An S42 driver swap is beyond my skill and patience level, but I wonder whether the S43 driver and charging circuit would fit the S42. I suppose Texas_Ace would know.
Of course, even if the S43 driver does fit the S42 I doubt Banggood would be interested in selling the driver separatel.
Ok this thread was just brought to my attention. A few of my thoughts.
I 100% agree on the looks, it is funny since the prototype they sent me looks much better. I actually preferred it to the S42, except the bezel, for some reason they made it thicker so it blocks more of the optic.
The driver itself will work in the S42 if you felt so inclined. I was not even aware they were making it a new light until they went live with it on banggood.
The glass breaker is optional, it simply screws into the tripod mount, pointless yes but also meaningless.
The driver is a basic FET+1 design running narsilM of course, so finally it should be usable.
The driver and charge circuit are completely separate now, making modding easier.
Overall the prototype is a pretty nice light, what the S42 should of been to start with.
Why they made the production version so much uglier I have no idea.
Don’t know how to say it any other way than this ;
“If your new flashlight looks like it should have come with a condom, it may be an issue carrying it in public without getting mocked”
Anyone remember the Edsel, Yeah it looked a lot like another body part to many people and didn’t last very long in the market even though they were said to be a well made car.
Subaru apparently didn’t do their history lessons and produced an similar grill/front end orifice and it too was mocked. (Subaru B9 Tribeca)
I don’t understand why they push the “adamant” glass breaker/self protection thing and then have “NO” knurling at all on the body.
Contradiction in form and function.
Luckily the glass breaker simply unscrews (well it comes separately in the box, so you can simply not install it at all).
The body I have zero explanations for, it is ugly and I told them exactly that as soon as I saw it. The body on the prototype had some nice finger groves that looked pretty good actually.
Yes, it uses the same optic so it will have the same beam. The only change to the beam is a slightly thicker bezel for some reason so thus a little lower OTF lumens. Although on the plus side the tint shift on the XP-G3 seems to be a little reduced as well.
Yeah, I am not sure on the rules for that as well in this case. The light is released to the public now and they didn’t tell me to not share it but it also looks a lot different.
Everything is the same except the battery tube. Instead of a blank tube the prototype was a smooth finish with 3 gentle finger indention’s cut on 3 sides. Gave it a classy yet simple look.
It is still in pre-order, T_A, so I don’t know if it qualifies as being released to the public! Isn’t it better to hold on a bit, just to avoid some “issues” with BG?
I will probably not get this light, mostly due to things not related to specs or aspect, but looking at it…the S42 was indeed more pleasant to the eye
Shaving those edges on the bezel would help a bit, I guess
Out of curiosity, if the battery tube on the S43 was changed, would that be the only cosmetic issue most of you have with the light?
I think it might be too late for the S43 to be changed but figure I could give it one last try.
The tailcap striker is already removable, makes the tailcap a bit taller then needed but that is about it.
The bezel is the only other real complaint I see here, how big of a deal is it? it is not that aggressive and is not that bad.
I got permission to post the prototype light I got, these are pictures from Mateminco, the ano looks a lot better on mine in real life then the picture look.
I think it is pretty good looking in the real world, the picture do not do it justice. if I have time I might try to get one of mine.