The battle is over: SAFEs won.
Doesn't matter where you are in the US, startup founders now use SAFEs as the default way to get initial capital into their companies.
In 2018 and 2019, there was a real fight between SAFEs and Convertible Notes as to which instrument would become the default path for early capital.
But since Q1 2020, the SAFE has gained share in all markets while the Note consistently lost ground.
(Caveat - the only place this has been less true is in Biotech startups, but even there the SAFE is well used).
I've heard 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 of objections to SAFEs. Some of them are a bit silly ("founders who use SAFEs don't get the market"), some of them are pretty substantial ("what even are SAFEs under the law?").
But none of them have really mattered.
If you're a founder raising capital, you need to understand the SAFE and how it works.
Got many explainers for you, ping em in the comments for direct links.
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