Hey there, and welcome to my evaluate of the Autel EVO II Professional and DJI Mini 2 SE. This can be a head-to-head I’m excited to cowl, contemplating these are two of my favourite drones.
The EVO II Professional stays on the high of its sport, even when it’s not the latest drone.
Conversely, the Mini 2 SE is a testomony to DJI’s unimaginable lineage of accomplishments in drone expertise.
Though these two drones couldn’t look or function extra in a different way, they’re each acceptable decisions for business functions and leisure flights, the latter of which I primarily use them for.
In the event you had been purchasing for a complete drone fleet, it will be a simple alternative, as you could possibly purchase each. Nevertheless, you’re right here since you wish to select the perfect between these two.
I’ve been in related predicaments myself, and I’m joyful to supply my experience based mostly on lots of of flight hours between the 2.
This evaluate will unpack the various virtues of the Autel EVO II Professional and DJI Mini 2 SE, holding them below a microscope (figuratively, after all!) to check them within the areas you want information on, corresponding to flight efficiency and battery life. I’ll additionally elaborate on their variations based mostly on my private flight experiences. You’ll quickly see why I chosen the EVO II Professional because the stronger of the 2.
Lingering on a drone choice is agonizing. I’ve been there, and it feels just like the longer you drag out your choice, the much less readability you might have.
That’s what I hope that can assist you with.
You’ll have all of the details you have to boldly go forth and choose up the proper drone on your skilled pursuits so you may reside regret-free together with your choice.
Transient overview
Autel EVO II Professional
When Autel launched the preliminary EVO II Professional, they didn’t go away effectively sufficient alone, and thank goodness! Then we wouldn’t have gotten the V2 version or the even higher V3, which is one in all my private all-time favourite drones.
Let’s handle the elephant within the room. The EVO II Professional is 5 instances the price of the Mini 2 SE. That alone may be sufficient to disqualify it from competition, however that may be an enormous mistake!
In any case, to skip over the EVO II Professional would imply lacking out on these options:
- An industry-defining Sony CMOS digicam with a one-inch sensor (don’t fear, you may configure the aperture) that takes 6K Extremely HD movies and 20 MP photographs.
- Probably the greatest impediment avoidance programs you’ll see in a drone. That alone makes the EVO II Professional well worth the cash, as you may fly with confidence as a beginner.
- An intuitive, easy-to-use Sensible Controller SE that allows you to fly without having your telephone as a display. I like the scale of the touchscreen and the way rugged it’s. It’s even waterproof!
- A jam-packed packing checklist certain to make you understand the worth of your buy, as you might have each accent you want as a first-timer and in a while, while you get extra into the nitty-gritty of what the EVO II Professional can do.
- The superb Dynamic Monitor 2.0 can monitor stationary or transferring topics such as you wouldn’t consider. You possibly can monitor many topics concurrently, so you may take on extra concerned drone jobs.
» MORE: Autel EVO II Professional vs. DJI Mavic 3 (Right here’s My Selection)
DJI Mini 2 SE
The Mini 2 SE is without doubt one of the latest Mini drones, however regardless of its launch date of 2023, it follows within the spirit of different Mini 2 drones. Meaning simplicity is essential.
This is without doubt one of the lowest-cost DJI drones you should buy. Even the Fly Extra Combo is accessible for below $500, making it an superior entry-level drone. If I had began flying in 2023, I may simply see the Mini 2 SE being my first drone.
In addition to its easy-to-swallow worth, the Mini 2 SE has these epic options:
- A good battery lifetime of over half-hour, which isn’t dangerous for its measurement. In the event you don’t have an enormous to-do checklist, you may reliably get work finished with the Mini 2 SE.
- Many newbie options, from its registration-free weight (provided that you fly it recreationally) to the included tutorials for studying how the drone works, automated launching and touchdown, dependable hovering, and different auto flight modes, together with RTH.
- A few of DJI’s most satisfying Clever Flight Modes, corresponding to QuickShots, with entry to the beginner-friendly LightCut app to create pro-level footage utilizing single-tap edits, even in case you’ve by no means taken pictures and movies with a drone earlier than.
- Newbie-appropriate video (2.7K) and picture (12 MP) high quality, bolstered by options like 4x zoom and a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor.
» MORE: Does DJI Mini 2 SE Have Comply with Me? (Answered)
Fast verdict
Your time is valuable, and I don’t wish to go away you on pins and needles.
Right here at Droneblog, all suggestions we make for the perfect drones between two fashions are introduced after in depth flight observe and testing.
