Nah, especially since most of our lights already include the protections, the most important ones being reverse polarity protection and low voltage protection, which the S21A already includes.
So, no, there are no safety benefits, especially since you use quality light(S21A) and a high quality charger(Miboxer C4-12 Upgraded).
That makes sense. Does LG or Samsung offer some options that are protected cells for comparison? I don’t mind paying a little more for peace of mind. I just need one that isn’t re labeled or has a very thin one to fit this light it looks like.
I think I would rather have cells close to 5000mah instead of 4000mah. Otherwise I’m not seeing a big difference from my 3800mah 18650 cells. Convoy offers the S2+ in 18650 in almost the same brightness of 1800 lumens with the same LED as the 21700 option.
Do all the lithium cells have less capacity the more output they have?
I saw lots of mention of new 5,000mah 20A lishen and molicel 21700s in the convoy thread. I know they won’t fit the S21A but my zebralight sc700d can accept a 50E with triple wrapping, so they might fit perfect in there. Are those available for purchase yet?
Protected 18650s and unprotected 18650s may have a difference of 3-4mm in length.
Protected 21700 and unprotected 21700 may have a difference of 5mm in length.
Most flashlights that accept 18650 will accept both protected and unprotected 18650s, but not all (eg. Emisar D4, Astrolux S42, etc. do NOT fit protected 18650s).
Protected 21700 are still very rare, I doubt flashlights that are not designed with those in mind will fit them, because the springs have to accommodate 5mm length (there will be a lot of current drop, for flashlights that use high-drain cells, having the extra length will mean a big current drop due to the size, as per my understanding)