I've spent some time playing with the new hAP ax lite and ax², and I find I want a few small changes, which will turn either one into an ideal travel router.

The simplest, cheapest option is to upgrade the USB-C port on the "lite" so that it will not only accept PD at a variety of voltage levels, it will act as a wired network interface. This will let you plug it into any USB-C laptop, with the router pulling power from it in exchange for providing it with a wired network, giving wire-speed access to whatever other devices you've plugged into the copper ports. That leaves the lone 2.4 GHz radio free to act as a client to someone else's network (coffee shop, hotel, etc) while providing a barrier between it and the rest of your devices.

If MikroTik wants to get really fancy, do it on the ax², since the molded-in feet of the "lite" are more hindrance within the confines of a TSA-approved laptop bag than they are helpful, and where the second radio might be helpful. The main argument against this idea is all those vent holes, which are liable to become crud-magnets inside a laptop bag. The "lite" isn't sealed, but there are fewer points of ingress.

My immediate use case is a trade show demo, where they give you "free" wifi — darn near poison, but in a desert, you drink up and smile — but you want not only your laptop to connect, you have a few other devices you need on the private side of the network to do the demo. As it is, I have to carry not only the hAP ax lite, but also the dedicated 5V USB-C power brick that comes with it lest I blow it up with my laptop brick, plus a USB-C to Ethernet adapter to get the laptop to connect, plus a short Ethernet cable for the laptop.

Stretch goal: put an SFP port in so I can connect it to anything that happens to be there when I arrive. Anything. Then we've got a hEX SUPER on our hands!

If you've got to drop one or two GigE ports to make that happen, that's fine. The USB-C port saved me one, and this SFP port idea lets me restore one copper port if that's what I happen to need.

Agree with USB port.
SFP port, while nice, will add quite a bit to the price, I think. And will increase the thermal requirements. I like the suggestion but it might be stretching things too much ...

My personal comment on Ax Lite is the form factor. The feet make it ... "bulky" to carry around in a backpack. Much more square-ish like Hex or so would be more practical.
But I guess this is also a way to make sure there is permanent airflow from bottom to top (since there are no openings on the big sides, air has to travel that way).
Color is personal preference and though I disliked it at the beginning, I use it as a trigger to make sure I'm not forgetting something (there is literally nothing with that color in my environment).

Other (maybe more relevant comments): the markings on the white case or buttons are TERRIBLE to read.
I already used a permanent marker to make sure what ether1 is. Same problem with mode and reset. VERY difficult to see what is what on first sight.
And please, if there ever comes a next version, put at least one led on the other side. For a lot of people the side where cabling is put, is not front.

What I still haven't figured out is the difference between USB and Power Led. For me they are the same since there is only 1 way to power the device, that's USB.

I use it quite often nowadays, wired or wifi connection from my laptop.
Wired or wifi connection to the network of the site where I am.
(thinking about using a script to do all the changes for toggling wifi from normal to station mode etc etc. I still do that manually now.)

SFP port, while nice, will add quite a bit to the price

The hEX PoE and hEX S are around the same price, and they have an SFP port.

What I really want is SFP+ so each copper port has a dedicated 1G back to the core, but for a travel router, I'll give that dream up.

I wouldn't expect to get these features for free. I'd pay another US$20 to drop one wall wart, one USB-C to Ethernet dongle, and exchange one Cat-5 cable for a short USB-C cable.

The simplest, cheapest option is to upgrade the USB-C port on the "lite" so that it will not only accept PD at a variety of voltage levels, it will act as a wired network interface. This will let you plug it into any USB-C laptop, with the router pulling power from it in exchange for providing it with a wired network, giving wire-speed access to whatever other devices you've plugged into the copper ports. That leaves the lone 2.4 GHz radio free to act as a client to someone else's network (coffee shop, hotel, etc) while providing a barrier between it and the rest of your devices.

I never thought of such USB-laptop use but that would make a lot of sense for enthusiasts or IT people (the ones that can equally configure a travel router or a laptop).

If you need to include to a demo, a couple of wireless devices, being able to dedicate a radio or add a radio (with a USB port) would be very interesting ( one radio for uplink, another one for downlink).