Autel EVO ll v3, My Last (and FINAL Autel Robotics Purchase.)

Finally flying my newest camera, the Autel Robotics EVO ll Pro v3! (my final purchase from Autel and here's why...)
I got it into my hot little hands on January 3rd and now on January 10th I'm finally flying it. First I had trouble with a controller battery that would not take a charge. I spent hours and hours on the phone waiting for a service rep from Autel to answer only to be given the opportunity to leave a message when Autel finally picked up. Ugh, 7 hours on hold and no resolution.
I contacted the service rep that was helping me with the repair procedures for the bird that this is replacing and she did tell me that the batteries for the fancy controller are a known problem but that they currently have no replacements. She states in her email that the software fix should be available to download "in a few days."
Anyway after sitting on my desk for a total of 85 hours on the charger...BOOM!! It suddenly was fully charged!! Then I waited two more days for the weather and here we are!
What a great morning!!
Enjoy.
UPDATE January 12, 2023:
Controller fully recharged in only 30 hours following this flight. Still no new firmware…
At least I’m ready to fly again when the weather clears.
UPDATE January 20, 2023:
All better now! The frustration has ended! I flew yesterday and this morning and the entire system seems to be performing perfectly! I cannot express my relief.
It is now the incredible aerial video and still camera that I had hoped👏👏👏! I can and will now highly recommend this drone. Truly magnificent footage.
(*this post has proven too good to be true.)
UPDATE February 5, 2023:
Well I thought it was fixed but I’ve learned that the battery in the controller dies in the case after 2 days if I leave it in the controller. It seems to hold a charge when I’ve removed it and stored it separately.
UPDATE April 21,2023:
Today I received the backup battery for the SE Controller! Now I can fly with some assurance that the mission will be completed. Finally.
UPDATE April 30, 2023:
On Thursday I flew out over the Bay to get some beautiful Sunset Photos and continued experiments with the Spherical Panorama Intelligent Flight Mode. Between flights I received a message that an update was available. I naturally (foolishly?) trusted Autel Robotics and downloaded the update.
RESULT: No noticeable difference in operation of the SUAS however when I returned home and tried to recharge the batteries (I have 2, just to be sure...) for the SE Controller neither is now able to recharge beyond 54%. S**T. ComeOn AUTEL!! Really?!?
(To their credit the January 20 update did help a little for three months...)
UPDATE August 26, 2023:
Well the SE Controller batteries (2 of them) are again refusing to take a charge. Still absolutely no assistance, acknowledgement or accountability by Autel Robotics. If I leave the controller charging all the time I can eek out about ten minutes of flight time between my 2 controller batteries … but I have been totally grounded (BRICKED) on two occasions and had to substitute my Phantom 4 pro (my old reliable except in geofenced areas.)
I expect this will be my final Autel Robotics purchase. Too bad because I really like the camera.
UPDATE June 16, 2024:
Original (and problematic) SE Controller has finally killed both of my controller batteries. I still have missions in areas that DJI is geofenced so I still need a quality drone camera that can fly these missions (these are legal areas but the overly cautious geofencing goes way beyond actual restricted airspace in my area.) I broke down and payed $400 for another SE Controller on EBay. It actually revived my batteries and paired up easily with my V3. I am now confidently flying regularly!
(ALL WITH ZERO HELP FROM AUTEL. I waited on hold again for two hours before going to voicemail just to ask how to pair the controller to the bird... ended up getting the answer from CHAT GTP. The next day I received an email from support @ autel that actually told me the wrong answer. UGH AUTEL!
#autelrobotics
#EVO_II_Pro_v3
#AutelPilot
#drone
#photography
#autel #evo #evolution #love #mobile #nature #photo #pro