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Prosumer Drones

By Chris &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheDroneGeek">The Drone Geek</a>&rdquo; Fravel
DJI is arguably the most popular consumer/prosumer drone manufacturer in the world. It doesn&rsquo;t matter who one might ask, most people will either cite DJI specifically or describe one of DJI&rsquo;s UAV platforms when asked to talk about drones and drone technology. And rightfully so. DJI has been setting the bar for everyone else in the consumer and prosumer spaces for a long time, constantly innovating and making their drones better and better.
Recently the drone-tech giant has been setting the market on fire with releases of the DJI Integra FPV Goggles, the Inspire 3, and now the Mavic 3 Pro. In this article though we will be honing in on the Mavic 3 series of drones and, more specifically, the tone they are setting for DJI and future manufacturing expectations as it relates to the consumer.
I&rsquo;ll say it: I have mixed feelings about how the Mavic 3 was &ldquo;handled&rdquo; by DJI. On November 5, 2021, the Mavic 3 was officially released touting a brand-new look, an impressive 4/3 sensor, and an interesting addition of a &frac12;&rdquo; digital zoom camera atop the front of the gimbal payload. All-in-all, most everyone was excited about the potential of this new drone &ndash; myself included. I immediately rushed to find a buyer for my Mavic 2 Pro (she served me well) and as soon as it was &ldquo;rehomed&rdquo; I rushed to the internet to place an order for the Mavic 3 Fly More Combo.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/p8aYgj183Obi6ycCBFn4e5s2A6skCpzGJPASGrQe.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="288" />
Do I regret the drone itself? No. The Mavic 3 is best-in-class for photo and video drones. Period. It is my main workhorse and performs at every level I need it to and thensome.
Do I regret not waiting to buy the drone? Yes. Here&rsquo;s why&hellip;
While I love the &ldquo;OG&rdquo; Mavic 3 and its performance capabilities, I was less than pleased with the quality of the &frac12;&rdquo; zoom camera it featured and its application for professional level imaging. Beyond 7x zoom, the photo and video resolution from the zoom lens was absolute flaming-hot garbage. It&rsquo;s grainy, pixelated, and has no flexibility in post. It just can&rsquo;t be used in most professional photo and video projects beyond a certain point &ndash; some of the most interesting points at that. Why DJI didn&rsquo;t take the time to just configure that &frac12;&rdquo; sensor to function the same as the camera on the Mavic 2 Zoom was beyond me (gosh I loved the Mavic 2 Zoom&hellip;I mourn the decision to do away with it sometimes). The only reason I could think of would be because engineering an optical zoom lens into a gimbal payload that already had a 4/3 sensor in it would be a logistical nightmare.
That is&hellip;I thought that until October of 2022.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/Y1PyRMTRkogdEXCm5sX6uy66Y3TBAgwbwY8ASdKF.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" />
At that time, DJI had announced that a new version of the Mavic 3 would be released. This version would be called the &ldquo;Mavic 3 Classic&rdquo; and would retail for approximately $800 less than the original Mavic 3. What was the main difference between the two drones? An absence of the &frac12;&rdquo; zoom camera.
I remember being absolutely irate over the announcement. I was so disappointed with the &frac12;&rdquo; zoom camera and its quality and now they are releasing a version of the drone that did not have it and was significantly less expensive? Wild. On top of that, because the new release was technically a &ldquo;downgrade&rdquo; from the original Mavic 3, I was upside-down in the whole deal and there was no way to recoup the money I unwisely put into the original Mavic 3. After some time and self-soothing, I got over the whole thing and just appreciated that my Mavic 3 was a fine piece of equipment that did everything I needed it to do.
And I maintained that contentment&hellip;until April 25, 2023.
DJI broke open the emotional scab that I had formed from the whole &ldquo;OM3&rdquo; vs. &ldquo;M3C&rdquo; debacle by announcing the release of the new Mavic 3 Pro. This new model featured 3 different lenses, all capable of different types of shots &ndash; a perfect tool in the toolbelt of any cinematographer with an eye for drones. On top of its already existing 20MP wide-angle 4/3 CMOS sensor, the drone also has a 70mm 48MP 3x zoom medium telephoto lens and a 166mm 12MP 7x zoom telephoto lens.
The kicker? Its retail is less, comparatively speaking, than the original Mavic 3. While the Mavic 3 Pro is slightly more expensive at face-value, the standard package includes the <a href="https://www.dji.com/rc">DJI RC Remote</a> (as opposed to the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/RotorLogic-Controller-Control-Sticks-Exclude/dp/B09MJQ29Z8/ref=asc_df_B09MJQ29Z8/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=618089590519&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=6952623587217671569&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9006822&amp;hvtargid=pla-1732557629675&amp;psc=1">DJI RC-N1</a>, which is what the original Mavic 3 comes with by default) &ndash; a $309 value added to the Mavic 3 Pro packages for almost nothing. And if somebody WERE still interested in the original Mavic 3? Well, it is no longer listed on DJI&rsquo;s main website for purchase. It can still be purchased on third-party sites <a href="https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1665138-REG/dji_cp_ma_00000439_01_mavic_3.html">such as B&amp;H Photo</a>, but otherwise the drone giant has installed the Classic and Pro as the new &ldquo;flagship&rdquo; models.
