Anyone purchased these recently? Is there a difference in quality, look and feel?
As I understand they are identical and the 1st production was impeccable but there were issues with later productions.
This would be a gift purchase so don’t want to have any quality issues that would need repair or replacement.
There is a nice deal for them now: A6 for $16.99 and the S1 for $17.99 (includes a 18350 tube)
or should I just get the one from Neal, he has it for $29.99.
I just bought two BLF A6's (3D and 5A).
No operational issues, anodizing is uniform and not chalky. The two are indistinguishable, except for the color of the emitter.
I can't find anything to complain about, though I had the same concerns as you.
I also got two Astrolux C8's (XPL HI 3A and 3B), which have different shades of anodizing (even on one unit) and obviously inconsistent head dimensions.
I know you were looking at S1's..
The switches on the A6's are firm and distinct, the C8's are soft feeling, just like the Convoy S2+ - all work as expected.
I like all of them for what I paid, but to answer your question, in my experience, the BLF A6 seem to have the edge over Astrolux in manufacturing consistency.
Purchased from B..gd.com Feb 2019.
Update -
On one of the BLF A6's, I noticed that the anodization was not adequately removed from the tailcap where the end of the body tube meets it.
It's no longer making contact, so I requested a replacement from B..good.
Maybe not the best choice of you're only buying one as a gift.
If you want the real original BLF A6, get the Manker version. The original was made by Manker for Banggood. The rest are knock-offs IMO.
I recently purchased the Astrolux S1 with the 18350 tube, and the 18650 tube. It is well built.