I decided to exchange my original mod 323 P3A for a 323a P3P. It was an easy decision since I was already going through the trouble of packing it up after a few weeks and sending it back to add 200 bucks to get the P3P, my initial motivation was to get a 323a for the updated shell and motors.
So I opened the box and this is what I found:
You can imagine my disappointment at the sight of the old motors. I specifically asked that the vendor make sure that it was a 323a and they sorta understood what I meant. Not wanting to open the box at all so as to not make the return again more difficult I called. They asked if I had opened it or looked at the label on the side of the box. Now I am feeling stupid as I look at the label on the side of the box which says 323a. I am still skeptical because I have only heard of new boxes having old model but not the other way around. 323a was there on the inside nice and ready for preparation for flight.
A few hours later after charging the controller and getting the firmware updated from 1.32 to 1.60 I took it for a spin. Flew for about 5 minutes and the battery only dropped to 92% which seemed odd. I was not flying very hard and was only 15 feet up just carefully checking the drone out for any obvious problems.
The new style motors are crazy quiet. Almost so quiet they cannot be heard, especially at startup. In flight the difference is noticeable to me, and I am working very hard to make sure there is not some sort of placebo effect. Early analysis shows they are more efficient which makes sense with the lower kv value.