Autel Robotics EVO 2 Is Finally Here – Is It The Best CES 2020 Drone?

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The original Autel Robotics EVO is a marvelous drone. It sports an aggressive price tag, gorgeous design, foldable arms, and has all the performance and features you could wish for. It’s one of the most popular high-end drones on Amazon, so it comes as no surprise that Autel Robotics decided to make an upgrade. And that’s what this piece is all about – a comprehensive Autel Robotics EVO 2 review that aims to shed some light on the brand-new high-end masterpiece.

As expected, Autel Robotics released the EVO 2 on CES a few days ago. To be more precise, AR announced three variations (more on that later), each of which delivers superb performance and state of the art hardware that’s worthy of the price tag.

 

Autel Robotics EVO 2 Preview

The all-new Autel Robotics EVO 2 has stayed true to the design, featuring a bright orange outer mask that’s just the same as that on the original EVO and its predecessor, X-Star Premium. However, that’s basically the only thing that remains the same. Everything else has been either upgraded or changed, and our in-depth Autel Robotics EVO 2 review will tell you all about it!

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Camera

The most important section of our Autel Robotics EVO 2 review is the camera info. Of course, we’re talking about a high-end drone here, one that’s not only targeting consumers but prosumers too, so it’s only logical the expectations are sky high.

Luckily, EVO 2 manages to exceed them all, packing a brilliant 8K camera with HDR support. Yep, you’ve read that correctly – EVO 2 is the world’s first consumer drone with an 8K camera. If you’re looking for that extra bit of sharpness, EVO 2 is more than capable of delivering.

But, why is the 8K camera such a big thing when most people don’t even have 4K TVs yet?

Well, not only does the image look better when shrunk down and displayed on FHD or 4K TVs, but it’s also good for lossless zooming in. The latter can be of great help for certain industrial uses, so we can see what the folk over at Autel Robotics were aiming for when deciding which sensor to go for.

Last but not least, Autel Robotics EVO 2 captures still images at massive 8000×6000 resolution, allowing users to print their content over 100 inches wide.

Here’s the official Autel Robotics EVO 2 camera specs sheet:

  • ½-inch CMOS sensor
  • 48 megapixel
  • ISO Range 100-3200
  • Max Resolution 8000×6000
  • Bitrate 120mbps
  • 10-bit

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Performance

Now that we’re all done with the camera, it’s time to move on with our Autel Robotics EVO 2 review and focus on the performance. As far as the two main specs go, flight time and operating range, EVO 2 breaks record with impressive numbers. Believe it or not, Autel Robotics EVO 2 can be controlled from up to 9 kilometers away, which is an all-new record in the consumer drone market. Flight time is outstanding too, working off the 7100mAh LiPo battery. You can expect close to 40 minutes of flight time, which is also a first in the consumer drone market.

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of information regarding the features of Autel Robotics EVO 2. However, considering the fact the original EVO had all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from high-end drones, we can rest with certainty EVO 2 will bring forth new smart features and well-executed upgrades of those present with the original.

Additionally, EVO 2 comes packing 12 computer vision sensors. They’re controlled by the onboard dual-core processor that uses AI machine learning to create a sophisticated omnidirectional obstacle avoidance system. With all this hardware inside, EVO 2 can detect obstacles in any direction up to 30 meters away, and adjust the speed and flight path to avoid a collision.

 

Autel Robotics EVO 2 Price Tag & Release Date

At the moment, there’s no concrete information as far as the pricing and availability are concerned. There’s a message on Autel’s official website stating that the new EVO 2 drones are currently in production. Right below that, it says “pricing and availability announced soon”. However, we can’t really say with certainty when exactly will these new drones come to the shelves. Fingers crossed we see it by the end of the first quartal of 2020.

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Autel Robotics EVO 2 Pro & Dual

Moving on with our Autel Robotics review, there’s one more thing we need to address here. As mentioned earlier, in addition to the standard EVO 2, Autel Robotics also announced two variations, each featuring a unique capability.

The base EVO 2 model has an 8K camera, which is the highest resolution of any mainstream drone out there. Autel Robotics EVO 2 Pro, however, sports a 6K camera. But why is it called Pro if it sports a camera featuring lower resolution? Well, for starters, the Pro model’s camera has a 1-inch sensor and features an adjustable aperture of f/2.8 – f/11. This allows professional aerial photographers to get much better results and create cinematic footage and aerial stills worthy of Hollywood.

The third version is called Evo 2 Dual. Basically, it’s the direct competitor of DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual. It features a FLIR Boson sensor (640×512 IR footage) for thermal imagery as well as the 8K camera that’s present in the base model. These two cameras are capable of recording simultaneously, which makes Autel Robotics EVO 2 Dual a highly viable drone for all sorts of industrial work that requires thermal imagery.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this Autel Robotics EVO 2 review, there’s no pricing info on either of these models.

Anthony Turner