The meters we hams typically use are "relative" in that they give a pretty good approximation of values.
I also have issues trying to see these small meters. However, I can't say I am a fan of the forward/reverse type meters. My meters use the twin meter. One side indicates forward power, the other shows SWR simultaneously.
I got the luck of the draw as all my meters here tend to agree with each other.
When I first got on HF, my mentor lent me an SWR bridge and an old matchbox. I discovered that the bridge was quite a bit off after I bought my own and compared them. The difference of the values intrigued me, so I brought them both back to my mentor's shack and we compared them on a commercial BIRD watt meter. My new bridge was pretty much spot on, and his loaner was not very accurate. That was the day he educated me about the idea of "relative" readings

I am so grateful to my old mentor -- RIP Shally k6vhp
73
Jaye
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_Technologies