so ive had the original EVO II Pro (the 6K one with the 1 inch sensor) for about two years now and im seeing a lot of talk about the V3 version. my local shop is offering a trade-in deal and im trying to figure out if this is actually a meaningful hardware upgrade or if Autel just slapped a new name on it and called it a day.

from what i can tell the sensor is the same Sony IMX383 which is kind of whatever, the main differences seem to be around the gimbal stabilization and some transmission system improvements. i do a lot of real estate and some event work so the footage quality is the core thing for me, not necessarily the transmission range since i dont fly that far out anyway.

has anyone actually done a side by side on these? the footage i've seen online comparing them is all over the place quality wise which makes it hard to judge if the differences are from the drone or just different pilots and lighting conditions. curious if anyone has hands on time with both.

I went from the original to the V3 last year and honestly for real estate specifically I'd say the gimbal improvement alone might be worth it if you're doing a lot of interior courtyard type shots or anything where you're flying in tighter spaces. The stabilization on the V3 just feels more locked in, fewer micro-jitters in the footage especially when you're doing slow creeping shots around buildings. That said if your original unit is in good shape and you're happy with the image quality ? and you should be, that sensor is still excellent ? I'm not sure I'd rush to upgrade. The transmission improvements are nice but like you said probably irrelevant for what you're doing.

What firmware are you running on the original? Some of the later updates actually improved quite a bit on the V1 hardware too.

tbh i'd be skeptical of any drone company calling something a V3 without a sensor change. sounds like mostly software and maybe some build quality tweaks. not saying it's bad just... the original EVO II Pro footage is still holding up really well for commercial work so unless your current unit has issues i'd probably sit on the money. or put it toward a good ND filter set if you dont have one already, makes way more difference than people think for real estate stuff.