If I could do the whole &ldquo;Mavic 3&rdquo; debacle over again, I would have waited until the Mavic 3 Pro was released and purchased it with the DJI RC Remote/Fly More combo instead. But, the saying goes, &ldquo;hindsight is 20-20.&rdquo;
Needless to say, I&rsquo;m still licking my wounds with this one and find myself wrestling with the frustration I feel about the whole ordeal. However, when I separate my own personal strife from the subject at-large, I can see what is happening with DJI and how they intend on manufacturing their drones in the future. Gone are the days of having a variety of different models, all capable of a variety of different types of missions and operations. DJI is beginning to follow the lead of Autel by providing multi-faceted drones with different &ldquo;versions&rdquo; to choose from for consumers.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/EswXY16dmaKd7IKhZUQeh2ICgJYectAR5qwfLZWg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" />
And the reason I say DJI is following Autel&rsquo;s lead on this one is because they were doing it first. Just take a look at this line-up of Autel EVO drone versions:
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelrobotics.com/productdetail/evo-ii-drones.html">Autel EVO II 8K</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelrobotics.com/productdetail/evo-2-pro-v2-drones.html">Autel EVO II 6K</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelpilot.com/collections/autel-evo-ii-v3/products/autel-robotics-evo-ii-pro-6k-v3">Autel EVO II Pro 6K</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelpilot.com/collections/autel-evo-ii-v3/products/evo-ii-enterprise-v3">Autel EVO II Pro 6K Enterprise</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelpilot.com/collections/autel-evo-ii-v3/products/autel-robotics-evo-ii-dual-640t-rtk-v3-enterprise-bundle">Autel EVO II Dual 640T RTK</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelpilot.com/collections/autel-evo-ii-v3/products/evo-ii-dual-640t-rugged-bundle-v3">Autel EVO II 640T</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.autelpilot.com/collections/autel-evo-ii-v3/products/autel-evo-ii-pro-rtk-v3">Autel EVO II Pro RTK</a>
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
Now, take a look at the latest line of Mavic drone versions:
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.dji.com/mavic-3?site=brandsite&amp;from=landing_page">DJI Mavic 3</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.dji.com/mavic-3?site=brandsite&amp;from=landing_page">DJI Mavic 3 Cine</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mavic-3-classic?site=brandsite&amp;from=landing_page&amp;vid=125091">DJI Mavic 3 Classic</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mavic-3-pro?site=brandsite&amp;from=landing_page&amp;vid=137691">DJI Mavic 3 Pro</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mavic-3-pro?site=brandsite&amp;from=landing_page&amp;vid=137781">DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mavic-3e-and-dji-care-enterprise-basic?vid=120111">DJI Mavic 3(E) Enterprise</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://ag.dji.com/mavic-3-m?site=enterprise&amp;from=nav">DJI Mavic 3 (M) Multispectral</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://store.dji.com/product/dji-mavic-3e-and-dji-care-enterprise-basic?vid=120171">DJI Mavic 3(T) Thermal</a>
</li>
</ul>
It was becoming clear that DJI was moving away from the Phantom model after the Phantom 4 V2 Pro was released. This is evidenced by the way they handled the Mini and Air models &ndash; removing the &ldquo;Mavic&rdquo; moniker and instead letting the &ldquo;Mini&rdquo; and &ldquo;Air&rdquo; names stand on their own as independent platforms. That combined with the fact that the Phantom build is largely obsolete when it comes to storage and transportation as well as overall aerodynamics. In fact, the Phantom series is also no longer listed on DJI&rsquo;s main website, so it&rsquo;s safe to assume that line is officially dead.
All this said, the drone world should prepare to see more of this type of development and manufacturing of drone technology in the future. As we move forward we will see fewer and fewer unique design concepts with regard to the body of the drones and a collective streamlining geared towards what is most efficient and practical. We&rsquo;re even seeing it in our enterprise drones with DJI&rsquo;s Matrice lineup beginning to take after the design concepts of the Mavic series.
As for the way things rolled out with DJI and the Mavic 3 lineup, with DJI seemingly releasing their middle-of-the-road drone first, followed by their entry-level drone, and finally their top-tier drone? I&rsquo;ll chalk it up to a potential lack of direction in terms of development and planning. Most ideas need to be fleshed out over time and according to feedback from a focus or test group. In this case, real-life consumers were the group providing the feedback after they had already invested between $2,000 and $3,000 in the original Mavic 3. I hope beginning with the Air 3 or the Mavic 4 that DJI releases all of the versions at once or in order from least-expensive to most expensive at the bare minimum. Until that process is seen carried out by DJI, may the buyer beware&hellip;hold onto your money a while longer after the next release. It may save you a lot of heartache and get you the &ldquo;best bang for your buck,&rdquo; when it comes to price-versus-performance.

