Garmin CIRQA technical details

Battery life: up to 10 days
Charge time: 90 minutes
GPS? Via smartphone
Strap material: Fabric
Sizes: S-M; L-XL
Waterproof rating: 5 ATM
RRP: £179.99

Who and what is the CIRQA for?

This new wearable is really for anyone who wants to track their health and fitness. It has excellent tracking across lots of different areas of wellbeing and exercise. It’s screen-free, so the perfect option for someone who doesn’t necessarily want all the notifications and immediate feedback that usually comes with a wrist-worn device.

Do you have to pay a subscription to use CIRQA?

Some other smart bands on the market come with a monthly subscription to gain the tracking and health insights. This one doesn’t require a subscription – it uses Garmin Connect, which you can download and use for free, just like other Garmin watches.

What’s the battery life like?

So good! As it doesn’t have a screen, the battery gets drained much less quickly than a running watch. I wore mine for over a week before it needed charging, and the charge didn’t take long.

Is the CIRQA comfortable to wear?

Yes it’s really comfortable. It’s designed with all-day and all-night wear in mind, so comfort is at the forefront. The fabric band is stretchy and soft, and didn’t rub or cause any discomfort even when I sweated in it. On that note, I would recommend going for one of the darker strap options, as I did get the light purple one grubby quite quickly.

Does it have its own GPS?

No – it uses your phone’s GPS, so can provide reasonably accurate location tracking, but doesn’t have its own.

What activities does it track?

I wondered if a screen-free wearable would have more limited options when it came to tracking, but I was wrong. It can track literally any exercise you can think of, although the more precise tracking is a little more limited than watches designed for specific activities, as mentioned above. I will say though that it gave me all the info I needed about my runs, including a map of where I ran, pace info, heart rate and more.

It’s also brilliant for monitoring sleep and things like heart rate and blood oxygen. It tracks skin temperature while you sleep, too, which makes it noticeably more accurate at predicting things like periods and ovulation. I didn’t get to test this one (sadly) but I also saw that it offers jet leg advice to help you adjust quicker, including things like sleep schedules and exercise recommendations, which is a nice perk to have!

Training-wise, I enjoyed the stress tracking and body energy tracking features. They gave me a good insight into how I should train on any given day, which was helpful for balancing my running training plan with a very busy summer.

Is it easy to track activities?

Yes, really easy! You have two options. First of all, you can let it auto-track. I loved this as it meant I didn’t even need to remember to press a button when I started my run or workout. You then go into the app afterwards or at the end of the day to confirm the activity. It was pretty good at getting the activity correct, and you can also amend it to exact timings. I will say that it was sometimes a bit keen and tracked things that weren’t actually workouts. It wasn’t an issue, as you can easily remove it from your day in the app. Plus, it made me feel great that wrangling my two little ones could be considered a gym workout! 

You can also manually start and stop activity tracking via a button on the side of the device, and then confirm the activity later in the app. This is a good option for less intense exercise, like a calming yoga session, where the band might not auto-track.

Does the CIRQA band sync with other Garmin devices?

Yes – this is one of my favourite things about it. Because it uses the Garmin Connect app, you can switch between devices through the day. That means that you can wear the band most of the time, for screen-free tracking, but then pop on your Garmin watch for all the GPS and training features you need for your run.

Should you buy a Garmin CIRQA?

Overall, it’s a great bit of kit. It’s ideal as a first tracking device for those new to running, but also as an option for those who want to reduce their watch screentime. I loved sitting down at the end of the day to check in on all my stats, rather than getting constant visual reminders all day. I think that you get a lot of features for your money, too.