yea the button switch is annoying. it forces u to cycle each and every time so using it for a quick look at something is a chore.
nice comparison pics. i had mine and a friends side by side for comparison between the new and the old. it was noticably brighter, but still not that impressive. it was 15 bucks at wallyworld when i checked last night and the shelves are stocked quite full, where i barely saw the first version of the headbeam before they yanked it probably because it was so clearly mediocre. problem is 1watt headlights(brinkman)/flashlights(dorcy) were only 4 bucks more. no reason not to spend that 4 dollars more for a 1 watter i say. i think energizer upgraded their product too little and too late, now they'll have to dump it again and come out with revision 3 lol
as for how bright is it in 4 led mode, its not that bright as the leds clearly output less light per led in 4 led mode than they do in 2. so its about the same light output, just with the shaping of both flood and spotlight. its not all bad since the spot light has too sharp a cutoff for close use, and plain flood can be too diffuse, so i find the 4 led mode more pleasing to use. atleast when the batteries are fresh.