DJI is Evolving the Way it Makes Drones

Featured News

Product News

18 April 2023
By Chris &ldquo;<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheDroneGeek/featured" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Drone Geek</a>&rdquo; Fravel
When you think of a commercial drone, what comes to mind? Do you envision a giant drone capable of carrying large shipments and packages? Or do you picture something out of an action-movie that is spec&rsquo;d out with thermal attachments and LiDAR sensors perfect for surveying large swaths of land?
There are many kinds of drones for many different types of work, but what if I told you there might be one drone that was capable of it all?
The <a href="https://draganfly.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Draganfly</a> <a href="https://draganfly.com/commander-3-xl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commander 3 XL</a>&nbsp;is marketed as &ldquo;the Swiss Army knife&rdquo; of drones. The question is, does it live up to its billing?
The only way to find out was to fly out to Draganfly's facility in Blanco, Texas, to see the Commander 3 XL in action and learn a little bit more about what the drone has to offer its potential users.
I flew into San Antonio and split my time between there and Austin, making the hour-ish long trek to Blanco each day. My liaison and point of contact for the trip was Draganfly&rsquo;s Program Manager for UAS Programs Aviation, <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach--rolfe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zach Rolfe</a>. Rolfe wasn&rsquo;t just the guy who made sure I had what I needed to get around central Texas, he was also my expert reference regarding all things Commander 3 XL.
The Commander 3 XL is 64&rdquo; x 36&rdquo; x 12&rdquo; when fully assembled with propellers attached. It weighs 33 lbs. when not sporting a payload, and it can carry up to 22 lbs. for a maximum take-off weight of 55 lbs. In short, the Commander 3 XL is an absolute tank capable of a variety of different flight operations. And while that is all impressive, it&rsquo;s just scraping the surface of the impressive specifications on this drone.
Let&rsquo;s talk about what this drone can carry&mdash;and I don&rsquo;t just mean weight. As of right now there are five attachments that can be equipped to the Draganfly Commander 3 XL to conduct a variety of UAV missions:
&bull; <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.flir.com/support/products/duo-pro-r/#Overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FLIR DuoPro-R</a> Camera
&bull; 24MP RGB Photography Camera
&bull; 10x Zoom RGB Camera
&bull; 24MP RGB Mapping Camera
&bull; <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://support.micasense.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011389334-RedEdge-MX-Integration-Guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RedEdge MX</a> Mapping Camera
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the Commander 3 XL is its modularity. In a conversation with Rolfe, he mentioned how intentional the modular components are on the drone. The idea being, with a variety of operations that will be conducted with the Commander 3 XL, it&rsquo;s crucial that pilots and asset managers can swap out and repair damaged or worn-out parts in the field. This saves time and money, and makes it extremely easy to recover the drone from an accident, and get it back up in the air&mdash;potentially within minutes (depending upon how many parts need to be replaced).
Rolfe took me through the initial set-up of the drone to give me a visual example of how easy parts are to assemble and disassemble. We will have a &ldquo;how-to&rdquo; video for set-up of the Commander 3 XL coming to our YouTube channel and website soon.&nbsp;
And if all of that wasn&rsquo;t enough, the Commander 3 XL has a variety of features that make it easy to learn for pilots of all skill and experience levels. It has an altitude hold and GPS-positioning feature that makes it an extremely reliable and sturdy piece of UAV equipment. Its folding landing gear allows for an unobstructed 360-degree view of your surroundings through camera payloads. It even has color-coded &ldquo;highlight points&rdquo; where pilots and asset managers should pay attention when assembling and disassembling the drone.
Draganfly, Inc. has outdone itself with the Commander 3 XL. Whether you&rsquo;re a data collector, or need to move goods and products via drone delivery, the Commander 3 XL will certainly meet your needs. If it doesn&rsquo;t, Draganfly&rsquo;s development and customer success teams will help you customize a solution until it does.
<h5>Watch Chris on the Road at Draganfly</h5>
<iframe style="width: 674px; height: 379px;" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XlqoAG_ZiDc" width="674" height="379" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
&nbsp;

