DJI tends to dominate the drone space – and one of the quadcopter brand’s key competitors just discontinued almost the entire range of consumer drone options. In a blog post last month, Autel discontinued the Evo Nano and Evo Lite series of drones, leaving just a single drone in the brand’s consumer lineup, the Autel Evo II Pro V3.
In a blog post published in mid-July, Autel announced that the Evo Nano Series, which includes the Evo Nano and Evo Nano+, and Evo Lite series, which includes the Evo Lite and Evo Lite+, have been discontinued. Sales to retailers have already ended, but support for the drones will continue through mid-July 2030.
The only consumer drone that remains on Autel’s website is the Evo II Pro V3, which is arguably a prosumer drone with its one-inch sensor and $2,699 / £1,507 price point for the rugged bundle.
Autel has been slowly shifting its focus into enterprise drones and away from the consumer space, as perhaps evidenced by the fact that the mid-July announcement seemed to go largely unnoticed for weeks. The Nano series was announced in 2021 and never saw a successor.
While the series hasn’t been updated in the last few years, the now-discontinued Autel Evo Lite+ still earned a slot among the best drones, thanks to its adjustable aperture. The mid-range drone also impressed with 5.4K video, although its subject following didn’t perform as well in tests as competitors.
Autel’s Nano series, meanwhile, entered into the sub-250g lightweight drone category with a larger sensor and more collision sensors than DJI’s competing drone at the time of the launch, the Mini 2. However, Autel hasn’t updated the series in a few years, and now DJI is on the Mini 4 Pro, which has more collision sensors.
Competition often pushes the pace of tech advancements, and DJI has arguably little competition, especially as Autel shifts away from consumer and more towards enterprise and professional drones.
The lack of competition is especially apparent in the US, where DJI drones haven’t been able to ship due to a “customs misunderstanding.” Autel exiting the consumer drone space, however, will likely have little impact of the availability of US drones, as Autel, like DJI, is also based in China and suspect to the same pending legislation in the US.
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