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Video shows ‘secret’ Autel EVO Lite, Nano mini drones in the wild

Remember the leaked images from yesterday that revealed Autel Robotics may be working on a new sub-250-gram beginner’s drone? Well, there’s more where that came from. It appears that Autel is working on a bevy of new products – EVO III, EVO Lite, and Nano mini drones. The latter two have been caught on video.

The video popped up on TikTok on September 15. It comes from the Nanshan district in Shenzhen, China – a place that’s home to around 80 drone manufacturers and is said to generate over $2.9 billion annually for China’s economy.

In the video, we see the Autel booth at an exhibition, where a representative is showing off various drones to a visitor. You see the Dragonfish VTOL drone and the various iterations of the EVO II series, including the newly introduced enterprise series, before the camera turns to a bunch of other, smaller drones hiding in plain sight.

At this point, the Autel official hastily asks the visitor to stop recording – which is a bit strange because if you really wanted to keep these drones a “secret,” maybe you could have not put them out in an exhibition booth in the first place. See for yourself:

Video shows ‘secret’ new drones Autel is working on

The drama doesn’t end here though. In another leak today, more details have emerged about these drones.

Also read: Autel EVO III leak reveals specs, appearance. Release before Mavic 3?

Autel Nano: DJI Mini 2 competitor

It appears that Autel’s entry-level nano drone could come in two models: one that offers three-direction obstacle avoidance, and a basic version that does not feature obstacle avoidance sensors.

The maximum flight time for both these highly portable drones is expected to be 30 minutes, while the flight range has been set at 10 km.

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Autel EVO Lite and Lite Plus: DJI Air 2S competitors

And then there is the Autel EVO Lite that is aimed at professional content creators, aka the main target market of DJI Air 2S. With a maximum flight time of 40 minutes, this drone will also have two iterations:

  • Autel EVO Lite with a 1/1.28-inch CMOS sensor
  • Autel EVO Lite Plus with a 1-inch CMOS sensor

We can expect these bright yellow birds to capture 4K video at 60fps with a host of social media-friendly, smart shooting presets. Three-way obstacle avoidance should be a given. And there’s also an interesting “vertical shooting” mode that would allow the operator to switch between horizontal and vertical angles with a single click.

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Ready for release?

Couple this information with the video you’ve already seen above, and it would appear that Autel’s new drones could be nearing release. However, given the ongoing global chip shortage, there’s a possibility the product announcement may come much sooner than the actual worldwide shipping date.

Update: Autel confirms Sept. 28 launch date for new drones: Nano and EVO Lite

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Avatar for Ishveena Singh Ishveena Singh

Ishveena Singh is a versatile journalist and writer with a passion for drones and location technologies. She has been named as one of the 50 Rising Stars of the geospatial industry for the year 2021 by Geospatial World magazine.