With our experience and drone information, you may take our recommendations to the financial institution.
So, which drone wins?
The Autel EVO II Professional is the standout drone between it and the DJI Mini 2 SE. It has impediment avoidance sensors (which the Mini 2 SE doesn’t), higher picture and video high quality, a for much longer battery lifetime of 40 minutes, and extra picture settings, from a excessive max ISO to an adjustable aperture.
After all, I’m not undercutting the Mini 2 SE fully. Its Clever Flight Modes are among the finest you could find, and this drone has so many beginner-friendly options.
Actually, then, which drone between these two is best for you comes right down to what you’re searching for in a drone.
In the event you’re purchasing on your first or a newbie simply beginning to fly commercially, corresponding to a social media star or influencer, the Mini 2 SE will aid you develop your sea legs quick.
In the event you want a heavy-duty drone that may stand as much as the weather and maintain flight on your extra in-depth drone initiatives, the EVO II Professional is finest.
It’s the higher all-around drone between the 2, however it’s not practically as beginner-friendly.
» MORE: Can You Fly the DJI Mini 2 SE at Night time? (Defined for Freshmen)
What are the primary variations?
The Mini 2 SE and EVO II Professional are about as completely different as apples and potatoes. Since these variations can encourage your buying choice, it’s pertinent to evaluate all of them. Right here’s the exhaustive checklist.
- Worth: The Mini 2 SE retails for below $400 in case you select the bottom drone, whereas the EVO II Professional prices near $2,000. That’s an enormous worth differential.
- Weight: The official weight of the Mini 2 SE is 246 grams. The EVO II Professional weighs 1,191 grams. Whereas it’s a must to register any drone used for any business functions, most pilots discover lighter drones are higher.
- Measurement: The EVO II Professional can be a lot bigger than the Mini 2 SE. Unfolded, it measures 457 by 558 by 108 millimeters. The Mini 2 SE is 245 by 289 by 56 millimeters unfolded with propellers.
- Security options: The impediment avoidance system included with the EVO II Professional is without doubt one of the finest round. That makes the shortage of impediment avoidance within the Mini 2 SE conspicuous in its absence. Nevertheless, it has fundamental impediment sensing.
- Picture and video high quality: Listed here are two areas the place the EVO II Professional shines. Its 20 MP picture decision is probably not nice in comparison with most drones in the marketplace right now, however it certain beats the 12 MP picture high quality the Mini 2 SE is able to. The video high quality, a distinction of 6K versus 2K, can be stark.
- Flight time: The EVO II Professional has a projected flight time that’s 10 minutes longer than the Mini 2 SE’s. That’s sufficient to avoid wasting your pores and skin when you might have a good deadline on the horizon.
- Colours: It could be a small factor to a few of you studying this, however Autel’s colour selection has at all times impressed me. The EVO II Professional is accessible in vivid orange to extend your visibility when flying it (however nonetheless inside VLOS guidelines, after all). The Mini 2 SE is a light-weight grey drone.
- Newbie-friendliness: Certain, the Autel drone has some options designed to make it a pleasant flight expertise for newcomers, however it has nothing on the Mini 2 SE on this space. Virtually all options of the latter drone are there to assist newcomers really feel like execs briefly order.
» MORE: Autel EVO 2 Professional vs. DJI Mini 2 (Right here’s My Selection)
Autel EVO II Professional
The Autel EVO II Professional deserves its accolades. Though it’s maybe not the latest drone, even within the Autel household, it’s nonetheless top-of-the-line in the marketplace as a result of forward-thinking options applied.
The V3 version is newer than the OG EVO II Professional, which is a part of how this drone manages to maintain up with the massive canine because the 2020s roll on.
It has one in all my favourite cameras in any drone. The CMOS from Sony is one inch, which could not appear that particular initially, however you then study you may set the aperture as much as f/11, and now you might have extra prospects.
After all, your photographic prowess with the EVO II Professional goes a lot deeper. For instance, its ISO vary is as much as 44,000. I additionally love that picture information are 12-bit DNGs with an expansive colour profile of effectively over 60 million hues, a wealthy dynamic vary, and pure lowlights and highlights.
All this interprets to much less modifying time per picture and video. In the event you’re deadline-driven like me, you wish to spend as little time wrapping up initiatives as potential so that you may be on to the following one. The EVO II Professional is prepared for that.
» MORE: Autel EVO II Professional vs. DJI FPV (Right here’s What I Like)
Its 40-minute marketed flight time is great, and its expansive impediment detection and avoidance system is high-tech.
