The one with the decent light
By Abby Turner, Melbourne ยท
If you like the F-91W but want it to feel a bit more grown up, this is the one I'd point you to. The A168 is a bit bigger at 36.3 mm and 9.6 mm thick, with a metal bracelet and a grey display, and the big upgrade is the backlight. On the F-91W the light is a sad little glow from one side. On the A168 it's an electroluminescent panel that lights the whole screen evenly, which is exactly what you want when you're doing obs in a dark room and don't want to turn the overheads on and wake someone.
The stopwatch, alarm and day and date are all there. Seconds show as digits, which is fine for counting.
Couple of gripes. The bracelet is the folded-link kind, light and a bit rattly, and it pulls hair. It also traps gunk if you're forever sanitising, so I'd give it a rinse and a scrub with an old toothbrush every so often. The acrylic crystal will pick up marks. And the 30 m rating means rain and handwashing, not swimming.
At US$25 to $40, that's about the price of a decent lunch for two. Worth it.