Garmin CIRQA locks surprisingly basic features behind subscription paywall

Garmin CIRQA was officially unveiled on Tuesday. The fitness and health wristband, which has no display, can be ordered directly from Garmin starting Friday, July 24, for $199. The product page prominently advertises that no subscription is required to use it, although features such as Garmin’s nutrition tracking, guided meditations, and guided workouts are only available to Garmin Connect+ subscribers.

However, anyone who refuses to pay $6.99 per month will also lack access to a feature that is quite essential. As shown in the hands-on video from DC Rainmaker embedded below, there’s no way to view your current heart rate during a workout if you haven’t subscribed, and heart rate zones aren’t visible during training either. Competing products, such as the Polar Loop ($199 on Amazon) or the significantly cheaper Amazfit Helio Strap, display this information even without a subscription.

Instead, Garmin CIRQA users can only see their average heart rate since the start of the workout, which isn’t particularly helpful for interval training, for example. Since the Garmin CIRQA lacks a display, there’s also no way to view your current heart rate directly on the device. It’s questionable whether a wristband with a heart rate sensor can truly be considered "completely subscription-free" if the heart rate can only be displayed with a subscription. Structured workouts also cannot be performed with the Garmin CIRQA without a subscription, even though this is possible on a Garmin smartwatch’s display without a monthly fee.