Garmin D2 Air X15 Review: The Pilot Smartwatch Sweet Spot?

The Garmin D2 Air X15 sits in an interesting spot: it is expensive for a normal smartwatch, yet surprisingly reasonable for a serious Garmin aviation watch.

At CA$899.99, the D2 Air X15 gives pilots a 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen, multi-band GPS, Pulse Ox, a barometric altimeter, Direct-to navigation, HSI guidance, METARs and TAFs, automatic flight logging and Garmin Pilot integration. It also works perfectly well away from the airport, with sleep and health tracking, training tools, onboard music, Garmin Pay, phone calls and a useful red-and-white LED flashlight.

The hardware is one of its biggest strengths. At 38 g without the strap, the X15 is noticeably more wearable than Garmin's flagship aviation watches, while its bright 454 × 454 AMOLED display is easy to read. Garmin rates battery life at up to 10 days in smartwatch mode and 20 hours during Fly activity with GPS and Pulse Ox, and professional reviewers have generally found its battery performance impressive.

The X15 is also a substantial upgrade over the older D2 Air X10 as an everyday smartwatch. It has a larger display, newer sensors, multi-band positioning, the flashlight and longer battery life. However, existing X10 owners should temper their expectations: the fundamental aviation experience has not changed nearly as dramatically as the hardware has.

The D2 Mach 2 remains the stronger choice for pilots who want full on-watch mapping, sapphire glass, a more rugged 10 ATM design and dramatically longer GPS battery life. But at roughly CA$1,890 for the 47 mm model, it costs about twice as much. For many private pilots, that's difficult to justify.

There are some rough edges. Recent owner feedback points to deep menus, unintuitive combinations of button presses and touchscreen gestures, mediocre documentation and limitations in the weather and altimeter presentation. The watch also lacks the full mapping and weather-radar experience of Garmin's premium aviation models.

Non-pilots should skip it entirely—the cheaper Venu 4 provides much of the same everyday smartwatch experience without the aviation premium.

For pilots, though, the equation changes. The D2 Air X15 delivers most of the aviation features people are actually likely to use in a comfortable, modern watch at substantially less than Garmin's flagship models. It's not Garmin's ultimate pilot watch, but it may be the smarter one to buy.