Garmin CIRQA is now official: is it the real 'Whoop killer'?

Garmin has officially presented the CIRQA Smart Band, a new activity and wellness device with which the brand enters the booming segment of screenless smart bands focused on continuous health and recovery monitoring. A market previously dominated by Whoop and in which proposals like Fitbit Air or Amazfit Helio Strap have also begun to position themselves.

Garmin fully enters Whoop's territory with the new CIRQA, a screenless band with no mandatory subscription

Garmin's big bet is to transfer a good part of the advanced metrics from its sports watches to a much more discreet format, designed to be worn 24 hours a day, but with the important difference compared to Whoop that it does not require a subscription to access the main functions.

A band for those who don't want another screen on their wrist

The philosophy of the CIRQA is clear. Instead of constantly displaying data on the wrist, Garmin completely eliminates the screen and opts for a lightweight device with a fabric strap designed to go practically unnoticed, both during training and while sleeping.

All information is later accessed from the Garmin Connect app, on the phone, where the data recorded during the day is automatically synchronized.

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The device weighs just over 20 grams with the strap installed, will be available in two sizes (S-M and L-XL), and offers a battery life of up to 10 days, a figure higher than many sports watches and sufficient to maintain virtually uninterrupted tracking.

The CIRQA can be pre-ordered starting July 24 for an official price of 199.99 euros.

The same ecosystem of advanced metrics from Garmin

Although it lacks a screen, Garmin has not reduced the functions of physiological analysis. The CIRQA incorporates a good part of the metrics already used by Forerunner, Fenix, or Edge watch users.

Among them, the following stand out:

• Body Battery energy monitor
• Continuous heart rate
• Heart rate variability (HRV)
• Pulse oximeter
• Skin temperature
• Daily stress
• Health status
• Physiological age
• Advanced sleep tracking
• Automatic nap detection
• Smart alarm via vibration
• Habit tracking such as alcohol or caffeine consumption
• Alerts to minimize jet lag

In the rest section, Garmin also incorporates functions such as sleep score, sleep coach, circadian rhythm analysis, or nighttime respiratory variations.

Also designed for training

Although it may seem like a device solely focused on wellness, Garmin has maintained a clearly sports-oriented approach.

The CIRQA can automatically detect activities such as walking or running and allows manual tracking of more than 80 sports disciplines through the device's only physical button or from Garmin Connect. For outdoor sports, it uses the phone's GPS, as the band does not have its own GPS receiver.

Among the training metrics that stand out are:

• Training readiness
• Training status
• VO2 max
• Recovery time
• Training benefit
• Physiological age
• Intensity minutes

Additionally, it can transmit heart rate in real-time to compatible Garmin devices, such as Edge bike computers, a particularly interesting feature for cyclists already using the brand's ecosystem.

The big difference compared to Whoop: no mandatory fee

Beyond the hardware, Garmin knows that the main weak point of Whoop is its business model based on a permanent subscription. So while Whoop requires a membership to access the metrics and analysis of the device, Garmin includes all essential functions with the purchase of the CIRQA.

The company will offer an optional service, Garmin Connect+, which adds AI-based functions, Garmin Coach training plans, nutritional tracking, guided meditations, and advanced graphs during activities, but the basic operation of the device does not depend on paying a monthly fee.

A complement for Garmin users

More than replacing a sports watch, the CIRQA seems designed to complement the Garmin ecosystem. It may be especially interesting for those who use an Edge while cycling or a brand watch during training, but prefer a much more comfortable device for sleep tracking or for the rest of the day.

With this launch, Garmin directly enters a segment that was previously led by Whoop and does so with a different strategy: keeping its ecosystem of sports and health metrics practically intact while eliminating both the screen and the need for a mandatory subscription.

Main specifications of the Garmin CIRQA Smart Band