Garmin D2 Air

For a non pilot,  you need a BT link to a phone, and GPS or no GPS for the aviation functions to work?

I dont quite understand this question. For aviation functions you need watch GPS and internet through  BT link on your phone.

Let  me try two examples.  In my apartment, I can connect the watch to my phone via BT, but cannot get GPS signals.  Therefore no aviation data?    On an airplane  I could connect ,my phone via WiFi, but no GPS again.  Therefore no data?.

I'm 2 weeks into my D2 Air ownership experience and I have some suggestions for software changes/tweaks and I'm not certain that I'm getting the best out of my device.

1. I'd like to see the yellow UTC arrow whenever I'm looking at the airport METAR/TAF tab so I can see when a TAF/TEMPO becomes valid, it could be even better if there was a yellow range that showed when the TAF period started and ended.

2. Being able to access widgets/apps from the watch face would be nice instead of having to scroll through the widgets.

3. On the Airport App, in addition to Enter Ident, Nearest, Flight Plan and Favourite, have a list of Favourites that can be selected. At the moment, I have created a flight plan on my Garmin Pilot app with all of my regular airports so I use Flight Plan for this function.

4. In the Fly App, the buttons aren't very intuitive, they could have labels/icons to help.

5. I have a few connectivity issues with it preferring to connect to my iPad rather than my phone as well as some delayed connections (I have to unlock my phone for it to connect sometimes)

6. The watch face/home screen should show tiny icons that reflect notifications, namely emails/messages/missed calls.

7. Be able to use WiFi connectivity to control Spotify from my watch on other devices

8. The Garmin pay network of banks is terrible

9. A basic map function (with borders, roads and airports) would be icing on the cake.

Any suggestions/support would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

When you say aviation data, you meant METAR data, correct? If you are connected to the internet somehow (phone or wifi), you will receive METAR data for your favorite airport (you can enter the airport code manually). From my experience with D2 Delta, I was able to get a GPS signal flying as a passenger on a commercial airplane. The GPS lock on D2 Air takes a bit longer compared to D2 Delta (likely because of the more power efficient GPS chip in the Air), though.

Yes sorry, I mean METAR data, the data is fine but for a guy who flies to 10 or so different airports regularly, I'd like a way to be able to see all of them and quickly choose one. As I said, setting up a Flight Plan with all of these airports works but just takes a little longer and will not work when I have an actual flight plan.

I never thought to try GPS in a watch while sitting in an aisle seat.   If that works, that would help.

Decided to  get one today.  Will likely have questions after it arrives and start checking it out..

I have been using a D2 Bravo since December 2015. The screen is turning itself off sometimes and I wanted to have the heart beat sensor and Pulse OX. I’ve been waiting for a D2 Echo for a long long time because I didn’t want to buy something based on the fenix 5, when the. Fenix 6 has been out for a while. So I was really happy to see the D2 Air and at that price. Ordered it straight away...

Well I don’t like at all... It is not for me... 2 weeks in use and a few flights and it’s going back to the seller. I’m sure some people could have a use for this watch. But it is soooooooo limited by it’s software that I actually think it is very very expensive for what it offers. A Garmin Instinct looks much better. 

Some of my main feedback if it can help someone to choose : 

- D2 Air looses GPS signal in the cockpit a lot. It never happened before with my D2 Bravo. And now in the same airplane (bubble canopy so it should be ideal for GPS signal) a lot of my flight is not recorded.
- Screen is not easy to use while flying with gloves.
- Impossible to calibrate the altimeter with a known altitude
- Pulse OX didn’t turn on during the flights, so I don’t have readings at that moment when you really need it (it is set as « always » in the settings).
- Nearest airport doesn’t update automatically when you fly and when you manually look for the nearest airport it gives you wrong airport.
- Auto timer for aviation activites doesn’t turn on automatically, but then when I am taxiing for a new take-off it will automatically try to stop the flight.
- Lack of compass field, lack of vertical speed, etc
- Screen rarely turns on when you want to look at it, so you are flying and tapping 10 times on the screen trying to turn it on.
- Battery life is really low (but it charges at lightning speed so it’s not a big big deal).
- Customization of the « apps » is difficult and lots of fields are lacking from one activty to the other. When you are used of having access to all the fields on a D2 Bravo it is really frustrating. Sport activites cannot be very much customized and some fields that are available for one cannot be used for another one.
- It is not an outdoor watch. Ok if you run and bike a little bit, but not enough for big outdoor activites.

So I will keep praying for a D2 echo or buy a Fenix 6 and put a flying app on it. For a much cheaper price...