I start buying Four Sevens lights years ago. When they were acquired by Prometheus Lights – I continued to do so. Recently, Jason, the owner contacted me and asked if I would like to check out some of his Prometheus Lights and gear. Of course, I said yes. So, not long after one of the coolest little lights I have ever come across turned up in the mail!
Prometheus Design
Jason Hui runs a design company that produces function, fun, cool gear.
This tiny and functional light retains all of the core qualities of a custom Prometheus light: the aesthetic appeal, thoughtful design, and superior beam quality. The concept came to me through observation, research, and conversation. I tried carrying other keychain lights. They were handy to have around, but always got ditched from my key ring…because when I need light I don’t want it stuck to a wad of keys. Keychain lights just don’t work like I need or want them to, so I came up with something that does.
The Beta Torch is his solution to the small EDC light that you always have on you but doesn’t compromise on light quality. It connects to your keyring by an ingenious system, that quickly clips and unclips but has never even come close to coming off when it wasn’t meant to (yes, I tested it by swinging the keys around my head). I use the same system to also clip my truck keys to my main key set.
Like any great design, it gets out of the way when you don’t need it, works well when you do and is aesthetically pleasing all the time. There isn’t much not to like about it.
Running on a single AAA rechargeable, the light it gives out is enough to do the job, without flooding the entire neighbourhood with lumens. I have torches that do that – and it’s like turning a stereo up to full just to have some background music – it gets to the point where it actually intrudes and draws more attention to itself than intended.
The Light
It’s not just about light, it’s about good quality light. Subtle, but important.
The latest version of the light offers three settings – 1/15/90 Lumens (3 modes: low/medium/high) – which you can program into the light. I simply have two. Medium and High. The first time I turn it on, it goes into medium, if I need more light, I twist the head again and it switched to high. Simple.
The light itself comes from the Nichia 219C High CRI (92+) 4000K led. No, that doesn’t mean a huge amount to me either.
However – in Jason’s words:
A High Color Rendering Index (High CRI) LED is designed specifically to work in concert with the human visual system, providing the maximum possible color accuracy when compared to sunlight. For example, daylight scores a perfect 100. The Nichia 219 used in the Beta-QR is typically 90+ CRI. It’s currently the highest CRI per lumen in the industry…and the light quality is stunning.
So. It looks good and makes what you point it at looks good as well. Works for me. I do spend a lot of time thinking about things like white balance in the camera – and that does actually tie in here. So, ah, maybe it means more to me than I realise.
In summary.
Well. It’s a small light, that is easy to carry on you all the time, it works fantastically and looks great (both the light, and, the light). It’s not a $2 shop light. But then, I have never found one of those that I enjoy owning as much as the Beta.
