Since we first broke the story of the all new AUTEL EVO 2 folding drone earlier this week, we’ve thoroughly reviewed the new drones User Manual for a full run down on all of the specs.
And you can bet that one feature in particular has the team at DJI very concerned.
Of course, we’re talking about the user-interchangeable camera gimbals…a first for a prosumer level drone.
Just from appearance, the AUTEL EVO 2 looks like any other folding camera drone like a Mavic Series or Parrott Anafi. But the interchangeable camera gimbals sets the EVO 2 well ahead of it’s competitors.
EVO 2 users can easily swap out one camera gimbal for another, following the instructions in the manual and with just a single screwdriver.
3 Camera Gimbals
AUTEL EVO 2 features a camera with interchangeable gimbals that come in three versions: 8K, Ultra-HD and Dual Sensor.
8K Camera:
- 48MP stills (8000×6000)
- 8K video @ 25fps
- 6K video @ 30fps
- 4K video @ 30/60fps
- 120 Mbps bitrate
Ultra-HD Camera:
- 1″ sensor
- 20MP stills (5472×3648)
- 5.5K video at 60fps
- 4K video @ 120fps
- 120 Mbps bitrate
- variable aperture f/2.8-f/11
Dual-sensor Camera:
- includes 8K camera plus infrared imaging camera
- operates in visible, infrared and dual-image modes
- infrared stills at 640×512 or 320×256
- infrared video 720p @ 30fps
All three cameras support a variety of shooting modes, including:
- Single shot
- Burst shooting
- Auto exposure bracketing
- Time-laps
- HDR
- NIGHTBEAT (high signal-to-noise ratio)
Images can be samed in DNG or JPG, and video options include MOV or MP4 formats. Users can save images and video on the drone’s built in storage or a removable MicroSD card up to 128GB
Like the more recent Mavic drones like the Air and Mavic 2, EVO 2 has a USB-C port for fast removal of video and images.
Smart Flight Modes
The interchangeable cameras of the EVO 2 put it leaps ahead of DJI’s Mavic Series, however the manual reveals that DJI still has the upper hand when it comes to pre-programmed flight modes.
Recent Mavic Series drones like the Mavic Air and Mavic 2 Pro allow users to deploy ActiveTrack, TapFly, and do QuickShots (dronie, circle, rocket, boomerang, asteroid, helix, etc.). The EVO 2 currently only offers object tracking and gesture mode. Given the superior camera options, this may not be a hurdle for many buyers.
The EVO 2 isn’t able to program in waypoints, as with the Mavic 2 Pro, so that might be a bigger stumbling block.
Remote Control
Unlike DJI’s Mavic Series, the AUTEL EVO does not rely on a smartphone or tablet for some aircraft control functions and display. Users can toggle between Image Transmission mode and Flight Information Panel. Connecing your smartphone to the EVO 2 remote allows you to have both screens displayed simultaneously.
Remote Specs:
- OLED display 330 nits
- 3.2 hour battery life
- 2.4GHz
- 7km (4.3mi) max control and video transmission distance
- 500g weight
We were a little surprised to see the brightness of the OLED display ony 330 nits. For comparison, an iPhone 8 is 60% brighter. DJI’s Smart Controller for the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom is 3x brighter with 1000 nits.
Anyone who has operated their drone on bright days knows full well the challenge of a screen that isn’t bright enough.
Battery Life
The AUTEL EVO 2 sports a 1kg airframe that is 10% heavier than the Mavic 2 drones. Despite this bulk, EVO 2’s h100 mAh LiPo battery has 35 minutes of advertised battery life which is about 10% more than the Mavic 2’s 31 minutes. As we all know, every minute counts for drone pilots.
Price
The final piece of the AUTEL EVO 2 puzzle is the price, which is so far still under wraps. Once we’re able to confirm pricing, bundles and accessories we’ll be posting the results asap. Be sure to subscribe for notifications to be the first to now.
Will you consider buying the new AUTEL EVO 2 drone? Let us know why, or why not, in the comments below and we may feature you in an upcoming article.
