Ah, “Disco Mode”. Yeah, it impresses the Normies, and everyone else will just 7H regardless. I’m a ramping Mode guy, and wish Zebra would put in a ramping mode. I find Turbo nice as a party trick, hand warmer, or improvised heat gun, but rarely as a light source. My UV D2’s are better at charging GITD stuff than ungawdly lumens of white light.

I consider the D4V2 to be the Gold Standard. Not the best, but as a light to compare others to. I’m not sure if the KR4 is really all that different from the D4V2, but my KR4, D4V2, and DT8 all have the same dent despite the KR4 being my only boosted Hanklight. As for not being able to use protected cells, I see no sense in allowing a light that will draw 18A to be able to take batteries that max out at 10A. And I have opinions about USB charging that make me consider being unable to use things of questionable quality and reliability a plus. I simply never trusted mini-chargers even before USB existed.

The weight of the DW4 actually makes sense to me. Aside from the actual metal portion of the head and the bezel, it’s a D4V2; same parts bins and all. Simplifies logistics. Pretty important for any business doing less than a billion dollars a year. Potentially being over 4000 lumens with a Linear+FET driver as opposed to the boost driver of the TH30 or the (far less powerful) Zebras and Skilhunts has some thermal requirements that can’t be met with thin metal. It takes thicker, heavier metal to transfer the heat from where it’s generated to where it can be shed. Then there’s the layout required to use the same boards and optics as the D4V2. To my mind, it’s as small as can be without requiring more DW4-specific parts, and as light as it can be to maintain thermals comparable to a D4V2. Now, if manufacturing were entirely “Print on demand” and all that was required for different models was changing a program in a 3D printer, then I’d fell differently. But I worked manufacturing (mostly as a CNC machinist) for long enough to understand the engineering. The D2 was entirely new from the ground up, which allowed for greater freedom of design.

I don’t see myself there. The closest is #3, but even that isn’t really close. And it seems outright derogatory towards those who aren’t, “A 3D-cell Maglite was good enough for my grandfather, so it’s good enough for me and is the only light anyone should ever need!”, folks. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t yell at the kids to get off his lawn.

That really depends on one’s idea of “matured”. I’ve been a bit of a technophile and neophile for half a century. I do not see “matured” as “becoming closer to my tastes as I, personally, get older”. My definition is closer to, “Expansion of capability”. It’s the ability to meet the needs/desires of a wider market, even if that requires a bit of a learning curve to configure it to one’s personal tastes. Anduril seems pretty close, and I think Hanklights do as well when you consider how many hardware options he offers. What you describe seems to me to be a simple matter of setting Simple Mode to a single step with Floor and Ceiling adjusted appropriately, then hitting 10H as needed. No need to edit source code and reflash.