EP38 - October 22, 2025 - Deep Dive chat on Garmin D2 Air X15 (ft_ AI Insights).wav

EP38 - October 22, 2025 - Deep Dive chat on Garmin D2 Air X15 (ft_ AI Insights).wav

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're taking a close look
at something new in the pilot world.
Yeah, we're focusing on Garmin'slatest aviator smartwatch, the
D2 Air X15. Right.
It seems designed to hit that sweet spot.
You know, balancing the look with the actual cockpit
functions. Exactly.
And we've pulled together well everything we could find, the
official specs from Garmin, their announcements, but also

(00:23):
some really good third party reviews.
Including some deep analysis from places like the 5K runner,
right? They tend to really put these
things through their paces. Absolutely.
Their insights were pretty helpful.
So our goal here is to cut through the noise for you.
We. Want to boil it down to the key
things you as a potential buyer really need a way up.
We're focusing on 4 main things.Price naturally, then battery

(00:47):
life, always crucial. The new smart features they've
added. Which seemed quite significant
this time around. They are.
And finally, maybe most importantly for pilots, the core
aviation tools and what you don't get compared to say the
higher end D2 Mach 2. OK, let's start with who this
watch is actually for. Where does Garmin see the X15
fitting in? Well, the marketing and the

(01:09):
design point towards pilots who want something sleeker, maybe
less overtly pilot watch for everyday wear.
So lightweight, modern look, That's the idea.
That seems to be it. You know, something that works
well outside the talk pit too. And the build reflects that.
What are the specifics? Yeah, it's got that modern
circular look, 45 millimetre size, which is pretty standard
wearable and a really nice bright 1.4 inch AMOLED screen.

(01:33):
AMOLED is great for visibility. Is it tough enough?
It's got Corning Gorilla Glass 3and a stainless steel bezel, so
yeah, it should hold up reasonably well for daily use.
It definitely presents more likea premium smartwatch first.
Which brings us straight to the cost.
What's the damage? OK, this is key.
The D2 Air X15 has a starting MSRP of 649.99 U.S. dollars. 650

(01:57):
OK. And just for context, how does
that stack up against the top tier?
That's the whole point really. The D2 Mach 2 models, they start
way up there at $1349 and $0.99.Wow, OK.
More than double. Exactly.
So that price gap is huge. It really defines the X15 as the
mid range option it has to offergood value at that $650 mark.

(02:18):
Which means figuring out what features made the cut, and maybe
what didn't. What did they manage to pack in?
Well, this is where it gets interesting, especially on the
smartwatch side of things. They've added features that
really bring it up to speed withmodern wearables moving beyond
just being a sports or aviation tool.
Like what specifically? I saw something about a light,
yes. The built in LED flashlight.

(02:39):
That's a genuinely useful addition.
For preflights in the dark I imagine, or just finding stuff
you dropped. Both, definitely.
It has different brightness levels for the white light, but
crucially also a red light setting.
The red light essential for keeping your night vision in the
cockpit. Does it have that redshift mode
for the display too? It does, yeah.

(02:59):
Helps preserve night adaptation all around.
That's a smart aviation focus. Touch on a general feature.
OK, good. What else is new on the smart
side? The older air models lacked some
things, didn't they? Big time.
They've added a built in speakerand microphone now.
Finally, so you can actually take calls on it.
Yep. Bluetooth phone calls directly
from the watch, assuming your phone is paired and nearby, plus

(03:20):
Voice Assistant support. Taking calls on your WIST in a
noisy cockpit with a headset on?Maybe not the main use case.
Probably not mid flight, no, butthink about being on the ramp
doing your walk around or waiting for clearance.
It adds convenience. OK, Fairpoint, does the mic
enable anything else? It does on device voice commands

