so im in the market for my first real camera drone, been flying a cheap holy stone thing for about 8 months just to get comfortable and i think im ready to spend actual money. budget is around 700-900 dollars give or take. every forum and video i look at is basically just dji content and i get it, they dominate the market, but i stumbled onto the Autel Evo Lite+ and the specs look really good, bigger sensor than a lot of dji stuff in that price range.

my concern is the ecosystem stuff. like if something breaks or i need accessories is it going to be a pain. and also just general reliability, i dont know anyone personally who flies Autel so i cant ask around the way i normally would. anyone here have experience with Autel stuff or made the jump away from dji at some point? not looking for a fanboy fight just honest takes from people who actually fly

flew the Evo Lite+ for about six months before switching back to dji. honestly the image quality is legit, the f/1.9 aperture is no joke especially in lower light. where it fell apart for me was the app ? autel's software just felt buggy and behind compared to dji fly, little things like the interface feeling sluggish or waypoints not behaving right. also had one firmware update that bricked some features temporarily and support took forever to sort it out.

not saying dont buy it, the hardware is genuinely good and if dji's data privacy stuff bothers you its a legit alternative. just go in knowing the ecosystem is smaller and youll feel that in the day to day stuff

im kind of in the same boat as you actually, been looking at this exact question. from what i've gathered the main dji advantage is just how mature everything is ? the app works, the accessories are everywhere, if something breaks theres a clear path to fixing it. autel makes good hardware but its like being on android vs iphone in a way, the experience outside the core product is just rougher around the edges.

that said 700-900 range you could also look at the mini 4 pro refurbished or the air 2s which is a bit older but honestly still holds up really well for landscapes and that sensor is great. might be worth considering if you havent already