What you need to know
- Garmin’s rumored Cirqa tracker is rumored to be the most expensive screenless fitness band to date at around $510.
- The leaked Garmin Cirqa reportedly features a screenless fabric strap design and all-day health tracking.
- Garmin’s Whoop competitor is expected to track sleep, heart rate, calories, and other health metrics 24/7.
It’s clearly the season for screenless fitness trackers, and while Google recently introduced the Fitbit Air, it now looks like Garmin wants to join the list as well.
Whoop has been making screenless fitness trackers for over a decade at this point, but now almost every major fitness brand seems interested in the category. We recently saw the launch of the Fitbit Air, which follows the same concept: 24/7 health tracking, no screen, and up to a week of battery life.
Now it looks like Garmin could be next. A Ukrainian retailer seems to have leaked Garmin’s upcoming screenless fitness tracker (via Notebookcheck), revealing its design, features, and rumored high price.
According to this list, it is reported that Garmin’s Whoop competitor will be called Garmin Cirqa. Similar to other fitness trackers without a screen, it has a small fabric strap with no display and is designed for all-day fitness tracking.
The listing also suggests that the Cirqa will be available in two sizes, S/M and L/XL, as well as black and gray color options. Like other fitness trackers in this category, it will reportedly track heart rate, sleep, steps, calories, and other health metrics continuously.
However, what really stands out is the number of rumors. The retailer’s listing says the Garmin Cirqa will cost around 22,399 Ukrainian hryvnia, which converts to $510. If true, that would make it the most expensive in-screen fitness tracker on the market right now.
Android Central’s take
I love that more brands are getting into the screenless fitness tracker space, but $500 for a fitness tracker sounds awful. Garmin really needs to justify that price with something more than just better fitness tracking.
By comparison, the Fitbit Air starts at around $100, with an optional Google Health Premium subscription costing $10 per month. Whoop, meanwhile, follows a subscription-based model that ranges between $199 and $359 per year.
So if this Garmin price seems accurate, the Cirqa will sit well above both the Fitbit Air and the Whoop.
Of course, these are still not official prices, and things can easily change before launch. It’s also worth remembering that this information comes from a Ukrainian seller, so US prices could end up being quite different.