Robert Triggs/Android Authority
TL;DR
- Garmin’s rumored Circa fitness band has leaked again via a retailer listing, giving us our clearest look yet at the company’s screenless Whoop-style wearable.
- The listing shows a minimalist black fabric band with a compact Garmin-branded sensor module.
- The biggest surprise is its price, with the leaked listing pointing to a retail cost of around $509.
The latest listing revealed the upcoming Garmin Circa, a screenless fitness band designed for round-the-clock health and recovery tracking. The wearable was first revealed earlier this year when Garmin accidentally published product pages on its Canadian website, but this latest leak gives us our best look yet at the device and its potential price.
The listing shows a simple black cloth band with a small sensor module with Garmin branding on it (via). notebookcheck). If the image is genuine, Garmin is taking the same low-profile path as rivals like Whoop and Fitbit, opting for passive health tracking on screens and notifications.
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This is no surprise, given how screenless wearables have suddenly become ubiquitous. Devices like the Whoop Strap, the Amazfit Helio Strap, and Polar’s recovery-focused bands are supporting the notion that fitness tracking is more effective when it recedes into the background rather than constantly buzzing on your wrist. Garmin is also moving in that direction with its sleep-focused wearables.
The reported price is astonishing. The retailer listing estimates that the Garmin Circa could be priced at 22,399 Ukrainian hryvnia, or about $509, with a discounted pre-order price of about $454. This would make it much more expensive than most screenless fitness bands available in the market today.
For some context, Fitbit’s Air Tracker and Amazfit Helio Strap are closer to the $100 range, while Polar’s options are much lower than Garmin’s leaked price.
This may raise the question of whether Garmin would want to include key features of the smart band behind a subscription. The company has traditionally avoided keeping key features behind a monthly fee. But that changed a bit when the company announced its paid premium service, Garmin Connect+. With Circa being built from the ground up for recovery tracking and long-term analytics, many users are now wondering if some features might end up behind a paywall at some point.
The retailer listing lists the basics like heart rate monitoring, calorie tracking, and support for activities like running and cycling, though details seem sketchy. Given Garmin’s track record in fitness wearables, there’s almost certainly more going on under the hood than currently listed.
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