Garmin  CIRQA Smart Band

I am currently in the Garmin ecosystem and have been wanting to try out a screen less wearable for sometime but was not interested in a subscription or fragmenting where I keep my data. I was very happy to see Garmin release the CIRQA and decided to try it out. I opted for the S/M wrist band as my wrist is on the smaller side, and the material is very comfortable and feels similar to a Apple nylon sport or fabric watch band. The band has a good stretch to it and is able to fit snugly on my wrist without it being too tight to wear for long periods of time. I have worn the band for approximately 24 hours and am happy with how it feels during the day and at night while I sleep. As I am right handed and don't usually wear anything on my right wrist, it will take a couple days of getting used to. You are able to wear this band on either hand, or arm, that you prefer to choose without any sacrifice to collecting fitness data. The size of the device on the wrist is comparable to a running watch, meaning its not slim by any means but it doesn't feel too awkward once you get used to the device being on your wrist. With this being said, you can opt for an arm band if you do not like the look on your wrist. The data I have logged so far feels very on par with what I have been used to for the past couple of years with the lower-end forerunner series, like the 165/55 or an Apple watch. You can track your sleep, heart rate, training readiness, body battery, steps, stress, and only if you have a phone on you, GPS data. I am more than happy with the accuracy of what I have collected so far as I have been in the Garmin ecosystem for many years now. The Garmin Connect app is not the flashiest of all of the wearable mobile applications on the market today, but it gets the job done, is intuitive, and easy to use. This device can save fitness event data on its own, and does not need a phone nearby until you want to sync event data or track an event with GPS data. Tracking activities can be done through the Garmin Connect app or physically through the CIRQA with the activity start/stop button. The button on the band was one of the things I was extremely happy to see as I did not want to rely on automatic event tracking which could leave out data from a fitness activity I chose to record. The Garmin CIRQA has automatic event tracking which will take around 15 minutes to recognize an intentional fitness event, but I have opted out of it and cannot speak to the accuracy of this feature. If you decide to start your own event with the button, you can set it to trigger a specific fitness event to track such as a walk, cycling, any of the 80+ fitness events included in Garmin Connect, or what I recommend doing, is to set a new event created from the band as a Timed Activity and then alter the type of the event later on in the application when you save and complete an event. Altering a generic event after completing it will only save relevant information to the type of activity you saved. The vibration motor is pretty strong and can be felt when you start/end an activity, or if you decide to use your CIRQA to wake you up in the morning. This device does not vibrate for calls or texts as notifications DO NOT go to the CIRQA. Battery life is accurate to what Garmin claims as I have been losing around 10% of battery per day, which means I am on track for approximately 9-10 days with average usage. My usage consists of wearing it all day and night, walking & running a few times a week, and recording other times events such as bouldering and cardio. I am giving this 5 stars because I was expecting this device to work similarly to any of the other Garmin devices on the market for tracking data.

Great product to tie into the garmin echosystem...can wear another device now, cant wait till the bicep band becomes available

Comfortable and lightweight. Allows to wear a fitness tracker and a regular watch at the same time. Only possible negative is for tracking activities you have to have your phone

I think loads of people will be comparing this to the other smart bands which is valid. For me this has huge value in simply making it so I don’t have to wear my clunky Garmin watch all the time. I have been in the Garmin ecosystem for at least 18 years now and I love the metrics I can track with their devices, but now I love that I can wear this on my wrist or arm and a real watch on the other and not feel the fear of missing out on my data. Only docked one star because I do think that Garmin could have used their clout to come to market with some new wow feature (other than a button)

I bought the Cirqa after spending some time looking for a comparable subscription-free option to my Oura ring. I've been an Oura user for over 6 years, and have really become exhausted with the pricey hardware AND subscription now required on the platform. The Cirqa seemed to be a viable option for me based on my fitness tracking preferences. Tracking HRV, heart rate, live activity tracking, and sleep insights are my priorities. When worn in tandem what I've found is that the data the Cirqa reports are very similar to what the Oura ring is reporting. The most notable variations I've noticed between the two platforms are how sleep stages are interpreted and how the number of calories burned during live activities are tracked. I've been tracking my numbers long enough that I believe the these differences aren't statistically significant for these consumer-grade health trackers. I do prefer not having a screen on my fitness trackers, so checking in on my phone to see my numbers/progress is something I'm already used to. I also like it because my numbers are easier to ignore if I just want to take an occasional break from my daily self quantified self-image. The band is comfortable and stays in place. The battery life is decent as well. The one critique I have is that the charging cable is proprietary, and a single point of failure if I happen to leave it somewhere. I'd like to see a more comparable USB and/or induction charging capabilities. Over all I'm really satisfied with the Cirqa. I also want to give a shout out to my local Fairbanks REI. I had visited the store earlier in the week hoping to buy the Cirqa, but the store didn't have it stocked. I visited a couple of days later for some help after unsuccessfully attempting to purchase the Cirqa online. I've never had an issue ordering online through REI (shipping to my house or to the local store), but this particular purchase just wasn't going through. The associate at the front was REALLY helpful and when they looked into the store inventory they noticed that a shipment had JUST arrived and there were a number of Cirqas sitting on the receiving dock. They went to the back, located the Cirqa I wanted and brought it back up for me to buy. Perfect customer service. Couldn't ask for more!

Excellent monitoring and precision, great value for money

Love Garmin, but this thing doesn’t cut it. Device is clunky on the wrist - the biggest and ugliest of the 5 bands on the market. The 14mm quick release was a silly decision, folks with hands larger than a toddler have a hard time removing the straps. Some of the straps have a known defect due to improper stitching, causing the quick release to get stuck against the device. The device doesn’t provide any new metrics, you have to pay for Garmin Connect to get any additional readouts.

Still getting used to it, intensity minutes are different than Garmin watches

Just perfect. The best fitness tracker for Garmin watch (or other Garmin devices) owners.

I was really excited to get the Garmin Cirqa as a screenless health tracker. I already have a Garmin Forerunner 265 to track my activity and sleep, and was planning to use both together. Since I already have the watch, the cirqa really doesn’t add much else for me and is pretty redundant. I could see the benefit if I didn’t have a Garmin watch already, but it doesn't make sense to have both.