Bought for a friend to save them the expense of shipping out of the US. We tested it and it works as advertised. HOWEVER, there must be a monopoly on production keeping the price so high. The plastic is not especially high quality and seems brittle, so I would be very concerned about it shattering if dropped. If some copycat company found a way to reproduced and sell this using cheap labor I would expect to pay about $5.

I bought this to help my children be a little more independent and equitable about taking turns with toys, especially their trampoline. It easy enough for them to operate so they can self monitor taking turns.

The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that the images displayed here, on the box, and the instructions all show a numeral "0" on the top and mine has none. Not a deal breaker as it is only cosmetic.

I use this to force myself to write continuously when I have a paper due soon -- it's a lot easier to force myself to focus in chunks of time. I also use it when doing my own creative writing. One of my friends in graduate school said it was a great way to force yourself to write on your thesis for a half hour a day because fifteen minutes is too short and 30 is the next step up.

I bought this as a study tool for my biology majors (preMed) classes. Keeping myself on a good study schedule is key. With a flip I can have 30 minutes of study time and a 5 minute break with another. I contribute this routine to my excellent test scores. I am not a genius by any means. Infact, I did poorly in high-school and barely made it into college with my placement scores. My first class happened to be psychology. My psych professor's first lesson was on the importance of time regulation and mental retention. Studies prove that mental retention drops significantly after 25-30 minutes and continues to decline. However, in only 5 minutes of genuine break (actual fun, fresh air, etc) that removes the mind temporarily from the subject and receives endorphins from something the student 'actually' wants to do, is enough time for a complete mental recharge. This cube made such practice, practical. I didn't need to constantly set my watch or phone timer. I quickly flipped and kept on track. I am not exaggerating or lying in any way when I tell you that I am now a perfect 4.0/4.0 GPA student as a sophomore in college. I am on the Dean's list and will graduate with honors. I am a mother of two and a wife with a career. The only way that I managed this was by using this cube and following the study routine mentioned above. My kids and husband have also taken to using this cube for various reasons (including timeouts). We will always have one in my house.

I've wanted a timer for some time and came across this on a recent search. It senses when you flip it from side to side and whatever number faces upward is the time on the clock (in minutes). There's an LCD on the bottom that shows seconds. I don't need it, and would have preferred they use that side for 10 minutes. I have two of them and one is louder. I wish the quiet one was a lot louder. Actually, an adjustment would help.

You might think your timer phone app timer has you covered. Want to drag your phone into the foggy bathroom? Want to lend your phone to the kids fighting over their turn in the trampoline? Want to explain your phone to great grandma. No, probably not.

Pros:
Intuitive to use

Cons:
No 10 minute option
Sometimes too quiet. Needs adjustment.
"Missed" recently (set it but it didn't start timer - light never came on)