Xiaomi Fimi X8 SE 2020 vs Autel Evo II 8K Camera Drone Comparison

Spec Comparison of the Xiaomi Fimi X8 SE 2020 and the Autel Evo II 8K Camera Drones

The Xiaomi Fimi X8 SE 2020 and the Autel Evo II 8K are both second generation camera drones in their model line-up, following on from the 2018 versions of the Fimi X8 SE and the original Autel Evo.

They have both just been released in 2020 as well, making them two of the newest camera drones on the market for film makers and aerial photographers.

When folded up in to their smallest forms, the Fimi X8 SE 2020 is 372mm and the Autel Evo II 8K is 338mm in diagonal length which makes it just over 3cm shorter than the Fimi, which means they are very similar in size when their arms are folded in.

One of the first physical differences is that in volume, from the top, looking down when they are folded up they might look similar but due to the extra larger dimensions of the Autel which has a width and height of 133mm and 110mm compared to 106mm and 72mm for the Fimi, that makes the Fimi a few centimetres shorter in both of those dimensions. 

This means that in terms of volume the Autel is basically twice as thick in height as the Fimi when side by side and thus has a much larger volume.

In terms of their controller sizes they are almost identical when not in use and both come in at under 1000cm³.

When combining the volume of both the drone, with a battery in and the controller, you will find that the Xiaomi Fimi X8 SE 2020 is much smaller at just under 2.5L in volume and the Autel has a combined volume of over 4L at 4325cm³.

In terms of performance, both the camera drones have a great top speed, with the Autel coming out slightly on top which can achieve a max speed of 72kmh compared to the 65kmh with the Fimi.

They both also have a very similar ascent and descent speed.

In terms of transmission distance, the Autel comes out slightly on top here with a 9 km transmission distance compared to that of 8km with the Fimi X8 SE 2020.

Flight time is also better on the Autel with an advertised 40 minutes, compared to 35 minutes, which isn't bad at all, by the Fimi.

Both of these flight times are above average and two of the best on the market for consumer camera drones.

You get a much better battery charge time with the Autel of 80 minutes compared to 210 minutes with the Fimi. One thing we want to mention though is that the longer a battery takes to charge, the longer it should last in it's lifetime. Slow charges help many battery types, including camera drones to last longer and get more charges out of them overall.

We have worked out that if you combine the flight time and the max speed of each camera drone, you will theoretically be able to fly just under 38km in one flight for the Fimi X8 SE 2020 and a wopping 10km more for the Autel Evo II 8K at 48km max flight distance in a flight.

Camera, Photo and Video Comparison of the Xiaomi Fimi X8 SE 2020 and the Autel Evo II 8k

When comparing the two cameras there are major differences even in the name of the two camera drones. The Fimi has no mention of the type of camera it has in the name of the drone, nor what sensor it uses in it's description or specs. 

The Autel has an 8K video camera image sensor which offers 48MP photographs and is 1/2" in size. It uses the Sony IMX586 as advertised and we are unaware of the image sensor the Fimi X8 SE 2020 uses.

In terms of camera view, the Fimi X8 SE 2020 has an improvement of 1 degree over it's 2018 model and the same with the Autel.

The Fimi X8 SE 2020 has a FOV of 80° and the Autel EVO II 8K has a field of view of 79°. This means that you should see slightly more from the exact same location with the Fimi.

For photography you are getting better features with the Autel due to it's 48MP photographs. Compared to 12MP for the Fimi X8 SE 2020.

They both shoot in RAW photos though and DNG file types which means editing should be better for photos from both camera drones.

For video you get double the resolution, 4K with the Fimi and 8K with the Autel, this means that even though it doesn't have zoom capabilities you can crop and cut in to the video when dropping the resolutions and select areas of the video you want to crop in to. This is amazing for businesses, search and rescue, building sites and other business related environments and scopes.

You also get slightly slower frame rates at 1080p with 100fps for the Fimi and 120fps for the Autel.

The same is true for 4K, at the time of launch the Fimi X8 can only do 4k 30fps compared to 4K at 60fps for the Autel, which means slow motion 4k footage.

You get RAW and flat profiles with both in video recording which helps post and colour grading and very similar flight modes.

Summary

The Autel is over three times the price of the Fimi X8 SE 2020 at launch, is it 3x the drone, in our opinion, no.

As an all rounder, the Fimi X8 SE 2020 wins due to it's price point at under $449 new, sometimes cheaper depending on sales. The Autel Evo II 8K costs $1499 new which is considerably more.

If you do need 8K video footage or 48 MP photos and the longer flight time, then yes, it is a much better drone in terms of camera and flight time, but only in these specific areas do we see people buying this camera drone.