Autel are MIA 😢

General Drone Discussion
1

Waaayyyyy back in November 2019 we broke the news that Autel were releasing the Evo II Pro and the first import finally landed in June 2020.

In May 2021 we also broke the news that Autel were releasing a sub 250g line up, called the Nano.

Then in September 2021 we also broken the news of the Autel Lite models.

For those not familiar with the Autel Evo range, they have three weight classes which equate to:

  • Autel Evo II Pro = DJI Mavic

  • Autel Lite+ = DJI Air

  • Autel Nano+ = DJI Mini

The specs of these drones, at their launch, blew their DJI equivalents out of the water.

I’m a huge fan of Autel drones. Their hardware build quality is second to none, the Evo II Pro airframe is so strong you can pick it up by a single leg, it’s bomb proof. And their Smart Controllers run at 2000nits of brightness too (compared to just 700nits for the DJI RC).

I’m an even bigger fan of their lack of self-imposed restrictions. Unlike DJI, Autel let you fly wherever you like with no ridiculously made up and out of date NFZs. They trust the operator to make an informed decision on the safety of the flight, instead of capping your to altitude limits anywhere near any airport, requiring “authorisations” before taking off in places that need no CAA authorisation, the inability to roll back firmwares (without hacking it), the list of restrictions is endless.

However, those that have been here a while will have no doubt noticed that at no point, ever, have I ever recommended an Autel drone to anyone. I always bring an orange-flavoured drone to all the meet ups I go to, simply to show people that there are alternatives to DJI, and to let people make an informed decision of their own, but never once have I recommended Autel.

Anyway, back to the point of this post.

Where are Autel now? :thinking: :person_shrugging:t2: :pensive:

They rattled DJI’s cage back in 2019. Really rattled it.

NOBODY had a prosumer 8K camera available in 2019, in fact, even today the flagship DJI Mavic 3 Pro only offers 5.1K :roll_eyes:

But…

Where are Autel now? :person_shrugging:t2:

Since the dawn of the Autel Evo II around FOUR YEARS ago, the number one drone manufacturer in the world has gone on to release:

  • Mavic Mini
  • Mavic Air 2
  • Mini 2
  • FPV (potato)
  • Air 2S
  • Mavic 3
  • Mini 3
  • Avata
  • Mavic 3
  • Inspire 3
  • Mini 4

Come on Autel :cry:

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:thinking:

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On the occasion I actually bring a drone :blush:

But that’s not the point.

We need choices other than DJI :confused:

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I agree but in reality we haven’t :frowning:

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5

They seem to have switched their customer focus to commercial. As there have been no recreational drones from them since the Lite / Nano+ … which was a good while ago.

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Autel!!! what I thought there was only 1 drone manufacturer in the world :scream:
:popcorn:

7

Skydio have officially done the same.

Parrot have unofficially done the same.

:pensive:

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FWIW, I’m still not buying an Autel Nano+ rather than not buying DJI Mini 4 Pro. :laughing:

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9

I have an Autel Evo II mk2 and the Nano+ all working great and still get the occasional firmware update.
I do like the orange birds but sad we’ve not seen anything new for the consumer for over a year except for the Mk3 Evo - due to component shortage.

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10

That’s sadly my point, Jim @spez :confused:

Autel were absolutely on it a couple of years ago and far out spec’ing the DJI equivalent both in build quality and in tech-specs (at the time).

But for whatever reason, they launched all these new models in 2022 and 2021, then just stopped dead in their tracks :exploding_head: :man_facepalming:t2:

DJI on the other hand, no sooner have they released a model, end-of-life’d the previous model, and they’re on with the next replacement. We simply can’t fault their rate of innovation.

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Now I do know you are the world’s biggest Autel fan Rich :rofl: but in truth, I found both Autels (the Evo ll Pro and the Nano+ ) disappointing.
The Evo ll Pro was impressive, but too big, heavy, ugly AF and with pretty poor strong wind performance. And useless obstacle avoidance that stopped you dead the moment the sun came into shot. That said, you’re right; it really shook DJI into gear and two years on, I really, really wanted the Nano+ to be a DJI Mini slayer, because there needed to be some decent competition. They had two years to fix the obstacle avoidance sun-blind issue but didn’t; the Nano + suffered the same useless OA and worse, was completely useless in a strong breeze, let alone a strong wind. It’s no good harping on about camera quality like they did when it blew away in the blink of an eye.

