I liked the 80 degree flood of my H501 and H501w over the 120 (?) flood of my H50 as it makes things look flat.
The spread of the beam shouldn't flatten things. The "flattening" effect of the H50 the result of that light's less-than-ideal tint. That earned it complaints about "flattening," which is how people generally describe the lack of certain colors being rendered accurately.
For example, a bare incan lightbulb has a beam spread well over 270 degrees, and it doesn't "flatten" anything.
For the record, I've never noticed the H50 with its 120 beam has ever caused me trouble with glare, either with or without the rubber hood.
Looks like there's a social trend developing to dislike the 120 degree beam. I for one will enjoy it. I could use the extra peripheral vision when working. Sure, 80 is fine, and it concentrates more of the power forward, but I certainly won't be complaining about 120. For me, that would be like complaining about being too rich or too thin.
At the same time, the H501 was a special and unique light, and clearly the H502 won't duplicate all its charms.
If Zebralight had made a threaded bezel (as I campaigned for a year, and lost) this would not be an issue; they could've made extra money by selling a concentrating lens to people who wanted a 100, 80, 60, and other angles of beam, or could have sold colored filters to give just the custom tint people wanted.
But clearly I'm not in the Zebralight development team. Still, very happy about the H502.