I agree, if the motor is not external to the tank, and this pump does not swivel, and is louder. I dont know what the upgrade would be.Not a vortex clone.
The back edge most distal to the front (propeller) is completely flat suggesting it sits on a glass (inside). In addition, there is clearly no thickness sufficient for strong magnets at the one edge half way through the device where one could imagine splitting the device .
what is interesting is that this device appears to not have the ability to rotate and direct flow which has been a key
“Feature” of prior versions of this device.
Not a major update in my opinion