(03:41):
when paired. This is actually pretty neat for
pilots like. Asking for weather.
Exactly, you can just say show me the matar for KLX or whatever
and boom it pops up hands free info.
That can actually save some button push.
I like that. And another mic related feature,
Geo referenced voice memos meeting.
You can quickly record a voice note.
Maybe ATC gives you a reroute oryou spot something during flight

(04:04):
and it tags it with your location and time.
You review it later in the Garmin Connect app.
OK, that's quite clever. Like a quick digital notepad
tied to where you were. Precisely and one more cool
smart detail related to display,the watch face can dynamically
change colour based on the METARconditions at your selected
airport. Oh really?
O green for VFR? Maybe yellow or red if things

(04:26):
deteriorate. Something like that, Yeah,
instant visual cue without even touching the watch.
It's those kinds of integrationsthat start to feel really useful
in the workflow. These all sound like solid
upgrades, but the elephant in the room for any pilot watch.
Battery life. Yeah, especially with that
bright AMOLED screen speaker mic.
Yep. Always the trade off, Garmin's

(04:47):
known for great battery life compared to say, an Apple Watch,
but these features do draw more power.
So what are the numbers for the X15?
How long does it actually last? OK, in standard smartwatch meld,
Garmin claims up to 10 days. If you use the Always on Display
setting, that drops to about four days. 10 days is still
pretty good for a modern smartwatch. 4 days always on is
yeah OK. What about battery saver?

(05:10):
You can stretch it up to 25 daysin battery saver smartwatch
mode, but that obviously limits functionality.
The critical one for us though, how long does it last when
you're actually flying using GPSand maybe the pulse ox?
That's the fly activity mode. The spec is 20 hours with GPS
and PO2 running. 20 hours? How does that feel in context?

(05:31):
Does that good, bad, average? Well reviewers like the 5K
runner pointed out 20 hours is still way better than something
like an Apple Watch Ultra which might top out around what, 40
ish hours in its best possible low power workout mode, not
continuous flight tracking. So, better than mainstream
smartwatches? Definitely.
Yeah. Enough for a day of general
aviation flying, probably. For sure most GA flights aren't

(05:54):
20 hours continuous, but this iswhere the comparison to the Mach
2 really bites. Ah.
Right, the more expensive sibling.
What does it offer? It's a whole different level.
The Mach 2 offers up to 26 days in smartwatch mode.
OK, more than double the X15. And for that fly activity mode,
GPS and PO2, the Mach 2 deliversup to 58 hours. 58 hours?
Wow, that's almost three times the X15's flight endurance.

(06:18):
Exactly. So if you're doing long haul
flights, multi day trips, or maybe operations where you can't
easily recharge, that differenceis massive.
The X15's battery is good for its class, but it's clearly a
compromise compared to the flagship.
A very clear compromise tied to that lower price point.
OK, let's shift to the core reason someone buys an aviator.

(06:38):
Watch the flying features. What essentials does the XF team
provide? It covers the fundamentals
really well. You get GPS direct to
navigation. Of course.
There's an HSI course needle display using Garmin's Worldwide
Aeronautical Database. Standard essential stuff.
Weather. Yep, access to aviation weather
metars and Tafts critical for preflight and in flight

(07:00):
awareness. And it still has the health
monitoring relevant to flying. Yes, the in flight pulse ox
sensor for blood oxygen saturation monitoring is
included, plus automatic flight logging that syncs up with your
fly Garmin account. Convenient for keeping records?
What about connectivity with ANEL avionics or other garment
services? Good question.
It includes Connexed avionics connectivity, which is actually

(07:20):
an upgrade over the older X10 model that lets it wirelessly
receive flight plan data from compatible Garmin panels.
Nice integration. And it also has plain sync
compatibility. Remind me what plain sync does
again? If your aircraft is equipped
with the necessary hardware, Plain Sync lets you check things
like fuel level, electrical system status, and database

