Though there’s no flawed selection, per se, choosing between drones from heavy hitters like Autel and DJI isn’t straightforward.
I’ve had the pleasure of utilizing each these drones and totally testing their options, and now that I’ve made up my thoughts, I’m right here that can assist you do the identical.
This text shall be a radical, head-to-head comparability of the Autel EVO II Professional and the DJI Mini 3 Professional. My choose – the Mini 3 Professional – will make extra sense after discussing my experiences and the options of each drones.
Let’s enable you discover the right drone to your wants, whether or not you’re a hobbyist beefing up your pictures and videography recreation or an expert desperate to make your day-to-day tasks extra environment friendly and easy.
Overview
Autel EVO II Professional
Initially launched in 2020, the Autel EVO II Professional is as much as Model 3, obtainable as a part of a bundle with all of the equipment wanted to take your drone recreation to the following stage proper out of the field.
After all, any drone producer can pack theirs with equipment. With the EVO II Professional, it’s not concerning the variety of options however the high quality. As an illustration:
- 1-inch Sony CMOS picture sensor that shoots in 20 MP picture high quality and 6K video at 30 frames per second
- 360-degree impediment avoidance, achievable with nearly 20 sensors
- Dynamic Monitor 2.9 for monitoring targets with pinpoint accuracy
- Three-axis gimbal for wonderful stabilization whereas remaining cost-effective
- 7100 mAh battery that prices quick in solely 90 minutes
I’m simply scratching the floor right here, however that is solely the overview!
» MORE: Autel EVO Lite Plus vs DJI Avata (Which One Is Higher?)
DJI Mini 3 Professional
An immediate traditional, the Mini 3 Professional is backed by DJI’s long-standing status of excellence and lots of different profitable Mini drones earlier than it, together with the Mini 3.
It’s no surprise it’s such a critically acclaimed drone, and your on a regular basis drone consumer loves it too.
Actually, the higher query is, what’s not to like? The Mini 3 Professional is a verifiable powerhouse jam-packed with options similar to:
- Extremely-tiny, foldable, and light-weight design to convey it all over the place (and you’ll!)
- Three-way impediment sensing for safer flights backed by APAS 4.0
- 48 MP picture high quality, 4K HDR video high quality, and enjoyable videography/pictures options like slow-mo video and nighttime recording
- Superior video transmission system with a distance of as much as 12 kilometers
- Vertical taking pictures modes so your content material is able to go viral on social media
» MORE: DJI Mini 3 Professional Assessment
Fast Verdict
That is such a toughie, contemplating each drones are workhorses in their very own proper.
We solely share the most effective drone suggestions right here on Droneblog, and after in depth testing in lots of situations, we picked a winner.
Right here it’s.
The DJI Mini 3 Professional outperforms the Autel EVO II Professional in a number of key areas: weight, portability, picture high quality, and social media-friendliness. It’s a extra accessible drone for newcomers, particularly influencers and YouTubers desperate to take their footage to the following stage.
Was this a tough selection? You betcha. In any case, the EVO II Professional excels in some areas the Mini 3 Professional lacks.
It has method higher impediment avoidance, a serious consideration for newcomers afraid of smacking their several-hundred-dollar drone right into a tree or constructing.
The EVO II Professional additionally has undeniably higher video footage, though its picture high quality is lesser.
Bearing all that in thoughts, I’m nonetheless assured in my determination to pick the Mini 3 Professional.
» MORE: DJI Mavic 3 Basic vs. Mini 3 Professional (Right here’s My Alternative)
What are the primary variations?
The enjoyable half about evaluating these drones is that they’re neck-and-neck in some ways. Nevertheless, in the event that they have been so related, I wouldn’t be scripting this.
There are sufficient differentiating components between these two drones to swimsuit numerous audiences.
Are you a social media buff who all the time has to put up up-to-the-minute footage? Possibly you’re an influencer who by no means skips a beat. Use the Mini 3 Professional.
