Having conquered land and marine based GPS markets, Garmin is taking their GPS technology to the skies. It is their philosophy to create different watches purpose-built for specific activities. The Garmin D2 is their latest product and is a purpose-built watch for pilots.
The Garmin D2 has all the important functions and features that a pilot would need. Garmin calls the D2 a “portable avionics in a wrist-worn package”. The list of navigation features is impressive. These include:
1. Direct-to and nearest airport buttons that use a worldwide airport database
2. Altimeter with adjustable barometer setting and compass
3. Displays multiple time zones with Zulu/UTC reference
4. Various timers and vibrating alerts for inflight task reminders
5. Wirelessly receives flight plan from Garmin Pilot and controls VIRB – Garmin’s active video camera
The design is simple and display is clear to read even in dim lighting. Its size is 49mm diameter and 17mm high weighing just 82g. The transflective monochrome display has a resolution of 70×70 pixels. The lithium-ion rechargeable battery lasts up to 50 hours in GPS mode and 2 weeks in sensor only mode. It is also water resistant to 50m. The watch comes preloaded with a worldwide base-map and ability to specify way-points. It is priced at $449.
