Customer reviews from Garmin
Garmin - CIRQA Smart Band, Adjustable Black, L-XL - Black - (2026)
Average customer rating
3.5
(180 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 180 reviews
5 Stars
59
4 Stars
38
3 Stars
39
2 Stars
27
1 Star
17
Customer Reviews for Garmin - CIRQA Smart Band, Adjustable Black, L-XL - Black - (2026)
Customer Rating
5
Great band
on October 8, 2026
Posted by: siles
The band is super comfy and light. The CIRQA seems to track things well.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
OK device for ver 1, hope ver 2 will be better
on October 8, 2026
Posted by: Jacobs
I bought the device to replace my apple watch ultra as i wanted to go back to using mechanical watches.
Its an ok devide but some features feels like an after thought
overall, i like the device, its light, the battery life is ok (most i got out of it was about 5 days but i had to disable the ongoing pulse oximeter to night only, if you keep it running all day, you wont get more than 3 days max, was honestly expecting more.)
i like that you have a physical button to start an activity and you dont relay on the device just to sense what you are doing since i mostly use it for HIIT workouts every morning. the issue is that even with the sensing on, its not really working well. i was on vacation and walked about 22,000 steps a day in longs walks and hikes and it didnt register any of it!
last, i did purchase an arm band as well and honestly, the switching is a real hassle. there are really tiny push pins you need to release and attach when you are switching bands, and it may take good five minutes (i have big fingers).
the app is fine, i used to be a garmin user with their earlier fenix watches so i am used to it and like the setup.
Its an ok devide but some features feels like an after thought
overall, i like the device, its light, the battery life is ok (most i got out of it was about 5 days but i had to disable the ongoing pulse oximeter to night only, if you keep it running all day, you wont get more than 3 days max, was honestly expecting more.)
i like that you have a physical button to start an activity and you dont relay on the device just to sense what you are doing since i mostly use it for HIIT workouts every morning. the issue is that even with the sensing on, its not really working well. i was on vacation and walked about 22,000 steps a day in longs walks and hikes and it didnt register any of it!
last, i did purchase an arm band as well and honestly, the switching is a real hassle. there are really tiny push pins you need to release and attach when you are switching bands, and it may take good five minutes (i have big fingers).
the app is fine, i used to be a garmin user with their earlier fenix watches so i am used to it and like the setup.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Great for more comfortable sleep tracking
on October 7, 2026
Posted by: KimVT
I bought this to wear overnight as my Forerunner was lighting up and waking up my husband. It's easy to switch between the watch and the band and my tracking information seems complete and unchanged. I don't wear it during the day or use it for activities, so can't speak to those functions, but it is very comfortable for sleep tracking.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Wait for v2
on October 6, 2026
Posted by: Garmlin
This product is aptly named as it's *almost* a finished product. Nearly every attribute feels like it could've used a little more development. There are many issues that should be fixable in software/firmware, but some hardware shortcomings will need to be fixed in the next version. Hopefully Garmin will be uncharacteristically consumer-friendly with their trade-in policy for the v2.
Use case: I want a screenless, fashionable device that I can wear alongside a mechanical watch or in more formal situations, which provides seamless data continuity as a backup or replacement to my other Garmin devices.
Expectation: all the same features and experience of an Instinct without the screen or smartwatch features, and comparable--if not better--battery life, and stylish strap options.
Expectation: all the same features and experience of an Instinct without the screen or smartwatch features, and comparable--if not better--battery life, and stylish strap options.
The bad:
* Size: It's quite big. Bigger than a Whoop, much bigger than a Fitbit Air. Almost as big as an Instinct. The size itself would not be an issue if it had performance to match, but that's not the case. It also looks and feels bulkier than it is because of its shape; it's more flat than contoured with a sensor bulge so unless you have a large wrist, it will hang off both sides of your wrist like a plank.
* Battery: Considering an Instinct can get almost 3 weeks with a screen and smartwatch features, I was expecting similar or better performance by removing those features. Not the case, it lasts about a week; less than a Whoop which is smaller, and a Fitbit Air which is almost half the size. In a recent unscientific comparison, at the end of the week when my Cirqa was at 2%, the Fitbit was at 24%, and the Whoop at 64%. All devices' SpO2 enabled. This might be forgivable if the sensors were top-of-the-line, or if the Cirqa was measuring something the others aren't, but I can't find anything to explain the discrepancy.
* Location: the Cirqa has no GPS and requires your phone location for certain workouts and metrics (like VO2 Max). This is annoying and sacrifices one of key benefits of Garmin wearables.
* Alto/Baro: the Cirqa has no Alto/Baro so it cannot measure stairs or elevation climbed.
* Sensors: the Cirqa uses the older sensors. This might be satisfactory if it enabled positive tradeoffs like smaller size or better battery performance, but it's not small and has poor battery life, so the justification is unclear.
* Price: it's almost as much as an Instinct without the features. It's twice as much as a Fitbit Air without any discernible advantages.
