The other thing that Evo Lite+ brings is better low-light performance. The Air 2S has a maximum ISO of 6,400 when recording video manually, or 1,600 if you’re shooting D-log. The Evo Lite+ can shoot at ISO 48,000 thanks to a dedicated Night Mode. Now, that number sounds like a recipe for noisy, mostly useless video, but surprisingly it isn’t. Autel’s Dark Mode algorithm manages relatively sharp video without affecting noise levels, even in moonlight. That said, I’ve never actually flown a drone at night (apart from testing the feature), so how useful this is will depend a bit on how you’re shooting.
For more general video, the Evo Lite+ is capable of recording 5472×3076 pixels video, labeled “6K”. For stills, you can shoot 20-megapixel JPEG and RAW images. There’s also the slightly cheaper Evo Lite, which is similar, but with a smaller sensor camera that can shoot 4K, but offers 50-megapixel stills. I haven’t tested it, but if higher resolution still images are your primary use case, that Lite could save you some money. For most people, I would recommend Lite+.
The camera you take isn’t the only important camera on a drone. The EVO Lite+ also features obstacle avoidance sensors at the front, rear, and bottom of the drone. That’s mostly in line with the Air 2, although DJI also has an upward sensor, which can be important in some situations (like flying under a tree). That said, the Evo Lite+ did a great job of avoiding everything that I tried to run it with. Overall, its collision avoidance is part of the Air 2S and should keep you out of trouble in most situations.
One thing that surprised me is that the Evo Lite+ will warn you if you’re flying somewhere you shouldn’t be — next to an airport, for example — but it doesn’t completely shut down the drone the way DJI does. On the one hand, I welcome letting users make their own choices, but on the other hand, I notice that new drone flyers are increasingly showing a lack of awareness and common sense that is fueling hostility. increasingly towards drones. If people can fly where they shouldn’t, they will, and it won’t be long before the situation gets worse. For testing purposes, I relied on the FAA’s B4UFly . App (Android, iOS) to make sure I can fly legally.
Autel also doesn’t have the AirSense alerts that DJI offers. AirSense, which first appeared in DJI’s drones in 2020, tracks the location of nearby manned and unmanned aircraft and alerts you if you’re near anything. I’ve never had Airsense trigger warnings about anything, but it would be nice to see something similar in Autel’s drones.
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Photo: Autel
The Autel’s Sky app for iOS and Android is very similar to DJI’s apps, intuitive and easy to use. Controller, I’m less excited. It looks like an Xbox controller, which is fine, but it lacks any storage space for the detachable joysticks, like you get with DJI drones. Worse, Autel does not offer additional joysticks like DJI.
That said, the controller is easy to use and I had no trouble flying. When you take off for the first time, the Sky app puts you in beginner mode, which limits speed and altitude. I recommend staying in this mode until you feel comfortable. The Evo Lite+ may be a bit less responsive than the DJI Air 2S, due to its larger weight, but the weight is an advantage in the wind, which I dealt with a lot when testing.
The Sky app offers a variety of flight modes, including Smooth, Standard and Ludicrous. The latter allows a top speed of 42 mph and more or less negates the obstacle avoidance features, since you won’t have time to react to any warnings. But it’s fun to fly in Ludicrous mode.
Overall, the Autel Evo Lite+ is the first drone I’ve tested that is resistant to DJI’s very impressive offerings. If you want to control a camera with a variable aperture, along with increased flight time, and don’t mind a little higher price tag, the Autel Evo Lite+ outperforms the DJI Air 2S.
