First of all, I think the FWAA is the model nearly everyone has desired for at least a few years, if not longer, and I am mostly satisfied with it, yet I have found I can't carry it out due to just a couple problems, though I am using it at home because it is so fun. Also, I am aware of the other FWAA threads, but none specifically address these concerns as a thread topic.
The clip, though certainly more attractive than on its larger FWxx siblings, is a disappointment. The edge of the clip around its seat is wider than the diameter of the light. Perhaps this lip is intentional to give more grip when held like a syringe, but I find it painful. That is my biggest gripe, that it seems like this clip was not designed for this light but just pulled off the shelf.
Though I prefer a single-purpose pocket clip, I would not care about the reversible clip if it were deep-carry. I also doubt I would care about the material if it were stiffer. This clip feels like it is going to fatigue and snap at its base under normal daily use within a year or two (and given how popular the light is, I think we're going to find out soon enough). I suppose it would be asking for too much for a Ti clip on Ti models, and maybe a brass clip on the Cu models. Perhaps we'll see after-market clips that solve these issues. Come on group buy.
I am satisfied with the driver quality on the larger FWxx lights, which are not the best we've seen, but certainly not the worst either. For mass-produced flashlights, they're as good as one could expect and satisfactory. The driver and tail assembly on the FWAA I have seen (only two I have seen, but I'll be honest, I ordered 2 more) appear to me dirty and sloppy. These are the dirtiest and sloppiest Lumintop drivers I have ever seen, though I am judging this only by the appearance of the contact boards and visible components. Though these parts of the AA Tool appear similarly cheap, at least they're clean-looking. At least with the Lumintop products I am familiar with, the quality of the AAA Tool (and AAA Maratac) I'd say were of the best (apparent) quality (again, only speaking to Lumntop lights, and only judging the visible parts). Also, it is truly silly that this driver is apparently designed to melt itself and/or explode with factory settings. I think this is perhaps the most dangerous mass-produced flashlight ever. Do not gift this flashlight to any but an experienced flashaholic.
I prefer warmer emitters, so I've only ordered the FWAA 3000K versions. Not all Nichia emitters are the same. I would not be surprised if others have made the same mistakes as I have assuming all 219B or 219C were of the same excellence as the fabled sw45k and sw40k. With 219C emitters, the tint-quality is hit or miss. I have a few 219C 4000K lights, and the tints all suck yellowy except for a lucky FW3A that has an excellent tap-dead-neutral tint. I bought up a bunch of Nichia 219B emitters in sw30k and sw35k intended for a lot of swaps, assuming tints were as good as the sw45k, but the first swap I had made in sw30k was not as expected (thus, along with the hit or miss 219C tints, this served to lower my tint expectations for FWAA 3000K). It was the Noctigon KR4 w/ E21A in 3500K tint that has ruined me. Since that KR4 arrived almost a year ago, I have been twice shy ordering more custom work with Nichia 219b because I have doubts the sw35k tint could remotely be as excellent as the E21A 3500K. Short of the luck of the tint lottery, I no longer believe tints of any of Nichia's x19x emitters are worthy of mention compared to E21A tints. But I also don't see it rational to try to shoehorn E21A emitters into a FWAA unless there existed an appropriate optic, which I doubt exists. With my tint expectations preemptively lowered for FWAA, I expected a less-than-ideal tint, but what I did not expect is the temperature/tint to be somewhat painful at 3000K, which it slightly is, and which is absent in the custom work I had with the sw30k.
So without comparing side-by-side with anything else, the tint of the FWAA 219c 3000K is livable, I just have to keep the intensity low with tired middle-of-the-night or early-morning eyes. Yet I can blast the E21A 3500K under any circumstances without stinging my eyes.
How do the Lords of BLF feel about the FWAA clip, driver and tints? TIA