Autel Robotics – the folks behind the 2016 video showing how to use a drone to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner – has revealed what's claimed to be "the most powerful and advanced foldable drone on the planet" at CES 2020. The Evo II flies for over half an hour, can reach speeds of 45 mph, and comes with a 6K or 8K camera.
In the living room, the resolution of the televisions dominating the corner has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Full HD is giving way to 4K UHD, and 8K (and beyond) is very much on the horizon. It seems that camera drones are also flying a similar route. With models packing 4K cameras already widely available, Autel Robotics is looking ahead with the Evo II.
Currently in production but not yet available for sale, the Evo II will come in three variants. The standard model has an 8K camera with a 0.5-inch CMOS sensor that's capable of snapping 48-megapixel stills. The camera module records at a bitrate of 120 Mbps, and has light sensitivity of ISO100-3,200.
The Pro version comes with a 6K camera rocking a 20-MP 1-inch sensor, an adjustable aperture of f/2.8 to f/11, and ISO100-12,800 light sensitivity. And the Dual flavor carries a Flir Boson thermal sensor and an 8K camera.
Where many battery-powered foldable drones need a recharge after about 30 minutes in the air – such as the Mavic 2 drones we reviewed in 2018 – all of the Evo IIs have reported flight times of up to 40 minutes per charge. Users will be alerted when the 7,100 mAh battery is low and when it's time to head back to base. The Autel drone has a top speed of 45 mph (72.4 km/h) too, can resist Level 8 wind speeds and has a transmission range of 5.6 mi (9 km). The remote benefits from its own built-in screen.
Obstacle avoidance is helped along by 12 computer vision sensors powered by a dual-core processor, two sonar sensors and two LED landing lights. The drone will autonomously fly around obstacles at speed, and is capable of detecting up to 64 subjects simultaneously, including people, vehicles and animals. There's 8 GB of internal storage, which isn't a great deal considering the recording resolutions being touted, but up to 256 GB of extra storage space can be added via SD cards.
Autel hasn't revealed pricing at this stage, the video below has more.
Product page: Evo II