Autel Smart Controller – Better In Every Way

Autel just released a Smart Controller for it’s EVO II Series of drones and you need to seriously check this thing out. Like the EVO II Series of drones, it does EVERYTHING better than DJI’s equivalent.

Back at CES2020 in Las Vegas, the Autel EVO II Series of drones was the first product we wanted to see. If you’re not familiar with the EVO II series, you can get the full run-down here. EVO II is a power-house folding quadcopter that has category leading battery life and video quality. Both better than DJI’s Mavic 2 Pro by a wide margin.

When EVO II was launched it came with a folding controller very similar to what DJI offers with their products. For many users, that’s not ideal because pairing a smartphone comes with the potential for a whole other set of glitches and challenges…and it’s why we’re such big fans of the DJI Smart Controller.

This week, Autel decided it was time to give EVO II a great upgrade by launching their own Smart Controller and we think this will welcome many more drone buyers to Autel’s door-step.

Designed more like a tablet with joysticks and antenna, the Autel Smart Controller is a brilliant in it’s design.

Super Bright 7.9″ Retina Display

The 7.9-inch Ultra-HD (2048×1536) touch screen offers true tone technology and provides easy visibility under direct sunlight. The built in 2000 nit display is 2x brighter than DJI’s Smart Controller and up to 4x brighter than a conventional cell phone screen. So you’ll experience  the best viewing in any lighting condition.

Battery Life

The battery in the Autel Smart Controller is designed to last 4.5 hours, two hours longer than DJI’s.  Are you seeing a recurring theme here? When Autel built the EVO II series, they wanted to significantly exceed what DJI was doing at the time. And they’ve done the same with the Smart Controller.

Bring On The Cold

Cold weather flying is usually the most challenging for the pilot and the aircraft. And if you’re using a smartphone with your controller you know how quickly it’s battery gives up just around freezing.  Autel Smart Controller will work all the way down to -20C (-4F) which means you’ll likely give up before it will.

Powerful Processing

Built on a customized Android operating system, Autel Smart Controller supports additional flexibility for third party system workflow by allowing users to download additional third-pary apps and create their own exclusive ecosystem.  Smart Controller is equipped with a Samsung Exynos 8895 8-core processor for poweful, smooth video replay at 4K/60. 

Massive Storage

If you’ve ever forgotten an SD card, or ran out of room, you’ll love Autel Smart Controller’s 128 GB of internal memory, and there’s support to accept SD cards up to 1TB in size. DJI’s Smart Controller has only 16GB of storage and firmware upgrades are starting to become problematic for many users.

Longest Transmission Distance

Smart Controller’s 13km image transmission distance is, again, category-leading.  SMA connected antennas are removable making them easy to replace upgrade wihth SMA compatible third party devices.

Performance at a Price

Everything about the new Autel Smart Controller is a significant improvement over it’s competitors.  The Autel EVO II was already the best folding quad-copter on the market, and now it can be paired with the most powerful Smart Controller as well. But all of these features come at a price; $1100 to be exact, which is almost twice what DJI charges for their own Smart Controller.

Is the Autel Smart Controller worth the extra money? Absolutely.

We’ve been using the DJI Smart Controller since it was launched with the Mavic 2 Series, and it’s been one of our favorite tools. But it’s tiny storage, small display and limited battery life compared to the Autel Smart Controller really make us green with envy.

DJI’s Smart Controller is now over 2 years old and because of it’s older brain and limited storage it also has a limited runway for the future.

Autel Quietly Swinging a Big Stick

Over the last couple of years Autel has been a bit of a sleeper; quietly engineering new products that just haven’t received the attention they deserve. It’s just part of the challenge of competing with an 800lb gorilla, even when your products are superior.

But this week’s release of a needle-moving Smart Controller is a next and noisy step that should force drone operators to take a very serious look at their lineup of industry leading products.

We’ll adding the Autel Smart Controller to our 2021 Drone Buyers Guide later today, with an immediate BUY recommendation.  Trust us. This thing is good!

Autel Smart Controller is available for pre-order at the Autel Online Store.