{"id":570549,"date":"2026-07-27T14:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/570549\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T14:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:59:11","slug":"i-tried-the-garmin-cirqa-ahead-of-its-launch-heres-everything-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/570549\/","title":{"rendered":"I tried the Garmin cirqa ahead of its launch \u2013 here\u2019s everything to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garmin has made waves in the fitness and wellbeing world, officially announcing its first screen-free smart band: the cirqa. The new wearable is designed to help users monitor their health, fitness and recovery, without the distractions of a traditional smartwatch.<\/p>\n

With screen-free trackers like the Whoop<\/a> and Oura ring<\/a> growing in popularity, the Garmin cirqa takes a more unobtrusive approach to everyday health tracking. It focuses on detailed insights when you need them, rather than a barrage of notifications and multitude of apps on your wrist. <\/p>\n

However, unlike many of its competitors, Garmin\u2019s latest wearable doesn\u2019t require a subscription. As soon as you buy the device, you have instant access to its core health and fitness features through the Garmin Connect app, at no extra cost. <\/p>\n

Designed to be worn day and night, the cirqa tracks everything from workouts and daily activity to sleep and recover. Its lightweight fabric band can be worn on the wrist or upper arm (with the purchase of an arm band), depending on which you find more comfortable.<\/p>\n

The smart band is available to buy now for \u00a3179.99. I got my hands on the Garmin cirqa ahead of its launch, and have already worn it for a few days, testing out its fitness tracking, analysing its sleep data and more. My in-depth review is coming soon but, for now, here are my first impressions. <\/p>\n

Read more: The best running watches of 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Design<\/p>\n

The Garmin cirqa comes in two sizes (small\/medium and large\/extra-large) and a choice of four colours (black, navy, grey, mauve). The fabric band is interchangeable and Garmin sells the band separately in other colours, including olive green and light blue. It can be worn on the wrist or, with the purchase of an accessory band (\u00a349.99, Garmin.com<\/a>), on the upper arm. I went for the light grey and I\u2019m interested to see how the fabric will fare through workouts and day-to-day life, as well as how easy it is to clean.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe cirqa has an adjustable Velcro band (Sabrina Sahota\/The Independent)<\/p>\n

The tracking device sits beneath the wristband and there\u2019s one on-device button that you can press to track an activity or turn off an alarm. There is automatic activity tracking, but more on that later. <\/p>\n

My wrists are on the small side and my Garmin forerunner 255 can feel a bit chunky \u2013 I often find it uncomfortable to wear overnight. I opted for the small\/medium size in the cirqa and it looks sleek, is easy to adjust (thanks to the addition of Velcro) and feels comfortable enough to wear overnight. <\/p>\n

\"ThereThere is just one on-device button on the cirqa (Sabrina Sahota\/The Independent)<\/p>\n

Setup<\/p>\n

As there\u2019s no screen to aid in setting up the smart band, you\u2019ll need the latest version of the Garmin Connect app installed on your smartphone. The whole process is very easy, as the Connect app walks you through each stage. <\/p>\n

If you have another Garmin smartwatch, you don\u2019t need to get rid of it just yet. You can have both devices installed in the Connect app but you\u2019ll need to select one as your primary device. <\/p>\n

When the Garmin product team presented the smart band to a room full of fitness journalists and influencers, there were understandably concerns about being able to use Garmin\u2019s more specialist sports tracking watches alongside the cirqa. Garmin reassured us that both could be used, and advised wearing your fitness watch during your workout and taking it off afterwards, leaving the cirqa to track metrics such as steps and stress throughout the rest of the day. I\u2019m rarely seen without my Garmin forerunner 255 on my wrist, so I\u2019ll be putting this to the test to see how easy it is to switch between the two. <\/p>\n

Fitness tracking<\/p>\n

The Garmin cirqa tracks metrics you\u2019ll find across many other watches, including heart rate, stress, sleep, body battery, pulse ox and more. It also offers fitness features such as training readiness, training status and VO2 max insights through the Garmin Connect app.<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve found that\u2019s missing in my forerunner is automatic activity tracking. For example, if you start a run or cycle, the smart band should detect this activity automatically, without you having to set it up. I was pleased to see that this has been incorporated into the screen-free cirqa. <\/p>\n

When you set up the cirqa, you\u2019re asked to select your main fitness activities. In theory, it should recognise your workouts and improve its recognition as you confirm or edit activities in the Connect app post-workout. So far, it\u2019s automatically detected my lunchtime walks and I like that this data is captured without me having to think about. My fitness routine includes a mix of running, strength training and yoga, so I\u2019m intrigued to see how accurate it is at tracking these activities. <\/p>\n

\"YouYou can manually start a workout by pressing the on-device button (Sabrina Sahota\/The Independent)<\/p>\n

There is also the option to manually start an activity by pressing the button on the device \u2013 this will either track as a timed activity or a specific activity that you program on the app, such as strength training or running. The latter option is useful if you tend to stick to one type of workout. I put this to the test in a cardio class and it was easy to see when the tracking started (the cirqa vibrated and flashed green) and finished (the device vibrated and flashed red). Straight after, I was able to see my heart rate, training effect, calories burned, estimated sweat loss, intensity minutes and more in the Connect app. <\/p>\n

\"II set the cirqa to manually track my cardio class (left) and it automatically detected my lunchtime walk (right) (Sabrina Sahota\/The Independent)<\/p>\n

Garmin says the cirqa should give you up to 10 days of battery life and, unlike many of its competitors, there\u2019s no subscription required to access activity insights. However, with a Garmin Connect+ subscription (\u00a36.99 a month), you\u2019ll get access to extra features such as coaching guidance, trails, 3D maps and more. Right now live heart rate data is behind the Connect+ paywall, but after negative feedback from Garmin users, it has confirmed to us that it\u2019ll make this a free feature in its next software update. <\/p>\n

Sleep tracking<\/p>\n

Another new feature is personalised sleep coaching. After a night\u2019s sleep, the device recommended how much sleep I needed the following night and approximately when to go to bed to get the optimal amount of rest. For example after a very restful night\u2019s sleep, it reduced my baseline (eight hours) down to 7 hours 40 minutes. After three weeks of wear, I should get more insight into my internal circadian rhythm \u2013 this is your body\u2019s biological clock, which tells you when to sleep and wake up. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe cirqa analyses your night\u2019s sleep and tells you how much rest to aim for the following night (Sabrina Sahota\/The Independent)<\/p>\n

The smart wake alarm can be set to a range, so it gently vibrates to gradually wake you up. I set this to 5.30-6am, but it didn\u2019t start until 6am, so this didn\u2019t work quite as well as I\u2019d hoped it would. <\/p>\n

Is the Garmin cirqa worth it?<\/p>\n

So far, I\u2019ve been impressed by how comfortable the cirqa feels and the range of metrics on offer. But will I make the switch from my forerunner to the cirqa as my primary tracking device? First, I\u2019ll need to see how it fares with a range of different workouts and the detailed insights it offers after wearing it for a few weeks. Watch this space for my full, in-depth review. <\/p>\n

Read more: Best Garmin watches, tested<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garmin has made waves in the fitness and wellbeing world, officially announcing its first screen-free smart band: the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[203,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-570549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-gadgets","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}