The EVO II Professional has nearly 20 teams of sensors that work along side the digicam to alert the drone of an impediment so it could get away in real-time.
I haven’t even talked about the Hyperlapse photograph mode, which shoots in lifelike 6K. It can save you your Hyperlapse information as RAW photographs.
Though Hyperlapse accelerates the panorama, you’ll have such high-quality footage you’ll be beaming while you present it off to your shopper.
The Moonlight Algorithm 2.0 additionally deserves heaps of reward. Whereas it’s robust to search out locations to fly at evening because of FAA drone legal guidelines, in case you can, please don’t miss this function.
You nearly gained’t consider you’re taking pictures at evening, because the EVO II Professional retains its colour depth and element after darkish.
By the way in which, the Moonlight Algorithm additionally works in low-light conditions, so in case you reside someplace the place you may’t legally fly after sundown, attempt it there!
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 in case you make a purchase order, at no further price to you.
12/06/2023 11:32 am GMT
DJI Mini 2 SE
There is probably not a greater first-time drone in the marketplace than the Mini 2 SE.
This DJI drone is made for newcomers in all arenas. It’s light-weight sufficient you could skip the registration if flying it for enjoyable.
Its worth is accessible, it has Degree 5 wind resistance for sturdiness, and the DJI Fly app tells you every thing you have to know to get began.
You don’t need to be an skilled pilot to make use of the Mini 2 SE for the primary time since this drone consists of one-tap launching and touchdown.
The steady hovering retains your drone upright in between, whereas RTH ensures you face fewer furry conditions, such because the Mini 2 SE flying out of vary or having too little battery.
» MORE: DJI Mini 2 SE vs. Holy Stone HS720E (Which One is Finest)
If you consider the Mini 2 SE within the lens of a first-timer’s drone, its 12 MP picture high quality and 2K video high quality don’t appear so dangerous.
This drone has all the perfect DJI digicam gear, corresponding to a three-axis motorized gimbal and a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, so it doesn’t skimp there.
It additionally doesn’t skimp on Clever Flight Modes. Get nearer to all of the enjoyable utilizing 4x zoom, or take a 180-degree, extensive, or sphere Panorama.
The QuickShots modes are fully automated and embrace Rocket, Helix, Boomerang, Circle, and Dronie.
You possibly can then load your footage into LightCut, slapping on filters, including in cool digicam cuts, and implementing soundtracks with single-tap edits pushed by AI.
DJI Mini 2 SE (Fly Extra Combo)
Light-weight Drone with QHD Video, 10km Video Transmission, 3 Batteries for Complete of 93 Minutes Flight Time, Underneath 249 g, Computerized Professional Photographs, Digicam Drone for Freshmen.
We earn a fee in case you make a purchase order, at no further price to you.
12/06/2023 11:56 pm GMT
Head-to-head comparability
Digicam system
Winner: Autel EVO II Professional
As talked about, contextually, the picture and video high quality of the DJI Mini 2 SE aren’t dangerous.
First-timers hardly ever nitpick pixel high quality and readability the identical method skilled pilots do as a result of they don’t have a backlog of expertise to attract on.
They primarily care about getting one thing on-line. Contemplating the Mini 2 SE is a DJI drone, it’s not like your footage goes to endure from shoddy high quality.
That mentioned, as you start getting extra skilled drone jobs, you’ll shortly understand that the picture and video high quality of the Mini 2 SE is not going to permit you to rise above your friends.
Their higher-quality drone cameras will outrank yours each time.
It’s then that you just’re able to discover a drone just like the EVO II Professional. Its 6K Extremely HD video high quality will blow you away, particularly after graduating from the Mini 2 SE.
The 20 MP picture high quality, whereas nothing to put in writing house about in comparison with different DJI drones, is significantly better than the Mini 2 SE’s 12 MP picture high quality.
Contemplating it can save you some picture information in RAW and others in 12-big DNG, the EVO II Professional proves it’s the king of digicam high quality versus the Mini 2 SE.
» MORE: Digicam Know-how in Drones (Defined)
Efficiency
Winner: Autel EVO II Professional
I like how light-weight, zippy, and transportable the Mini 2 SE is. It’s obtained surprisingly nice wind resistance, and it’s sturdy in some ways you wouldn’t count on.
Nevertheless, I can’t give it the efficiency class in good conscience.
The first purpose is its lack of impediment avoidance.
