If you’ve been looking for a new stopwatch recently, you may have noticed that some include a “Silent Mode” feature.

But what is Silent Mode exactly, and why would I need it?

Today, we’ll try to answer both of those questions in the latest entry to our Stopwatch Dictionary!

Many modern digital stopwatches will beep during use. They’ll beep when you start timing. Beep when you stop. In fact, they’ll usually beep every time you press a button. If they also have the chime enabled, you might find they’ll bleep every hour, on the hour too.

It’s not hard to imagine a situation where beeps and bleeps may be inconvenient.

A school lesson for example – where each pupil has their own stopwatch to time an activity. 20-30 stopwatches simultaneously bleeping will certainly be a frustrating sound for most teachers, and one they’ll be keen to avoid.

When timing an exam, a stopwatch beeping at regular intervals will cause a distraction to students concentration. Timing music or a public performance with a bleeping stopwatch may also draw unwanted attention to the timekeeper.

The solution to these kind of problems is a stopwatch with a Silent Mode. You may also see these referred to as a “No Beep” or “No Bleep” stopwatch.

Simply put, silent mode stopwatches don’t beep, or bleep when you interact with them and are ideal for situations when you need your timing to be quiet.

Some stopwatches may be permanently beepless and effectively always be in ‘Silent Mode’, whereas other models will allow you to toggle beeps on/off as required.

You can view all of the stopwatches available with a silent mode on our website.