CES2022: Autel Shows Off New Drones
Autel has added two new quadcopters to it’s product shelf to keep up the strong momentum the drone maker has been enjoying lately. The new Autel EVO Lite and Nano drones are designed to compete with DJI’s Mini 2 and Air 2S models and were showcased yesterday at CES2022 in Las Vegas.
Both models boast sophisticated features normally found in larger, more expensive drones. Like the EVO II Series that was launched at CES2019, the new Autel Lite and Nano drones leap-frog ahead of the features in DJI’s current models.
We’re excited to see both models first hand, and expect to have demo versions of one (or both) in our hands later this month.
Here’s the run-down on the new Autel Lite and Nano drones.
EVO Nano/Nano+
The 249g folding Autel EVO Nano Series enters a maturing drone market dominated by DJI, so any new offering has to give pilots compelling features that challenge what they can get from DJI. Nano Series delivers, giving recreational drone flyers advanced features not found in the Mini 2 such as 3 direction obstacle avoidance, subject tracking, 4 color options, and fewer geofencing/flight restrictions DJI’s FLY app.
Although flight time for Nano is 3 minutes lighter than the Mini 2 at 28 minutes, it’s a small price to pay for real obstacle avoidance and subject tracking.
Available mid-January, the 48MP Nano basic kits starts at $649 and goes up to $799 for the full bundle with more batteries and carrying case.
“Obstacle avoidance, object tracking and 50MP still images make the Nano+ a game changer in the microdrone category.”
Nano+,designed for the ultimate in low light conditions starts at $799 and goes up from there. With a massive f/1.9 aperture the Nano+ promises selectable focus, and advanced RYYB sensors.
With the Nano Series Autel is giving drone photography enthusiasts quality optical features that are close to what the Air 2S has, but in a smaller 249 gram airframe that will appeal to a wide audience.
Both Nano drones feature Dynamic Track 2.1, allowing you to autonomously follow any person, animal or vehicle while you focus on the cinematic captures. And of course Autel has built pre-programmed flight modes into the Nano Series to make it easy for anyone to capture professional-level shots at the touch of a button.
|Order Autel Nano at Autel Robotics|
EVO Lite/Lite+
Autel’s EVO Lite brings a new level of 50 MP image quality thanks to a 1/1.28-inch (0.8-inch) CMOS sensor. The EVO Lite+, with its big 1-inch CMOS image sensor and Autel’s intelligent moonlight algorithm, can capture crisp, vibrant details at night with low noise. Track fast-moving subjects with a precise autofocus that locks in within milliseconds using a phase detection autofocus and dual focus algorithm. This is the first drone with a four-axis gimbal design that lets users shoot vertical videos for easy editing and sharing on mobile devices.
Both EVO Lite+ and EVO Lite have been designed with high-demand features that will make you sit up and take notice.
The camera setup in the EVO Lite+ is amazing. Equipped with a 20MP, 1″ CMOS sensor and Autel’s intelligent ‘moonlight algorithm’ the EVO Lite+ can capture crisp, vibrant details at night with low noise even when ISO is cranked up high.
The Lite+ adjustable f/2.8-f/11 aperture gives you full control to better manage exposure and depth of field for better quality output.
The basic EVO Lite, priced at $1,149 uses a smaller 1/1.28″ CMOS sensor and can capture 50MP stills with no pixel binning and captures steller 4K HDR video.
But don’t ignore the standard EVO Lite with it’s fixed f/1.9 aperture. Other consumers drones like the AIr 2S have a much smaller f/2.8 aperture that can grab as much light as the EVO Lite.
New Drone – New Software
Any new tech product that launches isn’t just about the hardware, though. With Nano and Lite, Autel is ramping up enhanced software features like improved HDR, SkyPortrait, and Dynamic Track 2.1.
You can even transfer media files from the drone to your phone at lightning fast 20MB/s for immediate sharing to your social channels.
With our hazy summer days where we live, we’re really looking forward to trying out Defog Mode in the EVO Lite. Check it out in this tweet from Autel earlier this week:
The EVO Lite’s Defog Mode can adjust your photo’s vibrance settings to offset haze and fog, ensuring your photos are crisp and clear. pic.twitter.com/RVIBQNC8Bw
— Autel Robotics (@AutelRobotics) January 4, 2022
We can’t wait to get our hands on the new Autel drones, and we can’t wait to see what is ahead for the company. Now that EVO II Series is three years old we expect to see a refresh coming sometime in 2022.
Nano/Nano+ and Lite/Lite+ will be available for order later this quarter, hopefully within a few weeks. Stay tuned there is much more to report on these fantastic drones!
Are you excited for the new Nano or Lite drones from Autel? Which one are you planning to buy and why? We think there may be a few Mini 2 owners who will be looking to upgrade to subject tracking and obstacle avoidance…what do you think?
