I am new to the commercial drone industry and want to become educated in thermography. I want to purchase a thermal drone but I can not decide between the Autel or the DJI, could I please get some help trying to make an informed educated decision. Thank you in advance.
Pro and Cons Autel Evo 2 640T V3 vs DJI Mavic 3T
- Thread starter ekelley6
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Go DJI, far more volume than Autel. Therefore parts and battery availability is much better a year or two down the road. Autel does their best but they don’t produce parts as long as DJI, so you end up having to buy a new one earlier. If that’s not a problem and you’d like to support a less monopolistic company, Autel for sure. Added benefit is Autel thermal cam is slightly clearer from what I’ve heard.
Thank you for the info., with the Autel I liked the idea of not having the geofencing, has that been a problem for you with DJI? Right now you can purchase the Autel evo 2 640t v3 for $4700 so that is somewhat attractive but I have not owned an Autel product so trying to weigh all the pros and cons.
The lack of geo restrictions is a plus for Autel. If you’re doing work with the drone and need the waivers regardless DJI is good about unlocking their zones quickly.
Also if you expect to be flying in areas that are not flight restricted (check b4ufly for details on where you plan to fly) then it’s not an issue either.
All else being equal, and if you expect to fly in class g or above airspace frequently recreationally then Autel’s lack of geofencing is a huge plus. The cheap pricing will come back around to bite if you keep the Autel for 2+ years. In my experience that’s when Autel stops producing batteries for their units. And that’s always what you need to replace around then.
I have a Mavic Enterprise Advanced and at work we have an Autel Dual 640. Both get the job done and both are good aircraft.
The Mavic 3 T is a better choice for me since you get Flight Hub 2 with its Live Streaming, situational awareness and soon control of the drone from Flight Hub 2. You may not need those options, but I find them very useful.
One thing to keep in mind though. There are several laws that may be passed that could ban all DJI products. And there is a similar law that would do the same for Autel.
No one has a crystal ball to know if these laws will pass and if they will go with a full ban to include past purchased drones or just ban DJI from that point forward.
You may want to look into USA drones too if you really want to do your research correctly.
FLIR SIRAS, Inspired Flight, Skydio (Won't sell to small businesses or single users), and some others do have more expensive, less capable options.
The Mavic 3 T is a better choice for me since you get Flight Hub 2 with its Live Streaming, situational awareness and soon control of the drone from Flight Hub 2. You may not need those options, but I find them very useful.
One thing to keep in mind though. There are several laws that may be passed that could ban all DJI products. And there is a similar law that would do the same for Autel.
No one has a crystal ball to know if these laws will pass and if they will go with a full ban to include past purchased drones or just ban DJI from that point forward.
You may want to look into USA drones too if you really want to do your research correctly.
FLIR SIRAS, Inspired Flight, Skydio (Won't sell to small businesses or single users), and some others do have more expensive, less capable options.
Don't forget that bill, currently in Congress to make DJI drones illegal. I'm not buying anything DJI right now. I would like to have the new Avata 2, but am already risking about 6K in DJI equipment if that bill goes through. We need to all contact our congressmen and tell them not to support it if it gets to the floor.
adm_geomatics
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I'm pretty sure Autel is on the ban list as well. That's why Randall Warnas and Anzu started producing the Mavic 3 clones.
The original bill only specified DJI drones in the text. I wouldn't be surprised if it was added to though, as it, or if it moves through the chain.
I wish Mr. Warnas luck and hope he has success, but I'm hoping for a software fix to the issue. I have too much money invested in Chinese drones right now and just spent $600 to comply with remote ID.
I'm not planning to spend another 5 -8K for a new drone right now.
My Autel drones never connect to the Internet, like the Yuneec drones I used to have. All DJI drones though, including my Mavic 3 pro, demand to be connected to the Internet, either for forced updates, or their wonderful "fly-safe" system (which is a misnomer in my opinion).
If a drone does not ever connect to the internet and is not controlled by a device that connects to the net (like a phone), there is no security risk at all, which is why I believe it isn't really a security issue at this point.
The bill everyone is talking about specifically is going after DJI.
There is yet another one, in its infancy that is broadly worded for any Chinese drone manufacturer. Meaning, after we are done with DJI if Autel takes over their spot in the market, they will be next.
IMO the DJI bill will pass either by itself or when bundled with something else.
The DJI Dock 2 and Flycart will be the final nails in the coffin. These two systems offer a lowcost easy way to obtain coveted drone operations in fully autonomous inspections and then range over to fully autonomous drone delivery. While American companies are doing this, DJI offers this at a price point that American companies cannot compete with. With Flight Hub 2 and DJI Dock 2, you have fully autonomous drone ops for under $20,000. If you add see and avoid capabilities with something like IRIS, you have the ability to actually meet what the FAA wants for safety in fully autonomous ops for cheap. DJI Dock 2 and the Matrice 3TD are around $17,000.
There is yet another one, in its infancy that is broadly worded for any Chinese drone manufacturer. Meaning, after we are done with DJI if Autel takes over their spot in the market, they will be next.
IMO the DJI bill will pass either by itself or when bundled with something else.
The DJI Dock 2 and Flycart will be the final nails in the coffin. These two systems offer a lowcost easy way to obtain coveted drone operations in fully autonomous inspections and then range over to fully autonomous drone delivery. While American companies are doing this, DJI offers this at a price point that American companies cannot compete with. With Flight Hub 2 and DJI Dock 2, you have fully autonomous drone ops for under $20,000. If you add see and avoid capabilities with something like IRIS, you have the ability to actually meet what the FAA wants for safety in fully autonomous ops for cheap. DJI Dock 2 and the Matrice 3TD are around $17,000.
adm_geomatics
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If you're talking about the U.S. National Security Drone Act of 2023 it is already law as part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and DJI and Autel are both named. Mind you this is specifically for Federal procurement but we do quite a bit of Federal work and both are not allowed. State government and lower are exempt at this time but several States have already enacted it themselves. If you don't do any government work then you will probably never be affected by any of this until the US or China takes them down on purpose and at that point this would be the least of our concerns.
No, it's the Countering CCP Act
There is another one that is similar to above where you substitute DJI with Chinese made drones. This one is for Autel.
Both ban through the FCC and in theory could include every DJI drone from hobbyist to commercial operator to public safety. But both bills could just ban sales for the future or any combination of implementation featuring outright bans, future sales bans, etc..
There is another one that is similar to above where you substitute DJI with Chinese made drones. This one is for Autel.
Both ban through the FCC and in theory could include every DJI drone from hobbyist to commercial operator to public safety. But both bills could just ban sales for the future or any combination of implementation featuring outright bans, future sales bans, etc..