You’ll recall the Mini 2 SE has a downward-facing imaginative and prescient system that may gather impediment knowledge. Nevertheless, the drone will make no strikes to keep away from obstacles.
Contemplating how beginner-perfect the Mini 2 SE is in each different method, this lacking function is a large detriment. Freshmen want impediment avoidance to keep away from sinking their $400 within the ocean.
I do know DJI has solely applied impediment avoidance in Mini drones right here and there, however the Mini 2 SE ought to have had it, even when it meant driving up the value just a few hundred {dollars}.
Now, by comparability, any impediment avoidance system would have sufficed, however the EVO II Professional has top-of-the-line programs within the sport.
Its many sensor teams work laborious to detect obstacles throughout your drone, then dodge them earlier than the going will get too robust.
After all, drone efficiency is about greater than impediment avoidance. The EVO II Professional can fly lengthy and makes these flights extra satisfying with its good options.
I like DJI’s Clever Flight Modes, and whereas I believe they’re higher than some other drone producer’s, the Mini 2 SE doesn’t have that many.
» MORE: How Quick Can Drones Fly? (An In-Depth Information)
Portability
Winner: DJI Mini 2 SE
This one was a no-contest.
The EVO II Professional is loads transportable, don’t get me improper. It folds down, and it’s not so massive you could’t carry it with you in its included carrying case or a third-party bag.
You shouldn’t wrestle to examine in with it on the airport as a carry-on.
Nevertheless, it’s heavy, and in comparison with the Mini 2 SE, it’s additionally cumbersome. The DJI drone is way more streamlined, and it weighs so little that you just gained’t really feel it when carrying it in your travels.
Basically, if the burden of your smartphone doesn’t trouble you, then the Mini 2 SE gained’t both.
» MORE: The Final Information to Touring with a Drone
RC compatibility and vary
Winner: Autel EVO II Professional
Let’s discuss controllers, we could?
The Mini 2 SE makes use of the DJI RC-N1, and it’s the one controller that works with it.
The RC-N1 has a monster checklist of appropriate DJI drones, such because the Mini 2 earlier than it, the Mini 3, the Mini 3 Professional, the Mavic 3, Mavic 3 Basic, Mavic Air 2, and Air 2S.
The controller is boxy however light-weight, and the beveling within the design offers you a spot to relaxation your palms when holding it. I like how this controller isn’t too heavy and handles effectively.
Nevertheless, the RC-N1 doesn’t have a display. It’s essential to connect your telephone to the holster.
The EVO II Professional makes use of the Autel Sensible Controller SE, which works with different EVO drones and the EVO Lite. It has a built-in touchscreen measuring a beneficiant 6.4 inches.
In addition to the OLED display, the bolstered processor and SkyLink transmission system allow you to ship HD-quality photographs with out stressing about interference. The distant can deal with temperatures of as much as 104 levels Fahrenheit.
The transmission distance the EVO II Professional distant is able to is 9.3 miles. The Mini 2 SE has a transmission distance of 6.21 miles, which ain’t dangerous contemplating this drone’s viewers, however is lower than the Autel drone.
» MORE: Can You Fly DJI Mini 2 SE With no Cellphone (Answered)
Battery life
Winner: Autel EVO II Professional
One other space the place the Mini 2 SE is lower than the Autel drone is in battery life.
Most of DJI’s Mini drones don’t fly for longer than 35 minutes. Within the case of the Mini 2 SE, it’s solely 31 minutes. Nevertheless, these are the marketed minutes.
In every flight expertise I’ve had with this DJI drone – and it’s so satisfying, I’ve had many – I logged below half-hour. It was nearer to 27 minutes or a bit below.
That’s not shocking, contemplating drones by no means fly so long as marketed. That’s why the 40-minute flight time of the EVO II Professional yields an IRL time of round 36 minutes.
Regardless of the way you slice it, the EVO II Professional flies longer, supplying you with extra leeway to get work finished.
» MORE: Drone Batteries (In-Depth Info)
Conclusion
Each drones have many deserves, however the EVO II Professional stands head and shoulders over the Mini 2 SE for its longer flight time, extra sturdy digicam system, and impediment avoidance, a function the DJI drone regrettably lacks.
Nevertheless, apart from that omission, the Mini 2 SE is a superb newbie drone that’s certain to result in many enjoyable moments.
The EVO II Professional, whereas much less beginner-friendly, is the following finest step in your profession.
» MORE: Are the DJI Mini 2 and DJI Mini 3 Batteries the Identical? (Defined)