CIRQA: Garmin explains older sensor, use in addition to smartwatch, and more

Garmin CIRQA has been available since Friday. Anyone ordering the smart band today from Amazon will have to wait until August 23rd to October 3rd for the delivery, the first production batch is apparently sold out. Meanwhile, Garmin designer Collin Murray has posted a few photos of prototypes on LinkedIn and noted that Garmin tested countless variations of the pod, the wristband, and the quick-release wristband system before finalizing the design.

Garmin product manager Chrissy Wheeler spoke with Forbes about some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the fitness wristband without a display. First and foremost is the question of why, similar to the Polar Loop, an older sensor is being used – namely, the Elevate 4 instead of the current Elevate 5. According to Wheeler, the older sensor is more compact, the Elevate 5 would have required a larger case, which would have compromised comfort. Wearing both a Garmin smartwatch and the CIRQA offers no advantages, according to Chrissy Wheeler, since only the data from one device is taken into account during activities.

The vibration motor isn’t just used for the alarm function, the Garmin CIRQA also vibrates once an hour if a manually started workout hasn’t been completed yet. Interestingly, unlike some competitors, Garmin CIRQA also accesses the smartphone’s GPS module to track distance traveled even during automatically detected workouts. The product manager emphasizes that Garmin requires paid subscriptions only for premium features, but access to data will always remain free.