Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I feel honored and saddened to be the first to review this updated triple timer from Oxo. I am a huge fan of Oxo products, from my spatulas, to my coffee grinder & scale, to my salad spinner and vegetable brush, and so many other perfectly designed kitchen products. Unfortunately, this timer is an absolute miss, with a mind-numbingly bad user experience. tl,dr: the timer only stays lit for 60 seconds before going into "standby mode" and becoming almost totally illegible (read: you have to push a button to turn the backlight back on), even in Stopwatch Mode. I thought this was going to be an improvement on Oxo's previous triple timer, but it is a massive downgrade because of this. As the product currently stands I would absolutely not recommend it to the vast majority of cooks, or remote teachers, or anyone else who wants a timer they can use to track time. longer: I was excited to see the bright digits which are clearly legible in so many photos. That is the main reason I bought this timer, and excitedly waited for it to arrive. What Oxo does not mention, or show in product shots or -anywhere- on the packaging however, is that this timer has a power-saving feature which activates "standby mode" after 60 seconds (it only mentions this in the small manual that comes with the timer). After 60 seconds from the last button press, the timer goes dark (the backlight turns out), and becomes nearly impossible to see when not directly above/close to the timer. When you push a button, the screen pops back on. There is no switch to turn the timer completely off, and similarly there is no way given to turn this "feature" off. The backlight does, however, come on automatically when the time is up. As a result of Standby Mode, this timer is almost completely pointless for all but set it & forget it work. If you want a timer with an easy-to-read display that lets you see how much time is remaining on your dishes while you work on other tasks.... This is not it. Almost insanely, standby mode (the backlight turning off) even activates when you are using Stopwatch Mode. Why????! Why in God's name would you have this happen while there are active timers? I get it for something which is going for hours and hours, but not even being able to watch the time while I'm making a burger.... What? I have absolutely no clue why Oxo wouldn't just include an on/off switch (or button) instead of doing this, or at least make it possible to turn on/off the power saving. Without either of those options.... I see extremely limited use options for this timer. Just plain bad design for nearly any purpose. While it might make sense as a little stick on magnet for the fridge, I have no idea who would want/need this to take up counter space (though it does look quite slick). The timer volume is good (and adjustable– 3 levels), and each timer has a unique chime (1 beep repeated for T1, 2 for T2, etc.) which are easy to discern from across the house. It is easy to flip between timers. The non-skid feet work well to hold the timer steady on the counter while you set times. pros: - Easy to discern individual timer tones (T1, T2, T3 all have unique beeps) - Looks slick on the counter - Easy to clean - Relatively intuitive to use (besides the unusual "0" placement) - Great display when the backlight is actually on.... - Includes batteries CONS: - Nearly impossible to see how much time is remaining without pressing a button or being right next to the timer - See above. Such a huge con it needs to be on here twice. This timer is NOT easy-to-read - No on/off switch - "0" key is in a weird spot - Uses 3 AA batteries - Must specifically hit "Start|Stop" button to stop chiming (read: sending your kid to turn off the timer they might not be able to figure it out for a second) Originally gave it 2 stars, but after a month of use... it truly is a pain to use so I'm downgrading my review and buying a used old model triple timer off eBay. Oxo, we have high standards for you... and this is sadly a disappointment :(