And to top it off, they had truly awful customer service. Even in the US, they were hopeless with customer returns but outside of the USA you may as well not have existed.
And that’s why they’ve gone nowhere. Good models let down by some fundamental flaws and shit customer service.
Their top management always talked about their dedication to customer service and quality control, but this did not match the reality.
Which is a real shame, because I still really wish there was competition to DJI to make them come up with a genuinely new model instead of rehashing the existing models to death like the Mavic 3 + siblings, the Mini series and the Air 3 (which must be about to give birth to its Pro version)

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12

I believe the work environment at Autel Robotics is possibly toxic. One of the many CEO’s they’ve had, Randall Warnas, who was hailed as going to be the saviour of the company resigned after nine weeks, citing that there was too much unjust authority and no accountability.

13

Got really pissed off with DJI a couple of years ago when their firmware updates became classified information (irony) and climbed to 800mb+ for “minor bug fixes”. Then there was all that anti-rollback nonsense. Gave Autel a shot because they were a hairs-breadth behind DJI tech and ended up being the unluckiest punter to jump the DJI ship - three different Autels in succession (checked all three serial numbers - all different). Three mechanical failures (rear starboard motor three times on the trot). Ended up heading back to DJI with my dick well and truly slapped.
No credible alternatives.

14

No response from Autel to our question via social media

https://twitter.com/UKDroneClub/status/1741190225588543998

15

I did get a response to an email I sent though:

And their reply:

On 5 Jan 2024, at 04:47, Autel Support support@autelrobotics.com wrote:

Dear Rich,

Thank you for contacting Autel Robotics.

Currently, we have no idea about the new consumer products. Please pay attention to the posts on the official site and social media.

Thank you for your understanding and wish you all the best!

If you have any further questions, feel free to reply directly to this email and I’d be happy to assist.
Best Regards,

Michael| After-sales Technical Support

16

WOW!
A comfortable lie, like “We are all excited about a new release later on in the year”, would have kept us all interested.
BUT

Currently, we have no idea about the new consumer products.

Means don’t bother.

17

The Autel Alpha appeared on the FCC database on Wednesday:

https://fccid.io/2AGNTMDH240958A

Screenshot 2024-01-05 at 10.06.09
Screenshot 2024-01-05 at 10.06.091372×2062 1.26 MB

But it’s yet another regurgitated EVO II airframe with a multispectral camera :confused:

821×821 107 KB

I can’t help thinking Autel are out.

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It was definitely at the back of the “Good Looks” queue! :grinning: :grinning: :grinning:

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Remember the email I sent Autel a couple of days ago?

And their reply:

On 5 Jan 2024, at 04:47, Autel Support support@autelrobotics.com wrote:

Dear Rich,

Thank you for contacting Autel Robotics.

Currently, we have no idea about the new consumer products. Please pay attention to the posts on the official site and social media.

Thank you for your understanding and wish you all the best!

If you have any further questions, feel free to reply directly to this email and I’d be happy to assist.
Best Regards,

Michael| After-sales Technical Support

I wasn’t happy leaving it there.

I replied:

And another reply:

Man…

This is hard work :man_facepalming:t2:

But I kept going:

And their reply to, what I thought was a relatively straight forward question.

Hope you’re sitting down…

On 7 Jan 2024, at 17:58, Autel Support support@autelrobotics.com wrote:

Dear Rich,

Hope this email finds you well.

For now, as we have not received any relevant information or updates on the issue you mentioned, we can share nothing and there will be no one who would know the relevant information.

Thank you for your understanding and wish you all the best!

If you have any further questions, feel free to reply directly to this email and I’d be happy to assist.
Best Regards,

Michael| After-sales Technical Support

Wait, what?

there will be no one who would know the relevant information

:flushed:

I’m talking to a brick wall now, but I’ll give it one last try:

On 7 Jan 2024, at 18:19, Rich wrote:

Hello Michael,

Can I just clarify, nobody at Autel knows anything about when you might be releasing another consumer drone?

Nobody…?

Do you not have R&D, Marketing or Sales teams anymore?

Rich