Lavatools KT3 Kitchen Timer & Stopwatch, Large Digits, Loud Alarm, Mute Function, Quick-Set Buttons, Hang Hole, Magnetic Stand for Cooking and Classroom

Strong magnets, quality lcd display that can be viewed from off angle, very large and very dark digits are super easy to see even in dim light, auto-shutoff preserves battery, substantial feel, clean positive button press without false triggers, very reasonable price.I have accumulated a lot of cheap kitchen timer carcasses over the years, they usually last a year or less but I get the feeling this one is going to last much longer. The quality of construction is obvious as it is with their folding cooking thermometer. Lavatools has never let me down.

It is quick and easy to set the count-down timer.SOUNDS:- The beeping sound when the alarm goes is loud but not deafening.- It is completely silent while it is counting up/down.- There is no sound/beep when you press any of its 6 buttons (i.e. when you press "RESET", "START/STOP", or any of the 4 numeric buttons: 4 numerical buttons: "10 M", "5 M", "1 M", "10 s").- There is a switch on the side that lets you turn on/off all sounds.Ways to start the count-up timer (i.e. stopwatch):OPTION 1 - on purpose: To count up from 0 on purpose, "RESET" the timer to 0:00 and then press "START/STOP".OPTION 2 - automatically after count-down finishes: If you start a count-down timer then as soon as it reaches 0:00, it starts counting up (in addition to the alarm beeping)."START/STOP" and "RESET" buttons:- AFTER the count-down timer has reached 0/gone off, pressing any of the 6 button (including ) will reset the timer to the original time you entered.- If it is counting down to 0 but has not yet reached 0 (i.e. while it is counting down) then:a) pressing "START/STOP" will pause/un-pause the timer.b) pressing "RESET" will stop the count-down and set the timer to 0:00 (not to the previous time you set).- Holding down "START/STOP" doesn't seem to do anything different pressing it down. That is, holding down the "START/STOP" button does the same thing as pressing it down.For example: Suppose you set it to count down from 1 minute and 10 second. If you press "RESET" after the alarm goes off then the timer will be reset to 1 minute and 10 second. But if you press "RESET" before the alarm goes off then it will be reset to instead.Numeric Buttons: "10 M", "5 M", "1 M", "10 s"- Pressing any number button after the count-down timer has reached 0 (so it is counting up) resets it to the original time you entered.- Pressing any number button while it is counting down does nothing.- If you started the count-up timer on purpose (i.e. if you reset it to 0 and then pressed "START/STOP" - as opposed to OPTION 2 above) then pressing any number button does nothing (regardless of whether or not you have paused the count-up timer).- Pressing any number button after resetting it to 0 adds that amount of time to the timer e.g. pressing "1 M" and "10 s" adds 70 seconds to the timer.

Really nice quality and I love the ability to quickly set different time increments. However, this might actually be too loud. My wife was in the kitchen and actually jumped when it went off near her. It sounds like a smoke alarm going off. I like the option of the visual indicator but find that if I’m not paying attention, I miss that so am forced to use the overly loud option. I really like this but there needs to be an option for a lower sound level.

Review Update: After SIX years of use, my Lavatools KT3 is still my go-to kitchen timer! A few things I've experienced along the way: 1.) On rare occasion, after starting the timer, we would discover that it had mysteriously stopped. We haven't been able to recreate the issue but suspect our cat of mischief. 2.) Admire this timer enough that we bought two more and stacked them three high on the front of our refrigerator. The top two are for our double oven and the lower one for anything else. 3.) When we bought the first one I noticed a lot of people complaining about the always-on digital display consuming unnecessary battery life - so the manufacturer changed the design so that the display remains off until you press any button. Now that we own both versions I prefer the always-on version over the newer version which one has to wake-up every time to use it. I know it sounds petty. Mostly just a personal preference. I still maintain my five-star rating on this product for use, purpose, function, price-point and durability.***********************************After exhaustive research, including other reviews such as on ATK, I've settled on this timer as my go-to, easy-to-set timer. The alarm is super loud and annoying - perfect for when I am upstairs working, but it can be set to silent mode if needed. The only negative, or wish-list item, would be the ability to increment the timer count from where one last pressed STOP instead of having to reset and start over. Lastly, the magnetic attachment point is less than perfect. When you have it stuck to a vertical metal surface and begin pressing buttons it wants to tip and slide around. Annoying but I solved that with a small piece of double-sided tape which keeps the unit in place.