Still no real upgrade for hexbright, which is a shame.

I wish they were still being made. Fortunately, mine are still fine, and I expect to be able to repair them should they break. (xtal is a common failure point apparently)

Standard battery type is nice, but also has microusb charging port, the part that didn't age well.

Perhaps new circuit boards (with usb-pd charging, usb-c connector and mems oscillator) will be the way forward. It's definitely easier to order a pcb than the housing.