But on the serious side, does anyone see this replacing the Pila brand?
If the SysMax holds up longer term I could see sales of this unit taking some market share within the flashlight community. It probably is a reasonable charger for those with a smallish collection of cells of either type; if you have a lot of NiMH *and* Li-Ion cells, maybe a dedicated 2 or 4 bay Li-ion charger and a better NiMH charger (something with additional features to exercise NiMH cells) would be a better buy.
As open-mindedly as I can approach your question, if I were buying new chargers today I think I would largely still go down the route I've already gone down:
1) A dedicated advanced NiMH charger; the Maha/Powerex C9000 is a very good charger that helps me manage the ~ 100 NiMH AA and AAA cells we use. The SysMax doesn't offer the scope of features the C9000 has.
2) Would I purchase the Pila again? Yes or probably yes. The only thing that has me hesitating is the number of bays - would I reach for a 4 bay charger from someone else? I think not and I'll explain:
I find the Pila convenient when I want to charge cells with a minimum of effort. In most of my lights I run either one or two cells but most often an 18650. A couple of lights I run 2x18500 or 2x16340 or 2x18350. During peak riding season I sometimes discharge 2 or 4 18650's in a single night, but that doesn't happen often. In short, a 2 bay li-ion charger meets a large part of my needs. If need be can charge 4 large capacity cells during my work day and then they are supervised for the duration.
I also prefer that my charger not try to max out the charge capacity because I am convinced through research that I'm going to achieve much longer cycle life. All this points to a Pila or something like it that treats cells more gently even if we can't really quantify that.
3) When I need to to charge a large batch of cells, which admittedly does not happen often, I prefer to use my hobby charger. As I use this gear for much more than just supporting my flashlight needs, certainly I'd buy another one. I could even drop the Pila and use the hobby charger - it is, almost, as convenient as using the Pila. The hobby charger also allows me to run cell discharge tests and charge or discharge cells as need be to a "storage charge" level when they aren't in use. My extra 18650's I use for cycling are a case in point - I only use them about half of the year.
My usage isn't horribly advanced but does go beyond simply placing cells in a charger and accepting whatever the charger will do to them. For the reasons outlined this charger wouldn't appeal to me.
In short the SysMax tries to appeal to li-ion users who judge the success of a charger by whether it always achieves 4.2V at charge completion (this isn't my preference), and it provides a simple but probably useful capability to charge NiMH cells (which doesn't describe my need).
Provided it holds up a good safety record over the longer term it looks like it is an ideal charger for those with straightforward requirements including having to manage only a moderate number of cells of mixed chemistries. I must say that probably does describe the needs of a great many folks so yes, perhaps it will indeed eat into Pila sales, as may others.
Personally I believe a hobby charger for li-ion cells is, all-in-all, the best investment (better than Pila or SysMax) for li-ion flashlight enthusiasts if they have a wide mix of capacity types especially much smaller capacity and much larger capacity cells. Likewise a hobby charger might be the better investment for those who are finding they need to regularly charge 4 big capacity li-ion cells. The SysMax takes too long IMO in that overly long charge times could be a safety issue.
For those who only need/want, or only should use, a consumer style cradle charger, SysMax V2 is a contender