Yes, I commented on that a couple of posts back:
The battery is replaceable, but it is proprietary and quite expensive. By commodity battery I mean something like a 14500, or in this case maybe 2x 10440. Any idea where to get a generic replacement for that expensive lipo cell?
Ah, OK. I see what you mean. Well, you have to think of the battery outside the conventional sense. These are long lasting. Having to replace it after a few years of very heavy use… not a big deal. And while not a commodity type battery, you can find them on a few battery sites. Of course, the question becomes, is the cost of that battery worth it relative to the price of getting a whole new flashlight. A future flash sale might make it worthwhile to skip a replacement battery. I had chatted with Kevin about these proprietary cells and he says he doesn’t pick some random supplier. He chose these as they passed his rigorous tests. Anyway, no harm in getting one of the cheaper models like A1 and living with it for a bit, to see if the package appeals to you. You might consider RovyVon an interesting brand to keep an eye on, or decide it’s not worth your time. I really like my old A8, despite the obvious PWM in mid-lower modes.
Of course replacing the battery (having to order from somewhere etc.) is a hassle. Can you suggest a battery site where replacements are even available, other than ebay as I mentioned? Replacing the whole light = more e-waste etc. One avoids the dilemma by just not buying the light in the first place. I think that is the best approach, unless the light has really unique and worthwhile features.
The A1 doesn’t appeal to me because I don’t see much benefit compared to a 1*AAA or 10440 tube-shape light with the LED at the end, that uses normal cylindrical batteries. The A23 is similar. The A5X is more interesting because of the side leds, but it is a lot more expensive.
They are nice in some ways, a similar approach to Nitecore, but with better execution. I’d like to see a RovyVon version of the Nitecore Tube. I.e. a very thin flat light about half the size of the A1/A5, with lower output and just one led. Instead of that horrible blue internal charge indicator led like on the Tube, it could use a deep red led that would double as charge indicator and night vision preserving red light. Or UV (like in the A5X) to charge up a GITD body is also nice.