charging the EVO battery in the car which is where Im probably going to be charging the EVO batteries 90% of the time.

EVO vs the MavicPro
The EVO look a lot like the Mavic, yet a lot of solutions are quite different, here are a couple shots that show the EVO side by side with my ol-beater MavicPro, the MavicPro have been living under the front passenger seat in my car, because its so compact and easy to fly, so while not exactly my best camera drone, it was the go-to for on-the-go video drone since it was released. THAT have changed, the new EVO fits neatly under the front seat, AND its got image quality to match the Phantom 4pro, which have already made it my favorite portable video-drone.

*CURRENT ISSUES
The unit I'm flying is a PRE-PRODUCTION unit and it is displaying horizon roll issues when yawing quickly, this is hopefully something AUTEL will fix in firmware.

US Based customer service
One of AUTEL's unique selling points are absolutely the US based customer support. call 844 692-8835 to speak to a US based support person.. 7 days a week. They speak english, and they have flown the product you are using, they know the details. Honestly every company should offer this level of support.

Comments

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Hey Richard,
At CES 2018, AUTEL spend considerable time telling Frank and me about the 1" sensor version of the EVO which they said would ship later this year. based on this we believed that there would be a 1" unit. later AUTEL have been firm in denying the rumors of a 1" unit. (they call it rumors, however this was started directly by AUTEL :-) )
SOoooooo not sure how to really reply, however taking the greater perspective, its fairly sure that DJI will be releasing a 1" MavicPro2 shortly, so its kinda hard to believe AUTEL is not nurturing a 1" unit like they said at CES. (this was coming form higher ranking Autel staff, so I tend to think there is one somewhere. when they chose to release it is another question)
Bo

Posted by: Bo Lorentzen | 08/15/2018 at 12:50 PM