ok so ive been going back and forth on this for about two weeks and im driving myself insane reading reviews that all contradict each other. my budget is around $900-1000 and these two keep coming up as the options in that range

background on me ? i flew a Phantom 3 like ages ago so im not totally new but im definitely rusty and would basically be starting over. i do a lot of hiking and travel stuff, thats the main use case, so portability matters but its not the absolute top priority

from what i can tell the Air 3 has better obstacle avoidance and the RC2 controller is nice but the Autel is supposedly better in low light? and doesnt have the same geofencing restrictions which i get is appealing to some people but im not sure how much that matters for what i do. honestly the Autel also just feels like more of a gamble because there are way fewer people using them and less community support

anyone actually own or have owned the Evo Lite+ specifically, not just youtube specs comparisons. i want to hear from people who actually fly the things

had the Evo Lite+ for about eight months before i sold it and got the Air 3 and honestly it wasnt because the Autel was bad, it was fine, the low light thing is real the sensor is genuinely impressive for the price. but you hit on the thing that got to me which is the ecosystem. when something went wrong with a setting or i wanted accessories or just wanted to ask a question somewhere, the community is just so much smaller. not a dealbreaker for everyone but it started to bother me

the Air 3 feels more polished overall like every little thing just works the way you expect it to. if youre doing travel and hiking i think youll appreciate that less friction

i mean just get the Air 3, the resale value alone makes it worth it if you ever decide to sell or upgrade. Autel stuff is harder to move and you take a bigger loss. not saying Autel makes bad drones just a practical thing to consider