Please note that since deep red emitters have quite a bit lower Vf, driving them the actual current ouput of these boost drivers could be increased to at least 3+A without difficulty. And much beyond if they were to change stuff like Agnelucio. :-)
Edit.- Remember: boost driver, all emitters in series receive the full current. You must think in terms of power. At 3+A driving current total Vf could be close to 10V and the drain from the battery will be noteworthy. No less than 10 or 15 A rated batteries, just in case.
Whether in this case they decide to use a driver like this or not is up to them, but it's time for they to get better buck and boost drivers. They also need some good buck ones, really.
As much as I would like Sofirn to build more lights using buck, boost or high constant current drivers, I see some (market) constraints that counteract this plan. So far, their largest target group is what I call "standard customers" (not those flash'o'maniacs like us), people who want to get a decent, powerful light for a very competitive and reasonable price, regardless of tint and CRI. I'm not saying low-budget because that would be insulting, looking at those myriads of crapfire lights for less than $ 10.00 that you can find on Amazon, eBay, AliExpress etc.. So, let's just state they aim for customers who are willing to spend $ 30 - $ 80 for a flashlight. Sofirn is really good in this market segment, getting better and better. If we now ask them to build more lights with more efficient, more complex and - most important - more expensive components, they will need to enter a new pricing level that is already taken by brands like Fenix, Acebeam, Olight etc. pp.. They will also need to put more resources in driver development (assuming they want to keep on using their own drivers). All of this needs to fit into their long-term business strategy. My hope is, if we keep asking, begging and longing for better drivers long enough, they will eventually decide to step up with a "premium" product line including BLF's most wanted features.
That's yet to find out but I expect a truly visible difference between SP10R and C01R on full power. While Sofirn applied a bit more than 1A on C01R's XP-E2 photo red (on high mode), SST20-DR can possibly driven with 2A (or even more) on full power. In the end, the thermal design of the SP10S host will have a significant impact how far Sofirn can push the limits. As much as I love hotrod lights that can burn your skin (at own risk), there will need to be a reasonable balance between shorting the lifespan of the LED, having a safe maximum temperature and draining the battery.
SP10S appears to single click to Low and then cycles through Low, Med, High, Eco, Low.
I hope that the SP10R UI is different. E.g. Hold to access firefly. Single click through each mode in a uniform manner (Low, Med, High, Med, Low, Firefly, Low, Med, High…).
What is the status of the project, Lux? I have already got the C01R, but I find it running out of battery too quickly for my use (mostly as a bulb at night).
I don't have any status update yet. Sofirn's factory is currently quite busy, so there might be some delay in rigging up a prototype of SP10R. I will keep you updated as soon as I get any news.
I must admit, I have no idea about Sofirn's plans for the next generation of AA / AAA lights. It could be that they will introduce a whole new line up of lights or focus on improving the details only. What I can tell so far is that I collected as much (negative) feedback about SP10S as I could find and tried to eradicate any downsides with the concept of SP10R. These improvement suggestions can be found in the OP of this thread.
As soon as Lexel and Sofirn have finished the SP10S Andúril dual chemistry boost driver, there might be a nice option for those looking for a better SP10S with white light.