(07:41):
currency remotely through the watch before you even head to
the airport. Checking database status from
home. That's actually super useful.
Avoids that nasty surprise on the ramp.
It really is so you can see the X15 packs and all the truly
essential tools for basic navigation, weather logging and
some neat connectivity. OK, so it covers the basics
comprehensively. Now for the flip side, what's

(08:03):
missing? What did they have to leave out
to hit that $650 price and maintain the sleeker design?
This is probably the single biggest differentiator and it
came up in all the technical reviews we looked at.
The D2, A RX-15, fundamentally lacks the sophisticated onboard
mapping engine that the Mach 2 has.
No maps. What does that mean in practise
when you're looking at the watch?
It means no detailed colour moving map display.

(08:27):
You don't get graphical topography, terrain shading, or
those detailed depictions of airspace boundaries overlaid on
a map. So it can tell you you're
bearing a distance to a waypoint, but it can't show you
your position relative to terrain or complex airspace
graphically. Precisely.
You get the navigational data, but not the rich map based
situational picture directly on your wrist.

(08:48):
Why is that map so important forsome pilots?
Well, think about flying VFR near complex airspace or in
mountainous terrain. Having that visual
representation of airspace boundaries, seeing if you're
about to clip class Bravo, or seeing upcoming terrain.
That's huge for situational awareness.
The Mach 2 provides that, the X15 doesn't.
And other map related emissions runway details.

(09:11):
Yeah, the Mach 2 offers enhancedrunway diagrams when you zoom
in. That's missing on the X15, and
the lack of that powerful mapping engine also means some
advanced alerting features are absent.
Because they rely on processing map and position data.
Exactly. For instance, there's no onboard
density altitude calculator function on the X15.
More significantly, you lose what Garmin calls personal

(09:33):
minimums tolerance alerts. Right.
What were those again? They're quite clever, actually.
On the Mach 2 you can preset your personal weather minimums,
like say a maximum crosswind you're comfortable with or
minimum ceiling and visibility. Your personal gonna go criteria.
Right, and if the current METAR for your selected airport
exceeds those preset limits, theMach 2 actively flags it with a

(09:55):
visual alert. It's like a personalised safety
check. And the X15 can't do that
because it lacks the processing power or the framework for those
complex user defined alerts. That appears to be the case.
It can show you the raw METAR data, but it doesn't run those
customised comparison algorithms.
OK, that really clarifies the choice, doesn't it?
It puts the decision squarely onthe pilot's mission needs.

(10:16):
It absolutely does. So summarising, the D2 Air X15
comes in at $649.99. It's a great looking modern
smartwatch. Works well as a daily driver.
Has these useful new smart features like the flashlight and
voice commands. And it delivers all the
essential flight tools, navigation, weather logging,
basic connectivity, covers the core requirements.

(10:37):
The choosing the X15 means you accept the trade-offs.
You prioritise the sleek design,the lighter weight and obviously
the much lower. Price and in return you give up
the advanced on watch mapping, the graphical situational
awareness tools like the densityaltitude calculation and those
sophisticated customizable weather alerts that the D2 Mach
2 offers. Which leads us to that final

(10:59):
thought for you, the listener, to chew on.
Given that, the Mach 2 gives youthat vastly superior battery
life, nearly triple the flight endurance, plus the full mapping
and advanced safety alerts, but costs roughly double.
When does that extra utility, that detailed map and super long
battery on your wrist become worth the significant extra cost
and perhaps slightly bulkier design?
You really have to ask yourself,what kind of flying do you do?

(11:22):
Are you mostly weekend VFR, relying primarily on an iPad or
panel for mapping? Or are you flying longer legs
IFR in complex environments where having that instant
graphical awareness and extreme endurance on your wrist could be
genuinely critical? Is Core Data enough or do you
need the full picture? That seems to be the heart of
the decision between these two. It really is food for thought.

(11:44):
Indeed, we hope this breakdown helps you figure out which, if
either, might be right for your cockpit.
Thanks for diving deep with us today.