Garmin is expected to launch its own take on the latest trend in wearables with the Garmin Cirqa, potentially within weeks.
This is a screen-free tracker, following in the footsteps of the Whoop band series, and an increasing cast of trackers without displays.
Garmin is yet to officially acknowledge the tracker, but a bunch of important elements have been leaked. Or at least reported upon.
Garmin Cirqa – The Name
The most eye-catching fact of the next Garmin wearable so far is its name, the Garmin Cirqa. This is sourced from when a web page for the wearable briefly appeared on several regional versions of the Garmin website.
It wasn’t just the one either, with the local Brazil, Mexico, U.S. and Canada websites all among those that displayed the listing for a while.
The screen-free Garmin Cirqa basics
A recent U.S. trademark filing confirmed that name and that it’s a device for collecting and sending, but not directly displaying, biometric stats.
Its job is to monitor “physical and emotional stress, human alertness level, and performance, all for non-medical and non-therapeutic purposes,” according to the filing.
That stiff-sounding working is because this is trademark documentation, not marketing info.
Garmin Cirqa: Two Color options
The website listing suggests the Cirqa will launch with two color options, black and “French Gray.”
These are typical colors for a wearable not meant to pull much focus. It also suggests Garmin will not try to almost pass the Cirqa off as a piece of jewellery, in a visual sense.
As yet, though, no actual images of the wearable have leaked. Any you may have seen at the time of writing are either likely just other wearables, mockups or AI creations. The one at the top of this article is a Garmin Vivofit 4, with the screen removed.
Garmin Cirqa Release Date
The best steer on the Garmin Cirqa’s release date remains its original website listing from January, which suggested availability would be in “4-5 months.”
This would place the release in May or June, which now seems perfectly feasible. And Garmin may not want to wait too much longer, with fresh competition set to enter the field before too long. Garmin typically announces its consumer wearables as they’re ready for sale too.
The key rivals
Whoop has made these kind of wearables for years, but the category has only expanded significantly over the last year.
Notable examples include the Polar 360 and Amazfit Helio Strap, both of which position themselves in contrast to the Whoop wearable in not needing a monthly subscription.
What will be telling when Garmin released the Cirqa, and the Fitbit-teased and apparently fairly imminent Fitbit Air, is how much these higher-profile devices will push a subscription. It would be quite the leap for either brand to require a paid monthly fee for the basics.
However, given Fitbit Air’s launch will reportedly see a rebrand of the Fitbit Premium service to Google Health Premium, its marketing will likely be wrapped up in the promise of what a paid subscription can add.
The Garmin Cirqa’s alternative is dubbed Connect+, and currently costs $6.99 a month.
