Comments on: Reactor Watches: What Not to Buy

By: joeri

joeri — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:23:49 +0000

Well well….i owne a reactor trident black watch and tried others before (casio g-schock) i’m telling you this thing…whow it’s great and robust. I do serius off-roading and stick my hand in the mud more than once if to use the winch? i clean it by hanging it at my outher mirror and then spray it off with a steam cleaner witch i clean the whole truck with,just put it on my wrist after and no problems it still looks and works great.The nd system is great and it dousnt need power from the battery to do so,others do and brain the batterys quikly. for my opinion its worth the monny and i like it .REACTOR IS GREAT,

By: john

john — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:15:23 +0000

I tell you what this brand reminds me of,Chase durer and Sector,both crap companies that say hey,were in the special forces,try G-Shock and Seiko auto divers,the real deal.

CHEERS
john

By: John G

John G — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:51:52 +0000

I am shocked by Tyler’s remarks here. I own over 20 Reactor watches. I have had nothing but exemplary consideration in terms of customer service and support for my watches. I am very hard on my watches and wear them in the toughest environments. Other watches I have owned would never measure up and my dresser drawer is filled with these “wanna be” watches to prove it.
I had a small set screw fall out of my watch band a few months back. I sent in the watch and they promptly fixed the problem and sent it back looking brand new! There was a note enclosed in the watch stating that they corrected the watch band issue and expressed their gratitude for buying their product. Where can you get that kind of service from any other watch company?
The colors, style are not only cutting edge; Reactor makes a damn good watch that gets a lot of attention. I’m a fan!

By: Tyler T

Tyler T — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:02:41 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with Rrryan, but forget about design, I just want my $500 Neutron to work. Purchased the piece in May of 2010 based on what I had read in military/sporting magazines and for its reputed toughness. 2 months later, the features on the watche’s face (rings, numbers) literally came loose and the watch stopped running altogether. Was I in a war zone? Maybe a rock climbing accident caused this malfunction? No, the watch broke while I was sleeping. I sent it back to reactor over Christmas for repairs and got it back a few weeks ago (not their fault, I live in the Caribbean and it takes a while to get mail). After wearing it for two weeks, it broke again today. This “bullet-proof” watch met its match and is dead once again, probably because I played volleyball with it on yesterday. If anyone is still reading this thread, stay away from this brand – all hype and marketing, no substance!

By: JOS

JOS — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:31:33 +0000

Yeah, I’ve gotta throw my hat wiih the pro Reactor guys on this one. I’ve got no experience with their higher end models, but my $200 Meltdown looks amazing and is built like a tank. Simple (no frills or extra dials/gauges), a little bulky, but it’s had no problems so far.

By: Adam K

Adam K — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:49:32 +0000

Rrryan,

I must respectfully disagree with your comments. I just bought one of these watches and am very impressed with the feel, the fit and the amount of light it puts out when I go to bed.

I hope you will review another time or at least take a look at this watch again as it is tough, I get a ton of compliments and my boss showed me how to use the tachymeter and it seems to work just fine.

This watch also has a 10 year battery which none of my Citizens or Lum Tec’s have and a way better warranty if you do the homework.

I enjoy your blog but really do think you ought to give this brand another review. I also own the Gamma model which really is a great watch.

Thanks for letting me post.

Best of luck.

Adam K

By: Rrryan

Rrryan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:21:56 +0000

What does mentioning every detail of someone’s opinion you find fault with and dissecting it the way you do make one sound like then? It’s an opinion. An opinion. If you don’t like what I’ve written, don’t read it.

Black on black numbers = unnecessarily hard to see and read.
Lots of watches do indeed have tachy scales, but they typically have a chronograph sweep seconds hand that can be stopped and started to make it actually functional. Without one it’s just silly.

I don’t have any particular axe to grind with Reactor, but I object to the way in which most modern makers think they can just slap a buncha goofy crap together without thinking about function or purpose and stick a $400 pricetag on it, and then masses of ignorant fanboys line up to buy them. It’s a lament about the general industry and market today. The major reason for my objection is perhaps that it wouldn’t cost any more to pick features that actually made some sense with a minimum of thought. If anything, I’m mostly just disappointed that the thought, innovation and intelligence that Reactor put into the Neverdark tritium/luminova system wasn’t displayed elsewhere in the watch’s design, as the end result is just an overpriced goofy trinket.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:52:48 +0000

I don’t get your complaints here. Who cares if there are black numbers on a black bezel? They are second markers and don’t need to be legible. Why are they there? For looks. The “ill-conceived” gap on the case is the same thing. It doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb; I’ve seen this watch before and didn’t notice until you pointed it out. Every watch design takes aesthetics into consideration. You don’t have to agree with the choices, but it’s a little strange to dramatize them as if the Reactor watch company has wronged you. Your apparent outrage over these subtle and unimportant details is comical.
Your complaints about the tachymeter are almost as funny. The tachymeter on the watch is functional if you can make a straight line and do simple subtraction. Lots of tachymeters are on a watch’s bezel, and I’ve never seen a watch hand that extends all the way to the bezel. Discrete 1 second hand movement makes the tachymeter a little harder to use and decreases accuracy slightly, but it’s not as if tachymeters are incredibly accurate to begin with.
Mentioning every little detail that you find fault with and dissecting it the way you do makes you sound awfully bitter towards a watch. A watch.

By: Rrryan

Rrryan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:06:04 +0000

Hi Cory, Not sure what you're trying to imply but I've worn some watches in dusty places around things that go boom myself. Mostly agree re: Luminox. At least they finally quit writing "NAVY SEALS" over everything though. I appreciate the comment but I stand by my earlier words. The Reactor Trident shown here is still replete with obvious design errors like the silly black-on-black bezel, pointless gingerbread tachy scale etc. 10-year batteries are also not so unusual as Reactor might have you believe; Timex and Casio achieve the same thing in some of their $30 models. The dual-lume approach is indeed quite clever but the end product has so many goofy errors and a price point that is oversteps the product provided. Regardless, I'm glad the watches performed well for you and I hope you continue to wear it in good health. Ryan

By: Cory

Cory — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Rrryan i think you totally missed the boat on your comments here. I am former special forces and my company used to have Luminox as standard issue. Those things fell apart and I went thru 4 of them in just 8 months. One of oour guys was given a Reactor Trident by his wife and we were all so impressed after watching him shoot some extremely high powered weapons with serious recoil (All Luminox snapped at pin attachment) Reactor came thru some other serious stuff I would not like to share. This watch has a 10 year battery, the strap you make sound like plastic but this thing is soft and the lugs actually make the face feel better fitting on my wrist. Furthermore the lugs are the main reason that our company changed from the weak luminox pin interface. Your review of this watch is not very accurate in my opinion. I am guessing you have not actually worn one for a day or even more importantly for a guy like me in the field of battle. Respectfully submitted and a fan of your blog.
Cory .S Winston-Salem NC