Overview
- Garmin released the screenless Cirqa smart band for $199 with availability starting July 24, positioning it against Whoop and Fitbit Air while promising multi-day battery life and continuous health sensors.
- Early testers discovered that live, real-time heart-rate displays during activities had initially been restricted to Garmin Connect+ subscribers, prompting user and reviewer pushback.
- Garmin responded within days and said a Garmin Connect Mobile update will make live heart-rate during activities available to all Cirqa owners without a Connect+ subscription.
- Core device features include a physical on-device button for manual workouts, two sizes, 5 ATM water resistance and roughly 10 days of battery, but early hands-on tests recorded at least one misclassified walk and undercounted steps versus competitors.
- Garmin’s simultaneous acquisition of TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic and the decision to put Garmin Coach behind Connect+ raise questions about future bundling of coaching tools into paid tiers and what that will mean for non-Garmin users.