These are all great points. Obviously CW allows manufacturers to spec the most lumens for marketing.
I come in and out of this hobby every few years and what has jumped out to me most coming back this time is the explosion in Hi CRI/Warm tints that are now available. For years the only Hi CRI light I could get my hands on was my old Ra Clicky with a Golden Dragon in it.
Most of us “BLFers” are definitely the minority. Non enthusiasts expect led flashlights to be CW. Most FT03 will be sold to non flashlight enthusiasts.
Is anyone currently selling warmer LEDs with 28mm MCPCBs suitable for direct swap? I really would like to try something around 4000K on my FT03, because even though it’s suppose to be NW, it has more of a coolish white beam, that I’m not a huge fan of. 
I don’t think anyone is doing 1:1 swap ready to go - I bought the 28mm from Banggood (it’s a Manker MCPCB) but it’s a 3535 so it’ll have to be an XPL-HI or similar. Would basically turn this into a GT Mini-ish ;p
Freeme, is it possible to convince Banggood to offer just the MCPCB with a warmer SST40 LED? 
My NW FT03,The best of the bunch! 
With the various issues, no matter how minor or major, that people reported,I have NONE! 
1.Perfectly centered LED
2. Perfect NW tint with no shifts or color variations[Blue/Green/Yellow/Purple] from bottom of ramp all the way to Turbo.Maybe I got the best bin?
3. NO rattle around positive spring due to loose/defective plastic O ring/Washer.
4. Clicking[popping ect.] noise disappeared after a few turbo runs.
5. With step down disabled, I am able to run 20 continuous minutes on Turbo so far without heat being an issue. Warmest evening so far has been 72F/22C.
6. Beautiful beam profile and artifact FREE
7.Head and body tube were NOT glued.,in case I changed my mind one day[mod w/ different LED],which I doubt.
NO reason whatsoever to get this modded. I would lose output[least concern],gain a little throw with a great chance for tint variation and artifacts.
I’m waiting for beamshots of XP-L HI in this light before thinking about modding - I’m very ring concerned to be honest
For this XPL HI reflector there will be a very narrow beam. Like a laser.
Would also like to see a 28mm XM MCPCB available.
I am very limited in sources to buy batteries living in my country. I have found these Liitokala 26650 5100mAh that seems good.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/YRyfThA
Any advice against or can I go ahead and buy them?
Is this a store you trust to not sell fake batteries?
I see some red flags with this store. What kind of Liitokala store doesn’t sell their black or cyan blue cells that are super popular? This seems really odd to me.
I started a thread on this battery, but could not get much information about it. It is kind of unknown.
I have found the same batteries from a so called “LiitoKala Official Flagship Store” just a tiny more expensive with over 700 orders and 4.9 stars.
Seems legit to me and they claim 15 continuous amps… more than enough for this light.
What do you think?
The name of the store is kind of meaningless. You can give yourself whatever name you want so don’t put any weight behind that. I have no opinion on this battery. It should be at least as good as a Keeppower 5200mah.
I have a couple of these Keeppower powering my L6. My only problem with them is the price. Back then I paid 35$ for 2 of them. I think I’ll have a go at these Liitokala and see if they are good.
Thanks Jason.
An alternative to the Shockli 26650 is the Vapcell 5500 mah red wrapper. I tested two of them and they measure 5,9xx mah. Real good cell, performs identical to the black Shockli. Best 26650 available on the market.
Best in it’s class. It’s class being very high capacity.
I purchased one of these LiitoKala 26650 cells a month ago during the AliExpress Anniversary Sale. See this post for my initial capacity test. Many buyers are measuring capacities around 5400mAh, which is substantially higher than HKJ’s tests of both Cyan and Black LiitoKala 26650’s. Unfortunately, I have no way to test high-current performance, but my cell appears identical to HJK’s and arrived in the same packaging. I paid US$4.02 for a cell with free shipping, which is likely an unbeatable value for an FT03 power source.
They are sold by the liitokala Official Store, though no one can understand the array of LiitoKala store fronts on AliExpress. I also purchased an Lii-500 charger from the same store and the battery and charger arrived together in the Eastern US in just over two weeks; the fastest AliExpress delivery I’ve ever received.
The store I purchased from does appear to sell fake 18650’s, however, as do all LiitoKala stores that I’ve found. I cannot tell which, if any, LiitoKala AliExpress store is the real one, but the store I purchased from has been around longer than the others I’ve seen.
When it comes to LiitoKala, nothing seems guaranteed, but I can report an excellent buying experience with the store linked above. JasonWW’s cells are certainly interesting as owners are measuring capacities closer to 5000mAh, which may imply better high-drain performance, but I’ve seen no testing.
Have you checked that the MCPCB is making good contact? Mine reaches 50c at 4m and keeps climbing rapidly, I’d be concerned about the longevity of the LED
My Shockli 26650 5500 mAh, when testing discharge 05A. gave 5959mAh. Test conducted on Opus BT-C3100 V2.2. A couple of days will come VAPCELL INR26650 INR 26650 5900 mAh 20A. After the test, I will write the results. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32889778783.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.478c3c00jafpJn