* Data Handling: This is perhaps the biggest weakness which may or may not be a bug. When I take off one device and put on another, the data continuity should be seamless. However, Garmin doesn't know how to manage data, and instead of algorithmically determining how to hand off data between devices, the user is required to designate a Primary device. So if you intend to keep a Garmin watch as your primary wearable and use this as a backup for certain situations, it will not measure/log certain data such as Body Battery unless you set it as the Primary, which you wouldn't do.
* Size: It's quite big. Bigger than a Whoop, much bigger than a Fitbit Air. Almost as big as an Instinct. The size itself would not be an issue if it had performance to match, but that's not the case. It also looks and feels bulkier than it is because of its shape; it's more flat than contoured with a sensor bulge so unless you have a large wrist, it will hang off both sides of your wrist like a plank.
* Battery: Considering an Instinct can get almost 3 weeks with a screen and smartwatch features, I was expecting similar or better performance by removing those features. Not the case, it lasts about a week; less than a Whoop which is smaller, and a Fitbit Air which is almost half the size. In a recent unscientific comparison, at the end of the week when my Cirqa was at 2%, the Fitbit was at 24%, and the Whoop at 64%. All devices' SpO2 enabled. This might be forgivable if the sensors were top-of-the-line, or if the Cirqa was measuring something the others aren't, but I can't find anything to explain the discrepancy.
* Location: the Cirqa has no GPS and requires your phone location for certain workouts and metrics (like VO2 Max). This is annoying and sacrifices one of key benefits of Garmin wearables.
* Alto/Baro: the Cirqa has no Alto/Baro so it cannot measure stairs or elevation climbed.
* Sensors: the Cirqa uses the older sensors. This might be satisfactory if it enabled positive tradeoffs like smaller size or better battery performance, but it's not small and has poor battery life, so the justification is unclear.
* Price: it's almost as much as an Instinct without the features. It's twice as much as a Fitbit Air without any discernible advantages.
* Data Handling: This is perhaps the biggest weakness which may or may not be a bug. When I take off one device and put on another, the data continuity should be seamless. However, Garmin doesn't know how to manage data, and instead of algorithmically determining how to hand off data between devices, the user is required to designate a Primary device. So if you intend to keep a Garmin watch as your primary wearable and use this as a backup for certain situations, it will not measure/log certain data such as Body Battery unless you set it as the Primary, which you wouldn't do.
The good:
* Appearance: the strap is much better than Whoop and subjectively sufficiently stylish (in the khaki color). However, as mentioned above, the size of the device detracts from the overall appearance and the black device is very conspicuous and not hidden sufficiently by the strap.
* Fit: It's pretty comfortable most of the time, about the same as a Whoop. It can't compete with the Fitbit Air due to its size. The strap would benefit from more stretch.
* Button: it has one button which wasn't expected but is actually a nice addition and a potential differentiator. However, the button only does one thing: starts or stops a preset default workout. I would like to see this button utilized better, with user-configurable settings (e.g. for a long press, or double press, etc.)
* Business model: no subscription so it automatically beats Whoop.
* Appearance: the strap is much better than Whoop and subjectively sufficiently stylish (in the khaki color). However, as mentioned above, the size of the device detracts from the overall appearance and the black device is very conspicuous and not hidden sufficiently by the strap.
* Fit: It's pretty comfortable most of the time, about the same as a Whoop. It can't compete with the Fitbit Air due to its size. The strap would benefit from more stretch.
* Button: it has one button which wasn't expected but is actually a nice addition and a potential differentiator. However, the button only does one thing: starts or stops a preset default workout. I would like to see this button utilized better, with user-configurable settings (e.g. for a long press, or double press, etc.)
* Business model: no subscription so it automatically beats Whoop.
In short, I'm glad Garmin finally brought a screenless wearable to market, but so far this first version is a bit underwhelming. Hopefully some of the issues can be addressed in firmware and/or backend upgrades. If not, wait for the v2.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Love it
on October 6, 2026
Posted by: Bb24
Love it light weight dont even know it's on i have a fenix7 but wear this most of the week
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Good idea, not ready for prime time yet
on October 5, 2026
Posted by: Andr
Less comfortable and feels bulkier than my fenix7ss, not always reliable start/end of sleep. Discrepancy with data from Fenix 7ss
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
Average
on October 4, 2026
Posted by: Ccurt
I thought this indicated that it keeps track of blood pressure. It doesn't. You can manually enter it. I also dont like that it doesn't track how far you have swam. Also, I thought it would have been more rugged. I train Jui-jitsu and kick boxing. I have to tape it to my wrist so it doesn't get ripped off and the pins that hold it to the band break. Still waiting for my arm band strap 2 months later. Other than that, it is good.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Great tracker- well done Garmin!
on October 4, 2026
Posted by: Cirqa band
Cirqa band is great! Exactly what I was hoping for so that I could go back to wearing a traditional watch on certain occasions. If I had one wish it would be to add the tracker for walking up stairs( can’t remember that that is called.) love it and recommend.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin