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.

Compré el dispositivo recién salido, y es una maravilla. Ya no despierto queriendo revisar mi calificación a dormir, y puedo hacer muchas cosas en el día sin traer el reloj puesto, pero sabiendo que el cirqa va a tomar mis medidas si o si. Gran dispositivo de uso 24/7.

I was excited to use this discreet, screenless tracker to monitor my gym sessions on the Concept 2 rower and SkiErg, alongside my four to five weekly runs. However, the Connect+ experience falls short. The app lacks running-specific training plans, interval support, and pace guidance. For a premium subscription, there are too many standard features missing. Furthermore, the Active Intelligence feature is a letdown; instead of a real conversational AI chat to help analyze my training and recovery, it only provides basic summaries. It is an average product that requires a significant software update to fully support a dedicated athletic routine.

Good idea but so far software / hardware bugs have tainted the experience. Alarms don’t work, have to shutoff/turn back on device after a charge, poor recognition of activities, and poor battery life. Example: Using device only in the evenings/night with pulse ox on only during sleep and I get 4 to 5 days between charges. Not good…. Great product for my use case (supplement for forerunner965) but to date the device is not living up to my expectations nor Garmin’s own specifications. At least not yet - really looking forward to a software update. This update’s performance will indicate what I do next with the Cirqa. 🙏🏻

I am loving my cirqa the light weight and screen less design is what I had been looking for. It has become my daily wearable. I enjoy wearing mechanical watches but didn’t want my health data to lapse so I was stuck wearing two watches on each wrist. The cirqa solves this problem. Although I do wish the heart rate sensor would’ve been the gen 5 as this gen 4 lacks a barometer that doesn’t measure floors climbed. Other than that it’s a great addition to my Garmin wearables.

I returned mine after 2 days. Firstly the sensor does seem to work with my tattoos. Apple Watch Ultra 3, Whoop, and my Polar Verity Sense all work great in the exact same spot. It did work when I rotated it to the underside of my wrist so I did get to test out the sleep tracking. It was absolutely terrible. Night 1: 3 hours sleep compared to 7 measured by both Oura and AWU3. It thought I woke up at 3am. Night 2: 5 hours sleep. Slightly better but still way off the 7.5 hours Oura and AWU3 agreed on. Originally I thought I had a faulty device but a friend also had a remarkably similar experience (and also returned it)

Just what I'm looking for! - Screenless device with auto-detect activity, although auto-detect, especially with yoga and strength training, could be better - Garmin data galore - Some people are bothered by the looks, but I think it looks just fine. Could it have been designed nicer? Yes. If the strap had covered the sides, it would have looked better. My wrist is 15cm, and it doesn’t bother me that it's 47mm wide (for context, I do own a Forerunner 970). - I owned the Fitbit Air for some time; while I love the app and ease of use, I enjoyed what Garmin data has to offer. - The button is okay. I sometimes accidentally start an activity when snoozing the alarm, though.

Very Disappointed. It will not track sleep most night. Look at Garmin website for troubleshooting tips. Which were to tighten the strap and reset the device and the phone. This still didn’t work. Contacted Garmin, a week later they respond and tell me to loosen the strap. Still having trouble with Sleep data. The French gray strap color does not look anything like the online photo. The whole strap situation is sad. I’ve worn Garmin’s since 2007. My epix GEN two has no trouble With sleep data. Never have to worry about how tight or loose my strap is on my watch. The Cirqa Should’ve been an easy home run.

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)

It is really comfortable to wear and does not cause skin irritation. I like all of the information that it collects and is easy to take in all of the info with Garmin Connect. I wish it had built in GPS even at the expense of some battery life. Other than that. I really like it.