Garmin D2 Mach2

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Tony R

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Has anyone purchased the d2 M2? It looks like a cool gadget, but is it useful?
 
Tony R said:
Has anyone purchased the d2 M2? It looks like a cool gadget, but is it useful?
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My wife bought me a D2 M1 a couple of years ago. I did not find any utility for my purposes. I hated to tell her that but after a few months she noted that it was collecting dust on my nightstand and not on my wrist and she asked for my honest opinion. This time I could not say "honey, you DO NOT look fat in those jeans". YMMV
 
Yeah I think at $1,500 I don't see the value.
 
I'll definitely take it over an Apple watch.
I bought myself the Citizen Men's Promaster Skyhawk A-T Watch Titanium a few years back.
shopping.webp
 
I have a Mach 1 D2 Pro and had the Mach 1 D2 before that. This watch is essentially a high end Fenix workout watch with aviation features. If you are not going to use the deep functionality of the workouts and training, this is WAY overkill. As someone who had over a decade of workouts in the Garmin systems and recently got my pilots license....its kind of cool. Usefull airport and weather information including things like frequencies are all nice to haves and some limited "emergency" navigation if something happens in a recreational aircraft. Should anyone buy the watch for that? No, thats all available in other places. But if you are in the Garmin ecosystem for other things like exercise, and you are a GA pilot (and have a little money to burn) its a kind of cool to have addition.
 
I have a D2 Mach 1 that my ex bought me. I too would never spend $1500 on a watch. I will say that the most useful function is the garmin pay. I pretty much use that every day. I use the run function to keep track of my daily runs. After that, the aviation stuff is nice but aside from looking at the runways and winds it's pretty much not very practical.
 
To be clear, I wouldnt say "never" spend that kind of money on a watch. I would say do NOT spend that money on the watch only to get the pilot features. If you workout/train a lot. Cycle/run/triathlon.....AND you happen to be a pilot, the watch is great. If you are only one or the other there are cheaper options to get the same thing. I had worn a Fenix version of the watch for a number of years and it was great for workouts, health tracking, and even helped with some light heart issues. If you are that person I cant recomend a Garmin Fenix enough. But unless you are fully in the Garmin area, all of their workout stuff, flight planning on Garmin Pilot, and using garmin avionics, its a bit of a reach to recomend.
 
I have a Garmin Descent Mk2 (I know not the topic, but bear with me).
It is essentially the same core watch, but enhanced as a dive computer. I absolutely love it and hands down the best dive computer I’ve ever had.

I wear as my everyday day watch and use for all of the fitness features as well as garmin pay, etc. very, very happy with the watch.

Now…

There is an app that replicates all of the flying capabilities that the Mach1 has and I have used it quite a bit. In the end…IMO, it’s just not that useful having these things on a watch for flying.
 
Look. Zero people need this. But if you are in the ecosystem and you happen to be a pilot it’s not terrible. In the same vein as: why would anyone wear a watch or a smart watch if you always have your phone on you. Just pick up your phone if you need to see a text or the time. This is the same. I don’t flight plan on it, but having backup nav, and emergency information is not terrible. I actually love having the closest airport weather on my wrist all the time. I do think a GA pilot like me that’s not flying all the time it’s helpful to have METAR with me all the time to stay in the groove of quickly reading them. It’s not the primary reason to own the device but if you are buying for all the other stuff, the pilot features are handy.
 
Lucky26 said:
Look. Zero people need this. But if you are in the ecosystem and you happen to be a pilot it’s not terrible. In the same vein as: why would anyone wear a watch or a smart watch if you always have your phone on you. Just pick up your phone if you need to see a text or the time. This is the same. I don’t flight plan on it, but having backup nav, and emergency information is not terrible. I actually love having the closest airport weather on my wrist all the time. I do think a GA pilot like me that’s not flying all the time it’s helpful to have METAR with me all the time to stay in the groove of quickly reading them. It’s not the primary reason to own the device but if you are buying for all the other stuff, the pilot features are handy.
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I agree with everything you say. I am impressed with the battery life of the watch. I get about 7 days before needing a charge
 
francisco collazos said:
I agree with everything you say. I am impressed with the battery life of the watch. I get about 7 days before needing a charge
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I’ve been testing the Garmin D2 Air X15 ($700) for awhile and I find it useful to track my health and to track flights, weather, etc. I appreciate the “Direct To” in case of an emergency, local metar WX conditions, and -best of all- the 9-day battery life, and for half of the Pro’s price.
I had been using the original D2 Air which is Okay, but has a short battery life with what I call “false flights” indications when traveling by car or airline but gaining/losing pressure or elevation, and the watch considers it a “flight.” Garmin changed the technology on the X15 to corroborate elevation and pressure changes with speed of travel to eliminate the false data. Therefore the battery also lasts longer while using it on the ground as a regular watch.
 
edessa said:
I bought myself the Citizen Men's Promaster Skyhawk A-T Watch Titanium a few years back.
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I've always wondered... does anybody actually use any of the aviation functions or is it just an "I'm a Pilot!" style piece?

Last time I wore a watch of any kind was a Suunto (before that an Avocet) altimeter watch, for paramotoring. That was useful; the barometer/altimeter functions were also useful when backpacking in the mountains. There was also the dive watch my wife bought me so I'd know when to come home when spearfishing but it didn't work (the watch worked fine but I always forgot to look at it). But now that everybody has a phone all the time a wristwatch seems redundant anyway.

Dana,
who doesn't really know what time it is, and doesn't really care.
 
Dana said:
But now that everybody has a phone all the time a wristwatch seems redundant anyway.
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Some people like me just like to wear watches. I always wear a watch and I feel almost nakked when I don't have one on. I would not wear a watch that I had to charge daily. I do use the jog and the garmin pay daily but that isn't unique the the watch. Like the previous poster eluded to, the watch will get wacky when in water thinking im flying which is really annoying. It's nice to the the sunset/rise, altimeter and what winds and runway you night use. In the air its pretty impractical
 
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