Did you omit the Hornet Elite Osmo?
I have put a ton of miles on the 2P and 1P, most recently the 1P Elite, and the osmo ones are my favorite to date.
The standard 2P is luxurious by comparison but you say weight is your key...
...a 1P using something like https://borahgear.com/groundsheet.html instead of the stock NEMO footprint is going to be hard to beat IMO
Btw the other consequence of this being optimized for weight is that it's small… especially if you're used to car camping! Sometimes I'll take the 2P just for myself, if given my itinerary I'm willing to trade the weight for the comfort. The 1P version also only has a door on one side, which makes site selection less flexible.
I have used that tent family (the Hornet and Hornet Elite) for years in backcountry camping in all kinds of weather including blowing rainstorms. I have never gotten wet.
It is a three season tent and it is optimized for "ultralight," it's relatively fragile fabric-wise, especially the Elite, which does not mean it's a bad option for backcountry—I have put hundreds and hundred of miles on mine! It's my go to—but it does mean it's not a good choice if you know you are going to be regularly facing punishing weather eg very high winds and constant rain.
TLDR the "bathtub lip" of the tent body is higher on that side to compensate. It's a weight savings.
The downside of this design is that you can't use it with only the fly and no tent body in wet weather; I've never done that with any tent (use only poles, fly, and probably a ground cloth) but it's a thing.
It's worth noting this tent has gone through multiple product generations now, most recently to the OSMO fabric, without ditching this design.
I personally I think the new OSMO versions are the best version that's been made (I have used three generations, I think all of them).
I have used that tent family (the Hornet and Hornet Elite) for years in backcountry camping in all kinds of weather including blowing rainstorms. I have never gotten wet.
It is a three season tent and it is optimized for "ultralight," it's relatively fragile fabric-wise, especially the Elite, which does not mean it's a bad option for backcountry—I have put hundreds and hundred of miles on mine! It's my go to—but it does mean it's not a good choice if you know you are going to be regularly facing punishing weather eg very high winds and constant rain.
TLDR the "bathtub lip" of the tent body is higher on that side to compensate. It's a weight savings.
The downside of this design is that you can't use it with only the fly and no tent body in wet weather; I've never done that with any tent (use only poles, fly, and probably a ground cloth) but it's a thing.
It's worth noting this tent has gone through multiple product generations now, most recently to the OSMO fabric, without ditching this design.
I personally I think the new OSMO versions are the best version that's been made (I have used three generations, I think all of them).
My wife and I have had the 2p versions of the BA Copper Spur, BA Tiger Wall, and Nemo Dragonfly. I didn;t like the Tiger Wall, and the Dragonfly had less head room than the Copper Spur and was heavier (this was an older generation). We still have the CS2P but two years ago we switched to the Hornet 3P w/ Osmo. Love that tent, and I don't see where we'll be switching to anything else. Really spacious, yet quite light for a DW. I've used various 1P Hornet's going back 10 years, and currently have the "Elite" 1P in Osmo. It handles weather really well. Osmo fabric is great. In your shoes, I'd definitely go with the Hornet 3P.
The Nemo Hornet 1P is a great little "semi freestanding" tent. The "Elite" model is quite light. I'm 5'10" and I find it very livable, as well as very storm worthy. It also handles condensation well. Its small footprint is a real plus too. They can be had on 20% - 25% off pretty regularly.
I have the Nemo hornet elite 1p and I LOVE it. I’m also short (5ft) and it’s plenty of room for me. It is semi-freestanding but it’s a great tent. You can get it on sale for about $400 a lot of times as well.
Considering a Nemo hornet elite 1p is 687 grams all in, while a xmid 1 is 720 grams *without poles*, it’s hard to legitimately consider the xmid as UL.
Having used so many tents over the years (for work), 37" is probably the lowest ceiling of all the tents I've ever tried out. Part of what's great about having access to all these tents is being able to compare between them all.
Most any trekking pole tent will have a higher peak ceiling. Since I hike with 120cm poles that's going to be what I'm have for a ceiling, but many trekking pole shelters are spec'd to be at 130cm (time to get some flat rocks!). 120cm comes out to 47", and 10 inches more compared to the Osmo is not small. Having two peaks for tents that use two trekking poles (or even a ridge of approx the same height between), and that most of these tents are made for one person and not two, you can see where I'm feeling the Elite 2P feels constrictive.
I just measured myself sitting straight against my door: 35" tall. Next time you set up your Osmo Elite, measure floor to ceiling, it could be a few inches lower than spec'd. The non-Elite Hornet 2P is spec'd at 39", but I've only measured it at 36" tall. I can only guess they're referring to the peak of the apex of the tent pole, and not the ceiling of the inner mesh.
And you're right, when I'm moving fast all day and once I've finally stopped, I'm sleeping. But I'm also bringing a shelter that weighs much less than the Elite's 2lbs. I'm OK with the compromise of claustrophobia for that feeling of, "did I even pack this thing up back at camp"?
That 37in ceiling height on the Nemo is kind of a bummer.
This new BA tent is just a roomier tent (and heavier for the area), but it's 40in peak height is also kind of a deal breaker for me to want to bring for long trips. I'm not even all that tall.
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