Five Useful Tips Every Garmin Cirqa User Should Know
For Garmin fans who want 24/7 access to data but don’t want to wear their bulky sports watches 24/7, the Garmin Cirqa ( $199 ) is an exciting new alternative to the Whoop , Fitbit Air , and other screenless smartbands. It’s the company’s first screenless smartband, designed for 24/7 fitness and health tracking without a subscription.
Since Cirqa doesn’t have a screen, you can only use the features Garmin’s automatic recognition system detects by default. But when it comes to getting the most out of Cirqa from the moment you unbox it, there are a few helpful tips worth knowing. Here are five of my favorites—some official, and some discovered by reviewers and the community in the first weeks after the device’s launch.
Use Cirqa as a standalone heart rate monitor to connect to other equipment.
This is one of the most underrated features on paper. In Garmin Connect, go to Garmin Devices > Health & Wellness > Broadcast Heart Rate and enable Device Control. Once enabled, you can hold the side button on the Cirqa for three seconds until the LED flashes yellow, and the device will begin broadcasting your heart rate without having to touch the app again.
Cirqa can transmit data via ANT+ to a virtually unlimited number of receiving devices simultaneously, as well as via Bluetooth Smart to three separate connections. This means you can stream your heart rate data in real time to a cycling computer, a treadmill display at the gym, and an app like Zwift all at once. For those who already own a Cirqa and were considering purchasing a separate chest strap for their gym equipment or smart bike, this alone can save you money on an additional purchase.
You can turn Cirqa into a wristwatch with a vibrating alarm.
The Cirqa doesn’t have a display, so there’s no obvious way to “check the time.” But if you like the feel of a ticking analog reminder, you can get close. In the Garmin Connect app, go to your device, then to the “Notifications & Alerts” section, and look at the activity and motion-related alert settings. Enabling the motion alert (Garmin’s inactivity reminder) will give you a gentle vibration alert once an hour during active hours, acting as an unofficial hourly chime (though technically, it’s triggered by prolonged sitting, not by the watch itself). It won’t be perfectly accurate to the top of the hour every time, but in everyday use, it’s pretty close, especially if you consciously avoid looking at your phone throughout the day.
Set Cirqa alarms to nudge you toward better habits, not just wake you up.
The same “Notifications & Alerts” menu is where the real health tracking happens. You can enable alerts for stress spikes, sleep quality assessment readiness, goal achievement, and overall activity, effectively turning Cirqa into a mini-coach for water breaks, stretching, or meditation moments—it all depends on how you choose to interpret these signals.
To wake up automatically, go to “Alarms” > “Add Alarm” in the app, set a time, and enable “Smart Alarm” if you want it to try to wake you during a lighter sleep stage 30 minutes before the set time, or “Silent Start” if you prefer it to wake you gradually rather than at full power. One thing to know: based on my tests (and I’m not alone in this ), “Smart Alarm” has a reputation for being less “intelligent” than it claims. While I’ve never personally experienced it going off outside the scheduled time window, for me, this “Smart” alarm always worked like a regular alarm, regardless of the sleep stage I was in.
Check the battery level without touching your phone.
Since there’s no screen, most people assume the only way to check the battery is to open Garmin Connect. In fact, there’s a faster way within the device itself, if configured correctly.
In the Garmin Connect app, go to the device settings, open “Power Manager,” and enable “Battery Health.” Once enabled, double-tapping the sensor’s physical module will trigger a confirmation beep, followed by a flashing LED color indicating the remaining charge:
-
Green color means fully charged.
-
Flashing green = Charging
-
Orange color means low battery.
-
Red color indicates critically low battery.
Combined with shortcuts for selecting your favorite activity and the “Hold to Broadcast” button, this reinforces the feeling that Cirqa’s single button and LED backlight make this smartband stand out from the crowd.
When it comes to activity tracking, remember that the side button is used for manual control in cases where automatic detection fails— which is still quite common . And since Cirqa doesn’t have a built-in GPS chip, all data on distance, pace, and route during exercise comes from your paired phone with the Garmin Connect app running. So keep your phone nearby if you want a true map of your run or ride, not just heart rate and duration data.
Forget the official $59.99 Cirqa armband and try this inexpensive DIY solution.
Garmin sells a forearm strap separately for $59.99 , so if you prefer tracking your heart rate using your biceps rather than your wrist, it’s an option worth considering—especially if you participate in sports where a wrist strap would be in the way. Additionally, placing the strap on your forearm can improve overall heart rate accuracy, as the sensor has better contact with a larger part of the body, reducing noise from wrist movements.
If you need a forearm mount but don’t want to pay for an official Garmin strap, you might feel like you’re out of options. The Cirqa uses narrow, non-standard 14mm diameter spring pins, so it probably won’t easily attach to the standard 20mm straps you find in stores.
Several users have shared a similar hack, and I think this video by @ChaseTheSummit explains it best. The solution is to buy a small metal 14mm to 20mm adapter (originally designed for Casio G-Shock watches), which you can get for $14.99 on Amazon . This adapter connects the small Cirqa sensor to a much wider range of inexpensive, flexible 20mm bicep straps . It won’t match the size or quality of the Garmin accessory, but it’s a smart way to save money.
If you do decide to try this DIY installation method, be sure not to simply rip the stock fabric tape off the case: first, use a small pin pusher tool to push the internal spring pins inward, then remove it. Trying to force it off without releasing the pins is a surefire way to damage the case.