Overview: Draganfly Commander 3 XL

11 February 2023
By Chris &ldquo;<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheDroneGeek/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Drone Geek</a>&rdquo; Fravel
It&rsquo;s no mystery that <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://shop.autelrobotics.com/?ref=TodAxbE3FiMGn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Autel Robotics</a> is one of the leading drone manufacturers the world over. The technology giant has consistently produced reliable UAV solutions ranging from small form-factor platforms all the way up to commercial and enterprise. However, one of the shining examples of excellence produced by Autel is the <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://shop.autelrobotics.com/collections/drones-evo-ii-series" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EVO II V3</a>. The latest and greatest version of the EVO II is Autel&rsquo;s flagship drone platform and falls squarely into the prosumer category of unmanned aerial vehicles.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/BUFk8y6XanNTM1qlkbZHwRckRPQ3NOCKz7QJG5bZ.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" />
<h5>Build Quality</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 9 out of 10</h5>
Pulling the Autel EVO II V3 out of its carrying case was a pretty memorable moment for me in all of this. The heft this drone has for having a compact physical footprint was impressive and instilled confidence in me that this drone was ready to take on some intense environments and testing.
I never really had the opportunity to put it up against anything too harsh, but I know that given the rock-solid fuselage and premium-grade parts on the camera, gimbal, and motors, the EVO II V3 was ready for anything. I&rsquo;m still having trouble putting into words my thoughts when first picking up this version of the EVO II for the first time. I suppose summarizing it in one word will do a good enough job&hellip;&rdquo;wow.&rdquo;
<h5><img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/BzADi9CLmTeG2UJI105GMlsiEEqVYHQUPXHoMUwf.jpg" alt="" width="317" height="317" /></h5>
<h5>Controller</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 10 out of 10</h5>
Autel sent me the Rugged Bundle for the EVO II V3 and rugged it was. However, while the ruggedness of the bundle was impressive &ndash; it was the least rugged piece of equipment in the bundle that impressed me the most.
For the first time in Drone Geek review history, somebody has managed to pull off a perfect score in a category and it was Autel with their Smart Controller SE, which scored a perfect 10/10.
The controller body itself was ergonomic as all get-out and they captured my heart by putting the video screen in the middle of the controller &ndash; a long-time gripe I&rsquo;ve had with other companies with similar smart controllers that feature screens on the bottom which forces me to crane my neck down for as long as the flight takes me.
On top of that, Autel incorporated its SkyLink 2.0 Video transmission system, which provides up to 15-KM (9.32 miles) signal reliability.
My only complaint about this controller, and it wasn&rsquo;t enough for me to dock it points, was that the battery life left me wanting a little more. You can easily extend the battery life by mitigating how often you change the settings on the camera and by reducing screen brightness when able.
This is a fantastic smart controller and should be considered the &ldquo;industry standard&rdquo; for every other drone manufacturer worth its weight in salt.
<h5><img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/y3Tlw69qWGSDknqccfbtVyjs3YiqkMePaYcY4ZB8.png" alt="" width="470" height="317" /></h5>
<h5>User Interface</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 8 out of 10</h5>
The Autel ecosystem is extremely friendly to pilots of all experience levels. However, that&rsquo;s not to say it is without its flaws. Let&rsquo;s start with the shortcomings and finish strong with what I liked about the UI.
Having to swipe off-screen to find certain menus and tools such as the camera settings and the flight map is not ideal. I&rsquo;m also not a huge fan of the layout for the general app settings and how you must navigate them to access certain parts of the user configuration.
The positives for user interface are numerous. Setup of the controller and opening of the application is seamless and done in just a few seconds. Connection to the drone itself is just as fast. While navigating to the camera settings menu is somewhat a con with it being hidden until you tap the arrow to open it up, once the menu is hope it&rsquo;s very easy to use and has a variety of settings and options to help you get the perfect exposure. Switching between intelligent flight modes is easy with the menu in the upper left corner of the screen and the large display allows you to preview the media you&rsquo;re capturing with great quality.
<h5>Flight Characteristics</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 9 out of 10</h5>
The flight on the Nano+ is smooth and enjoyable. It&rsquo;s surprisingly powerful for its size and handles adverse wind with relative ease. I did get some fight when wind speeds exceeded 20mph, but overall, I&rsquo;d feel confident flying the Nano in almost any conditions other than rain or extreme winds. The handling is also well-tuned, and I feel as nimble and agile as ever flying the Nano+.
