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Garmin introduces D2 Mach 1 aviator smartwatch

Garmin International in March 28 introduced the D2 Mach 1 GPS aviator smartwatch, describing it as holding classic pilot watch styling and a bright AMOLED touchscreen display that offers advanced tools for flying, as well as plus health and fitness features.

With a battery life of up to 11 days, the D2 Mach 1 provides weather data, automatic alerts for changing conditions, and helps navigate with the moving map and horizontal situation indicator (HSI), among other features.

“Whether you’re climbing into the cockpit for a fun weekend flight, practicing or shooting instrument approaches to minimums or flying professionally, the new D2 Mach 1 delivers the latest and most advanced aviation functionality and smartwatch capabilities right to your fingertips,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing, Garmin.

Garmin explains the D2 Mach 1 combines a durable design and premium materials like sapphire and titanium with a vibrant, sunlight-readable 1.3-inch AMOLED display. Button controls are matched with a new touchscreen interface for dual utility, improving daily smartwatch interaction and access to selections and map features.

The watch face includes a UTC pointer, which can also display and help pilots manage multiple time zones, including Zulu time, and a 24-hour clock around the bezel, along with seven customizable data fields. The D2 Mach 1 watch straps – available with oxford leather or vented titanium options – can be switched out with an included QuickFit black silicone band.

The D2 Mach 1 includes preflight, in-flight and postflight features and tools to assist pilots in navigation and enhance situational awareness, along with multi-band frequency and multi-GNSS support for better and more accurate GPS positioning. Direct-to navigation lets pilots navigate straight to an airport or waypoint in the preloaded worldwide aeronautical database directly from the watch, or choose the Nearest function to activate a direct course to a nearby airport. Pan across the moving map with a touch, and tap on waypoints for more information. Plus, see NEXRAD radar1 overlaid on the route.

Garmin explains the instrument-like horizontal situation indicator (HSI) course needle makes it easy for pilots to see if the aircraft is left or right of the desired flight path, and the barometric altimeter can alert when a desired altitude is reached. Aviation alerts like time, distance, altitude and a fuel timer are also available on the D2 Mach 1 during flight.

Information like runway orientation and wind components, runway lengths and airport frequencies are all preloaded and easily accessible from the watch. The D2 Mach 1 offers aviation weather reports, including METARs and TAFs that allow pilots to see winds, visibility and barometric pressure and more before takeoff. New graphical indications of MOS forecasts for specific airports, including projections for temperature trends, wind, dewpoint, sky cover, precipitation probability and more, are also available. Customizable notifications can be set for new METAR and TAF reports, so pilots will stay in-the-know when things like destination airport conditions change or when crosswind components exceed a threshold. And in case of emergency, the D2 Mach 1 can show the best glide speed, estimated glide distance and glide time during an engine-related issue, along with a bearing pointer to the nearest airport and a list of alternate airports.

The D2 Mach 1 automatically starts tracking flights on takeoff, then automatically transfers the date, duration, total flight time and route to the user’s flyGarmin.com logbook1. Pilots can also seamlessly transfer flight plans from the Garmin Pilot app to the D2 Mach 1 and view the list of waypoints included in their route.

The D2 Mach1 offers wrist-based heart rate (with user-configurable alerts for high or low readings3), advanced sleep monitoring with sleep score, breathwork activities, fitness age, respiration, Pulse Ox4, all-day stress tracking, hydration, and women’s health tracking. Body Battery energy monitoring shows users how “charged” their body is as well as the draining effects of stress and exercise.

During a flying activity, pilots can quickly access the health stats menu to track their heart rate, Pulse Ox, respiration, Body Battery and more. A new Health Snapshot feature logs a two-minute window of key health stats and generates a report that users can share with a health care provider – a great tool for capturing physiological data anytime you’re feeling off your baseline.

The D2 Mach 1 features 30+ built-in indoor and GPS sports apps with favorites that include walking, running, cycling, pool swimming, hiking, advanced strength training and more. It’s preloaded with SkiView maps and more than 42,000 golf courses from around the world.