These are my favourite options after hours spent flying it:
- Picture high quality: Crystal-clear pictures? You’ve bought ‘em with the Mini 3 Professional. You’ll by no means really feel such as you’re photographing the elusive Sasquatch as some drone cameras make you are feeling with their lack of gimbal and blurry footage. That is DJI, among the many finest within the recreation. The 48 MP picture high quality is top-notch. Oh, and did I point out these are RAW picture recordsdata, so much more knowledge is retained? Oh sure!
- Vertical Capturing: It’s all about vertical mode anymore, particularly when sharing to Fb or Instagram Tales. Reasonably than waste hours you don’t need to crop your pictures and movies to suit, the Mini 3 Professional does all of it for you in its Vertical Capturing mode.
- Prepared for journey: When it’s time to get out and go, the Mini 3 Professional is true there with you. It weighs beneath 249 grams and folds up so you possibly can stash it in your pocket, backpack, purse, day bag, or no matter you’re carrying. It’s constructed for journey, and I really like that about it.
- Transmission system: Social media by no means stops, so you possibly can’t both. You wouldn’t wish to be hampered by a drone that may’t transmit video and picture so far as you possibly can skip a stone throughout a lake, would you? DJI has all the time been the chief in video transmission, and its O3 system proves that once more with 12 kilometers of transmission in crystal-clear 1080p/30fps high quality.
» MORE: DJI Mavic 3 Professional vs. Mini 3 Professional (Right here’s My Alternative)
None of this takes away from the EVO II Professional one iota. I really like this drone for therefore many various causes, all of which add as much as a vastly totally different flight expertise from the Mini 3 Professional.
- Video high quality: Autel geared up the EVO II Professional with a top-of-the-line CMOS sensor from Sony. Maybe that alone isn’t all that totally different from drones you’d discover from this model and different top-notch producers like DJI, however its high quality is. The EVO II Professional’s one-inch sensor can shoot in 6K ultra-HD high quality. The Mini 3 Professional can’t match it.
- Superior impediment detection: Once more, impediment detection is a regular characteristic in any drone price greater than a pair hundred {dollars}. Nevertheless, what makes the EVO II Professional particular right here is that it has nearly two dozen sensors to offer impediment detection for all 360 levels. This is among the finest beginner-friendly options of this drone.
- Orange: Sure, siree, this drone is orange! That helps you see additional within the sky (though you’ve nonetheless bought to observe FAA flight guidelines concerning VLOS) and offers you model factors, which I can all the time admire.
- Glorious flight time: The Mini 3 Professional doesn’t include the most effective flight time out of the field, however the EVO II Professional does. It could actually fly for upwards of 40 minutes vs. the Mini 3 Professional’s 34 minutes (until you employ the Clever Flight Battery Plus, then it’s 47 minutes).
» MORE: DJI Mini 4 Professional vs. Mini 3 Professional (Right here’s My Alternative)
Autel EVO II Professional
The EVO II Professional is among the best-selling drones from Autel Robotics.
It’s an on a regular basis drone for business and leisure pilots, and its versatility is among the causes drone customers similar to myself can’t get sufficient.
The EVO II Professional stands out amongst different EVO collection drones for its simplicity, sturdiness, and measurement. It’s not the tiniest drone on the block, and Autel has smaller drones, such because the EVO Nano.
Reasonably than specializing in conserving it small, Autel prioritized ruggedness, and might I simply say? What a wise selection that was. There are greater than sufficient small drones.
In addition to, it’s not just like the EVO II Professional can’t fold down. It could actually! It’s simply not ultra-tiny.
It’s not precisely the lowest-priced, but when you concentrate on every part you get within the bundle, the value makes lots of sense.
It has the identical transmission vary because the Mini 3 Professional (sure, you learn that proper), so though it is probably not designed for a similar influencer and social media trendsetter crowd, it may nonetheless maintain its personal.
Its flight time is superb, and I haven’t talked about the controller, a 6.4-inch Good Controller SE with a nice-sized display screen.
You may depart your smartphone behind as you play with this good, intuitive, ergonomic controller.