The big concern for the flight characteristics is the Nano+&rsquo;s inability to control a consistent spot in the airspace. While it can hold GPS position and flight some pretty strong winds, I will say that it gets blown around a lot in a 5&ndash;10-foot space. This is not ideal when trying to thread it through tight spaces and crowded airspace. It&rsquo;s not a major mark against the Nano, but something to note before buying.
In general, the flight experience I had with the EVO Nano+ was positive and chock-full of fun.&nbsp;
<h5><img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/BF49NiDti4cQSJ6mJjMXx3X4CJq3rZpE5CLG6tGy.jpg" alt="" width="454" height="255" /></h5>
<h5>Flight Time</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 9 out of 10</h5>
The EVO II V3 brings forth a great flight-experience in terms of handling, speed, and maneuverability. I was really impressed at just how easy it was to get acclimated with the drone right out of the case and how fun it was to fly. Everything about the flight experience with this version of the EVO II met and exceeded my expectations. You can change your maximum allowable speed as well as bounce between Standard and Ludicrous modes through the settings menu, which gives you a nice variety in pacing and looseness in the controls.
The only thing I&rsquo;ll say that was a somewhat negative experience was with the yaw stick. I found that right out of the box the yaw on this drone was a little too touchy when roll was not incorporated into the movement first. This is fine for folks just toying around or using the drone for something other than photo and video, but for those of us who do most of the multimedia work it&rsquo;s a minor setback that we need to either adjust to or manually adjust in the app configuration menus.&nbsp;
<h5><img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/aPDfu98ZE2jNytAFAYocrOFwzk6Dh6sD1K6zW5n4.jpg" alt="" width="466" height="262" /></h5>
<h5>Camera Performance</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 9 out of 10</h5>
The camera on the EVO II V3 is superb. For those of you that might not be familiar, the EVO II V3 boasts a 1-inch, 20MP CMOS sensor with a maximum video resolution of 6K at 30fps. It&rsquo;s also capable of 4K at 60fps and shoots photos at a maximum size of 5472x3648.
The video bitrate is 120Mbps which means videos captured are smooth and chock-full of detail. It has an adjustable aperture which ranges from f/2.8 to f/11 and its 35mm focal length is equivalent to 29mm, a little cropped in, but still ideal for landscape photography and video.
The stock color profile with the Autel EVO II V3 was super vibrant and full of a wonderful range of colors. It wasn&rsquo;t the most flattering look for the landscape of NCPA in the dead of winter, as the camera tried to bring out color in the landscape that wasn&rsquo;t actually there, but I imagine in the middle of the summer or in a more tropical climate this would be extremely complimentary.
Where I was slightly disappointed in the camera was in its sharpness right out of the box. This was the same complaint I had about the Nano+ earlier this week and the Lite+ last year. Autel&rsquo;s cameras shoot very sharp images, which isn&rsquo;t always a good thing. I found that there would be a lot of sharpness-related noise created in my video clips and would take an otherwise stellar image and just taint it.
However, I didn&rsquo;t hold it against the smaller EVO drones and I won&rsquo;t hold it against the big-daddy EVO either. Sharpness is something that can be easily adjusted in the camera settings or in post, so no major points taken from the EVO II V3 on this one.
<h5>Intangibles</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Rating: 9 out of 10</h5>
Some intangibles I was really impressed by with this drone were the panoramic shooting modes, its obstacle avoidance system, the rugged bundle carrying case, and its set-up and breakdown times. Meanwhile, I wasn&rsquo;t entirely impressed by the battery recharging times nor was I impressed by the gimbal cover and how frustrating it was to take it on and off of the drone.
<h5>Watch the Video Review!</h5>
<iframe style="width: 679px; height: 382px;" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LH_YMcaAbF8" width="679" height="382" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h5>Closing Thoughts</h5>
<h5 style="text-align: left; line-height: 1.4;">Total Score: 9 out of 10</h5>
This drone was a mind-bender for me. I really enjoyed the experience I had flying it and while there were some short-lived growing pains when it came to familiarizing myself with the drone and the smart controller, overall, it has been an extremely impressive piece of equipment. So impressive that it has earned itself not only the first perfect categorical score in Drone Geek review history, but also the highest overall score in review history with a rock-solid 9-out-of-10.
And that, my friends, is exactly why it also won the 2022 Droning Company award for &ldquo;Best Prosumer Drone.&rdquo; It delivers a complete experience from beginning-to-end. It&rsquo;s intuitive enough to be beginner-friendly, but also offer advanced professional settings to make it the perfect tool for professional photographers and videographers. What is really blowing my mind is that this is still just the second iteration of Autel&rsquo;s flagship drone.
If these are the features and performance markers that are being brought by the EVO II V3, then I&rsquo;ll need to wear a seatbelt and helmet when the time comes to review the EVO III. Autel, bravo and a job well done. This drone is exemplary and should be the marker other drone manufacturers should be shooting for in the future.
&nbsp;

