@Virgo Cheers! Looking into options on return/exchange. The switch came from the 'TP-Link Store' via Amazon.ca -- was one of the few options with available stock at the time. Unfortunately, Customer Service hasn't been terribly helpful. I've reached out to TP-Link sales directly to see if they can assist. Awaiting a response...

There are indeed some clear differences in features/maximums between the v1 and v2 as noted. Will it have any impact? I don't think so, but I don't entirely know. Packet buffering is a complex topic to say the least (noticeable impact of 4 vs 12 Mbit?). I don't intend to leverage MAC-based vLANs so 12 vs 30 entires shouldn't really have no impact. Had I stayed strictly L2 something like the TL-SG2428P (which is on v4) has similar maximums as the TL-SG3428 v1, which suggests the v1 may indeed be adequate.

Of course I have no visibility into any other changes between v1/v2... could have simply been a marketing/manufacturing decision to better align specs across the TL-SG3 series and may not impact performed/reliability in any way. I was pleased to see that older versions are still receiving firmware updates, so that's a good sign. :)