» MORE: Are Autel Drones Any Good? (You Would possibly Be Shocked)
Between the carrying case, the spare battery, the spare props, a battery charger, an influence cable, an RC charging cable and charger, two spare management sticks, and a lanyard, in some methods, the EVO II Professional is much more beginner-friendly than the Mini 3 Professional, because it consists of a lot.
You’ll spend extra upfront however save later as you don’t have to purchase accent after accent.
Autel Robotics EVO 2 PRO V3
Autel EVO II Professional V3 is upgraded with Autel drone’s all new SkyLink 2.0 video transmission expertise, permits video transmission from as much as 15 km.
We earn a fee should you make a purchase order, at no extra price to you.
11/02/2023 03:42 am GMT
DJI Mini 3 Professional
Switching gears now, the DJI Mini 3 Professional is the successor of the Mini 3 however not the most recent within the Mini household (that’s the Mini 4).
And whereas newer is often higher relating to drones, the Mini 3 Professional is amongst my favorites within the Mini household for a lot of distinctive causes.
This drone is ultra-beginner-friendly, in some ways extra so than the EVO II Professional.
It’s so light-weight you don’t need to trouble registering it with the FAA. Effectively, until you use the drone commercially, then its weight doesn’t matter.
That’s why the Mini 3 Professional is a superb selection for the influencer/social media/YouTuber crowd.
You don’t need to get into all of the intricacies of drone flight, but you don’t need to really feel like a full newbie utilizing this drone, both.
In any case, the Mini 3 Professional boasts DJI’s typical assortment of Clever Flight Modes that supply skilled outcomes each time, and all hands-off, too.
Between MasterShots, FocusTrack, Hyperlapse, and Digital Zoom, you possibly can grasp the artwork of drone pictures and impress your social media viewers in a single fell swoop.
Extra subscribers, right here you come!
Downloading your footage shall be no sweat, contemplating the Mini 3 Professional is supplied with QuickTransfer to do downloads at 25 Mbps.
And positive, perhaps the impediment avoidance isn’t nearly as good because the EVO II Professional’s, however it has DJI’s superior Superior Pilot Help System, aka APAS.
This fourth version isn’t the most recent (it’s as much as 5.0 as of this writing), however greater than enough impediment avoidance that occurs in real-time and complicated environments.
» MORE: Tips on how to Fly a DJI Mini 3 Professional (Defined for Newbies)
Oh, and the way have I not talked about the digicam but? It’s an distinctive little piece of labor that captures extra of your world with a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor that shoots in 48 MP picture high quality and 4K video.
You may sustain with right now’s hottest drone tech and spend a fraction of what you’d pay for newer fashions. Woohoo!
DJI Mini 3 Professional (DJI RC)
Light-weight and Foldable Digital camera Drone
- 4K/60fps Video
- 48MP Picture
- 34-min Flight Time
- Tri-Directional Impediment Sensing, Built-in RC and display screen
We earn a fee should you make a purchase order, at no extra price to you.
11/02/2023 01:02 am GMT
Head-to-head comparability: Autel EVO II Professional and DJI Mini 3 Professional
And now, the second you’ve all been ready for: the battle between the Autel EVO II Professional and DJI Mini 3 Professional.
Pound for pound, which of those top-line drone fashions achieves supremacy?
Whereas I’ve chosen the Mini 3 Professional as my drone of selection between the 2, I acknowledge that a lot of you studying this may lean extra towards the EVO II Professional.
As you’re about to see, each drones have their robust fits and weaknesses.
It’s only a matter of which components you prioritize extra in making your selection. Let me make it simpler for you on this part.
» MORE: DJI Mini 3 vs Mini 3 Professional – Which is Higher?
Digital camera system
Winner: DJI Mini 3 Professional
This was a tough one to choose a winner for, let me inform you that.
Technically, I’d go as far as to say that the winner modifications relying on whether or not you need cutting-edge video or picture high quality.
Nevertheless, I made a decision to slender it right down to the sensor measurement. A much bigger sensor can collect gentle higher, sustaining high quality throughout resolutions.
