Yes, it would be nice if the A3 had a switching power supply instead of just a 3-terminal regulator.
I checked today and the voltage actually appearing at the unit is about 21 volts – so well within the spec.
The A3 has an internal switching DC-DC converter to drop the voltage down to 5V from whatever you feed it with in the interval 6V to 24V (it can go up to 28V but it is not safe).