GEAR CHECK: Autel EVO II V3

13 January 2023
XDynamics seeks to unlock creativity and elevate the imagination, providing world-class engineers and technicians with groundbreaking advanced drone technology. Established in 2015, and based out of Hong Kong while operating across multiple countries including the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, this team pioneers cutting-edge aerial-video equipment for professional videographers or aspiring photographers.
For hybrid shooters wishing to get breathtaking aerial video and pictures, the XDynamics Evolve 2 is the ideal drone. This drone offers a quality cinematic experience made for stills and video that falls between entry-level versions such as the DJI Mavic 3 or Autell Evo II Pro and film-industry leader Inspire 2.&nbsp;
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/gNeCuTss3ZGgmTP1MtX4RTijmh6pvWyEuW4Dxows.jpg" alt="" width="627" height="470" />
Evolve 2
Although the Evolve 2 isn't inexpensive, it comes with a powerful lens-swapping camera that supports Micro Four Thirds, giving you a wide range of shooting and movie possibilities.&nbsp;The XDynamics Evolve 2 is the perfect aircraft for filmmakers or aerial photographers. You can take amazing 4K images up to 120fps with a Micro Four Thirds camera mounted on its gimbal. You don't need any extra gear or licensing (ProRes comes standard).&nbsp;
Evolve 2 has excellent performance modes and customizable settings for greater flying control, making it the perfect tool for getting cinematic-quality video. The XDynamics Evolve 2 package has everything you need for drone usage. You can get an award-winning drone remote controller, tough and lightweight drone, and cutting-edge Astra M 4/3 camera for only $3,699. The backpack it comes in is custom-padded so you can take it with you wherever you go. It also comes with six propellers (four to fly and two spares), batteries for the ground control station and air station, a dual charger, and a 64GB microSD card.
The extra Cine Pack is a good choice if you want to get the most out of your drone experience. For $1,200, you can add on a number of extras that will improve every trip, including a high-quality Olympus lens, three extra batteries for longer flight times, and four sets of spare propellers so you won't have to worry about anything going wrong. More add-ons are readily accessible, allowing for even more customization.
The monocoque carbon fiber body and magnesium alloy underbelly of the Evolve 2 make it stand out from the crowd as a strong and distinctive drone. Despite its substantial build, it is remarkably light for its capabilities, weighing just under two kilos when fully loaded with a battery, propellers, and an Olympus 17mm f/1.8 lens.
<h5>Evolve 2 In Action</h5>
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With its unique quick-release method, attaching the propellers to their motors couldn't be easier. Due to the fact that each prop simply locks into its matching motor. Positioning two of them clockwise and two counter-clockwise is simple, and doesn't require any additional marks or guessing. XDynamics did years of research into other drones&mdash;as well as the future of the drone industry&mdash;before designing everything the Evolve 2.
<h5>More About XDynamics</h5>
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The XDynamics vision is that drones add convenience to our daily lives. The company sees that flying in cluttered environments&mdash;as well as traversing terrain for lengthy periods of time&mdash;will become the norm. Autonomous flying will be important as people need security or something delivered.&nbsp;A key take-away from the company is that it is big on customer service. This is one of the few drone companies you can reach on a phone, and talk to a live person from their office in Irvine, California. All customer service is handled in house&mdash;it is not outsourced. Every position from the lowest to the highest level gets involved. You really feel like you are part of the family.
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XDynamics Evolve 2 Unlocks Creativity