Smaller sensors require extra publicity time, making them not as nice of a selection.
The EVO II Professional has a one-inch sensor versus the 1/1.3-inch Mini 3 Professional sensor.
And sure, sensors can be found in small increments like that, so the extra 1.3 inches actually does make all of the distinction.
In actual fact, the sensor measurement doubtless explains why the Mini 3 Professional is the king of picture high quality between these two drones. It could actually shoot in 48 MP decision.
Is that the most effective decision you will discover in a client drone? It’s just about up there, sure.
Higher but, these are RAW pictures, which suggests extra highlights and shadows with much less noise.
In case you’re a skilled drone photographer or a social media consumer who’s moving into drones, you’ll adore this digicam. It offers you a aggressive benefit, as your pictures shall be clearer than JPGs shot in decrease decision.
Now, don’t get me flawed right here. The EVO II Professional’s picture decision is nothing to sneeze at.
It shoots in 20 MP with an aperture vary of f/2.8 to f/11. It’s good, however it’s not Mini 3 Professional good.
Autel has the Moonlight Algorithm, whereas the Mini 3 Professional has an evening mode, so you possibly can’t examine them a lot there.
So, let’s transfer on and pit them in opposition to each other within the area of video.
That is the place the EVO II Professional shines. Its 6K video guarantees extra element, colour, and brightness, and let me inform you, these aren’t empty guarantees.
I used to be blown away by all of the element this drone digicam may seize after I used it.
In case you do any form of out of doors filming, the interaction between daylight and shadow comes via so impeccably, and also you don’t lose an oz of element.
This can be a should for taking pictures business tasks, whether or not you need crystal-clear information footage or actual property movies.
YouTubers additionally ought to strongly think about the EVO II Professional for its videography, as your footage will usurp all of your rivals, supplying you with a leg up within the ultra-competitive YouTube world.
The Mini 3 Professional has a really acceptable video fee of 4K HDR, which is one more reason I really feel it’s solely proper to offer it this class. It has higher pictures capabilities and solely marginally worse video.
» MORE: Digital camera Expertise in Drones (Defined)
Efficiency
Winner: Autel EVO II Professional
How do you set a worth on efficiency? It’s powerful, however I did it. And that worth is the price of the EVO II Professional.
This was one other powerful class to decide on a winner, as each these drones carry out so properly.
They’ve a regular suite of clever modes.
Within the case of the EVO II Professional, these are Dynamic Monitor, Guide Flight, Parallel Monitor, Tripod Monitor, Precision Flight, Gesture Management, Orbit, Viewpoint, VR, and Twin Stability.
The Mini 3 Professional consists of DJI’s Clever Flight Modes, like Panorama, Vertical Capturing, QuickShots, and MasterShots.
So, provided that they’re about equal there, let’s develop the parameters of what it means for a drone to carry out properly.
A drone’s measurement is definitely one consideration. The Mini 3 Professional may be smaller, however I used to be amazed at how properly the EVO II Professional dealt with by comparability.
It’s aerodynamic, intuitive, and responsive, and also you’ll by no means miss a smaller drone when flying it.
Its wind resistance outpaces the Mini 3 Professional, with the wind resistance of the previous 17 m/s versus 10.7 m/s for the DJI drone.
Bear in mind, Autel designed the EVO II Professional to be rugged, so its increased diploma of wind resistance doesn’t strike me as stunning.
What actually made me give this class to the EVO II Professional is impediment avoidance sensors. The Mini 3 Professional has the APAS system to make up for its three-directional impediment sensing.
Effectively, I ought to somewhat say increase, as its impediment detection and avoidance options are completely high-quality on their very own.
Nevertheless, in comparison with the 19 obstacle-detecting and avoiding sensors the EVO II Professional has, DJI’s impediment avoidance within the Mini 3 Professional leaves slightly one thing to be desired.
That’s stunning, contemplating DJI is often the chief on this space.
