Sector Mountain Master review

The Sector Mountain Master offers an analog and digital clocks, digital compass, altimeter and chronograph.

Since a few months, I’m playing with it and comparing to the Suunto Core.

Features

The Mountain Master is multi-functions watch with a stainless-steel case and quartz movement.

It promises an altimeter, a compass and temperature measurement.

On the field

I’m using the watch mainly for the altimeter, to know how much is left to climb.

I bought it simply because I enjoy the analog clock for practical reason; the reading of the analog clock requires no brain processing! The other reason is reading the clock at night. With a digital clock, I have to fumble on the several buttons until it lights on, only to discover that I’ve entered some strange mode.
With the Sector, I can read the clock without asking too much of my brain at night, which, you’ll have understood, doesn’t work well while sleepy.

Readability

The clock has a sleep mode, where nothing is displayed on the digital screen, which then looks like a mirror. So, you have a pretty clear view of the analog arrows.

Once the display is on, it is pretty clear, too. Even with a strong sunlight.

The main problem with the readability, are the analog arrows, which hide the altitude and the information you need.

Altimeter

I compared the accuracy of the altimeter with both the Suunto Core and a Garmin GPS. Truth to be told, Suunto is hard to beat.

The Sector displays funky to unusable data while climbing. The altitude goes up and down all the time; only when you stay still for while it displays correct values.

Compass

Forget it.

Seriously, unless you’re ready for the ride of your life, don’t count on that one to give you the right direction. Either my model is defect.
Either it displays data right away, but wrong data, or it takes eternity to display something.

Design

It’s a big clock (47,5mm), bigger than the Suunto, but it looks more “classy” than the Suunto. I enjoy the design as I enjoy big watches.

Alarm

The Sector’s buttons beep each time you press one of them, which not only quite annoying but you cannot disable them!

The alarm volume is the same beep as the button’s. I wouldn’t count on it to wake me up.

Conclusion

Nice watch to have on the wrist, but I wouldn’t count on it for accurate measurements.