31 October 2022
The Droning Company's resident Drone Geek Chris Fravel and CEO Stuart Smith talk drones with Daniel Justa of <a href="https://freeflysystems.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freefly Systems</a>.
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Drone Dialog: Freefly Systems

28 October 2022
The Droning Company's Chris Fravel and Stuart Smith talk to <a href="https://www.skydio.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skydio</a> Head of Public Safety Integration Fritz Reber at the 2022 Commercial Drone Expo.
<h5>WATCH!</h5>
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Drone Dialog: Skydio

7 March 2023
Thinking about the drone market as far as we know it, we are used to looking for the best technology to improve the performances of our platform. But, sometimes, technology is already at its best, and that&rsquo;s why we need collateral-thinking to make significant changes in the market.
A case in point is the Beluga drone from Italy's Eurolink Systems, which launched at the AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2022 show in Orlando, Florida.
&ldquo;We realized that a drone is not just a brick with arms useful to a single scope," said Eurolink CEO Pietro Lapiana. "We concentrated on how the most efficient aircraft &ndash; specially in the defense segment &ndash; have been developed to achieve the best performance. In three years of research and study&mdash;and in collaboration of one of the most advanced Universities in Rome, Unicusano Drone Lab&mdash;we were looking for the perfect shape to push our new drone to the next level. As Leonardo da Vinci did in the past, we found the best answers in nature, where perfection has been optimized over millennia.&rdquo;
The shape of the Beluga drone is bio-inspired by the Beluga whale&mdash;a cetacean that, despite its huge weight, can swim smoothly and fast in the oceans. &ldquo;The study of the Beluga's fluid dynamic shape brought us the perfection we were looking for,&rdquo; added Lapiana.
The Beluga drone can reach a top speed of 69 mph, delivers a flight time of 60 minutes, can carry a 4.4 lb payload, has a BVLOS operational range of 24 miles, resists winds up to 25 mph, and can be equipped with onboard AI. The Eurolink team also envisioned the Beluga body as a multi-mission platform that can be equipped with a vast range of payloads and gimbals.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/Zl5rN7eJHuMjkbDypxofjBue7yN5iaZpSzh7RcG4.png" alt="" width="707" height="238" /> For example, Beluga can be equipped with a cargo bay up to 85 ounces, or with different EO/IR sensors&mdash;Lidar, Multispectral, Hyperspectral, RF Catcher, and Gas/NBCR detection&mdash;making it a reliable solution to solve different mission profiles, such as rapid transportation, surveillance, defense, and industrial and commercial uses (precision farming, etc.). Given this versatility, Eurolink made it possible to control a family of differently equipped Beluga drones within the same operative scenario.
Eurolink looked to nature again to solve another future challenge involving drones&mdash;noise.
When thousands of drones are flying overhead, noise will be an issue for both humans and animals. So Eurolink asked, "Is there an animal able to fly fast, but in the most silent way?"
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An owl's wings inspired the propellers of the Beluga.
The answer was an owl, and for the Beluga drone, the wing profile of this fast and silent nocturnal predator was reproduced and adapted to the propellers. As a result, noise reduction was about nine times quieter than other drones currently in the marketplace.
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Noise test for Beluga "owl wing" propellers.
Just as Mother Nature has taught us, the Beluga drone shows how evolution, adaptation, and development can serve and expand the drone industry.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.belugadrone.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More info can be found at www.belugadrone.com</a>. 
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/696007375">Beluga UAV Drone by Eurolink Systems</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user171557713">Marcom Team</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.

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