You have to have impediment avoidance as a newbie, and the extra full the system, the higher. You received’t flush your cash down the bathroom since you crashed your drone on day one.
» MORE: DJI Mini 3 Professional for Skilled Use (Defined for Newbies)
Portability
Winner: DJI Mini 3 Professional
Thankfully, this was a a lot simpler battle. I’d even go so far as to say it was a non-battle.
That’s no knock on the EVO II Professional, imagine me. It simply doesn’t stack up within the portability class.
The drone weighs 1,191 grams, so overlook about skipping FAA registration.
It weighs far an excessive amount of for that. And whereas the EVO II Professional has foldable parts, even when it’s at its smallest, it’s nonetheless bigger than the Mini 3 Professional.
The dimensions is within the identify. The Mini 3 Professional is light-weight, foldable, and portable. You may match it right into a carry-on or checked baggage with no sweat, taking it all over the world.
You may nonetheless convey the EVO II Professional in your drone adventures, however with a modicum of issue.
In case you choose its pictures and videography options, you may be keen to incur the additional stress, however not all pilots will.
» MORE: Can I Fly a Drone Below 250g Wherever I Need?
RC compatibility and flight vary
Winner: DJI Mini 3 Professional
The EVO II Plus makes use of the Good Controller SE, a wise piece of tech in and of itself. Its OLED display screen is a big 6.4 inches, and it’s responsive to the touch instructions.
You get HD picture high quality as a result of an improved eight-core processor, so watching the view out of your drone on the distant is nearly as good as doing so in your cellphone.
Nevertheless, and this can be a huge nonetheless, the distant controller solely works for the EVO II V3 collection. You may’t use it with an EVO Nano or EVO Lite drone. A significant bummer!
And what of the Mini 3 Professional? It makes use of the DJI RC, an ergonomically designed controller that already has the DJI Fly app preloaded and able to go.
It’s additionally designed to scale back your reliance in your cellphone, and it’s gentle sufficient that you would be able to fly for hours with out worrying about hand fatigue.
The DJI RC is suitable with a laundry checklist of drones, together with the Air 2S, Mavic 3, Mavic 3 Cine, Mavic 3 Basic, Mavic 3 Professional, and Mavic 3 Professional Cine.
I received’t rely ‘em up, however you possibly can see it’s an extended checklist than the EVO II Professional’s compatibility.
What about long-range flights? Curiously, that is an space the place each drones are evenly matched.
You may count on a spread of 12 kilometers in both mannequin, so this shouldn’t sway your determination a lot.
» MORE: Greatest Drone Controllers
Battery life
Winner: DJI Mini 3 Professional
That brings us to some of the essential concerns when looking for a drone: battery life.
Shopper drones promise about half-hour of battery life on common.
You must have sufficient time to follow flying for enjoyable for some time. In case you get used to business calls for, you possibly can stretch that half-hour to get most of your venture achieved, maybe even all the factor.
You may wipe the sweat off your forehead, as neither the EVO II Professional nor the Mini 3 Professional fly for half-hour solely.
The promised flight time of the EVO II Professional is a whopping 40 minutes.
The Mini 3 Professional flies for 34 minutes with the usual battery and 47 minutes with the Clever Battery Plus.
After all, you already know in addition to I do should you’ve ever flown a drone that there’s a distinction between the marketed flight time and your actual flight time. I used to be extra impressed with the Mini 3 Professional’s time within the sky.
» MORE: DJI Mini 3 / Mini 3 Professional Battery (All You Have to Know)
Conclusion
That brings us to the top. Whereas the Autel EVO II Professional and DJI Mini 3 Professional are each nice drones with rather a lot to supply, there may very well be just one, and it’s the Mini 3 Professional on this case.
This was after substantial testing of the above parameters to search out out which got here out on high.
The Mini 3 Professional may slack in some areas – like video high quality, default battery life, and impediment avoidance sensors – however no drone is ideal, and when it excels, it actually excels!
» MORE: Autel EVO Lite+ vs. DJI Mavic 3 Professional (Which is Higher)