Garmin Cirqa review: A fine but utterly inessential smart band - Engadget

It lacks the software and AI insights to make it a true Whoop rival. I believe the screenless wearables trend is more about psychological signalling than it is about practicality. Self-styled fitness elites need a signifier to spot one another in crowds, and for years that was a GPS watch the size of the Cullinan diamond. Many embraced smartwatches for their utility, but now that they're common, they need something new. Screenless trackers are perfect for this; they cost more and are far less useful than even a basic fitness tracker. Why would someone wear one if not purely to mark them out as a Serious Gym Goer™. After testing the Cirqa, it's clear Garmin agrees, as it's a screenless tracker that seems to exist purely for aesthetics. I imagine Cirqa's genesis came from a Garmin leadership meeting about what it would do to tackle the threat of Whoop. They probably laughed the issue off, given how the industry went through all of this back in the days of the Fitbit Flex, Withings Pulse and Jawbone Up. But when Whoop's valuation started to balloon ($10 billion or so at the start of 2026), it felt compelled to get a product into this space quickly. The result is a 2-inch by 1-inch pla