Garmin twin launch? Cirqa and Vivosmart 6: yet another leak
More leaks about the Vivosmart 6 emerged today, reported by Garmin Rumours and elsewhere. The coincident timing of Fitbit Air – the company’s screenless band launch and the steady drip of Cirqa rumours raises a question. Is Garmin prepping a twin launch? Garmin released the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 together a few days ago, so the dual-launch pattern is far from a one-off. On the surface, Cirqa and Vivosmart 6 look like cousins, both wrist-worn, band-format wearables targeting the passive health-data audience that has grown around activity and recovery trackers, including Whoop, Oura, and the Helio Strap. Underneath, the hardware likely diverges.
Cirqa is expected to carry Garmin’s Elevate V5 optical sensor in a premium, screenless package, with a leaked retailer listing pricing it at nearly $470, according to Gadgets & Wearables. The Vivosmart 6 is expected to retain Elevate V4, add built-in single-frequency GPS to a modest display, and sit in the $150 to $180 bracket. That creates an awkward gap. The Vivosmart 6 will sit close in form factor to the $99 Fitbit Air launching on 26 May, at a higher price, with a modest display, and with an older optical sensor. Its value proposition will be difficult from day one.
Fitbit Air ships on 26 May at $99
Google’s Fitbit Air ships in under two weeks at $99. It is screenless, weighs 12 grams with the band, and is pitched at the recovery and daily-monitoring market that Cirqa is rumoured to target (although in reality it targets existing Fitbit owners). For Cirqa, this is competitive pressure and little more. The price gap is wide enough that the two products will rarely meet on the same shop floor. For the Vivosmart 6, the picture is hard to see. Same form-factor bracket. Higher price. Older sensor generation. Any premium will rest on GPS, the on-device display, and Garmin’s sportier ecosystem. The brand premium will defend some further ground. The value comparison will be the first thing I reach for when I get my hands on one.
What we actually know
Separating Garmin’s verifiable actions from industry optimism, including this site’s, leaves a short list. Today’s report adds detail rather than direction. The Vivosmart 6 has been visible in Korea’s regulatory database since November, with Garmin Indonesia’s metadata leaking the device in December and a Swedish placeholder page surfacing shortly after. Garmin filed a USPTO trademark for CIRQA on 25 February 2026, with goods and services language covering stress recovery, alertness and performance. Management used the phrase “new categories” on the Q1 2026 earnings call and cited Fitness as the fastest-growing segment, up 42 per cent year on year. DCRainmaker’s test photos show a third unidentified band alongside Whoop and Amazfit Helio, which appears not to be the Fitbit Air. Prior release cadence is no help either: the Vivosmart 5 launched in April 2022, putting a 2026 successor already past Garmin’s usual three-year refresh window. The product is happening. “When?” is the only open question.
An earlier set of signals pointed to a March launch that never materialised. In mid-March, Ray Maker indicated that significant Garmin news was imminent, and a Garmin contact separately confirmed a significant drop was imminent, both pointing at the week of 24 March. That window passed without a Cirqa announcement. The product was clearly close, but the launch was held back, which is part of why a May to June window now looks the more reliable read.
The Whoop renewal cliff favours Cirqa.
Whoop 5.0 and MG launched in May 2025. Subscribers who committed to twelve months at launch are being asked to renew now. Renewal moments are the single highest-intent window for switching, particularly when the alternative carries a one-off hardware cost and no recurring fee. Until recently, every industry watcher, this site included, had mostly overlooked that timing event. The marketing team at Fitbit clearly had not. It is safe to assume Garmin has been equally prescient with a whole year to plan and prepare.
That window favours Cirqa specifically. Vivosmart 6 serves a different audience. Its buyers are entry-level fitness customers choosing between a $99 Fitbit Air, a $50 Xiaomi band and a more expensive Garmin tracker. The Whoop pressure points at Cirqa alone.
That said, Garmin’s instinct is to present options. Putting Cirqa and Vivosmart 6 in front of buyers in the same launch window gives potential Whoop and Fitbit Air customers two routes into the Garmin ecosystem. It gives existing Garmin owners a complementary device path for a second wearable.
For the full picture on what CIRQA is expected to do, its likely price, and how it sits against Whoop and Fitbit Air, see Garmin CIRQA: Everything We Know.
Twin launch or sequential rollout
The case against is structural. Garmin’s recent pattern has been to release accessory hardware outside its main launch windows, specifically to avoid cannibalising coverage. The Index Sleep Monitor in June and the HRM 600 in May both followed that pattern. To an informed observer looking at the details, Cirqa and Vivosmart 6 are more different than they are similar. Bundling them dilutes the Cirqa narrative, which is the rarer and more newsworthy of the two. No leak so far has tied the products together.
The case for it is largely commercial, and it is the stronger argument. A single news window lets Garmin own the band-category conversation, defend against Fitbit Air, attack Whoop, and present a complete band lineup to retailers alongside the Index Sleep Monitor. Garmin has signalled a busy launch calendar for the rest of 2026, with only so many weeks to fit it in. Cirqa will be the larger of these two launches; Vivosmart 6 is the smaller story. Allocating Vivosmart 6 its own full launch slot, with the accompanying Fitness division marketing effort, is expensive in time and attention. Management’s “new categories” language on the Q1 earnings call fits a moment-of-strategy framing rather than a routine SKU refresh. Garmin has just demonstrated the dual-launch pattern with the Forerunner 70 and 170.
Call it 50:50, leaning marginally to a twin launch on commercial grounds. The window from now until the middle of the summer is the one to watch.
FAQ
When will the Garmin Cirqa launch?
The most likely launch window is May or June 2026. Trademark, regulatory and field-testing milestones are all complete.
Is the Garmin Vivosmart 6 a better value than the Fitbit Air?
Not on hardware-to-price terms. A Vivosmart 6 is expected to cost $150 to $180, compared with the Fitbit Air at $99, which uses an older Elevate 4 sensor generation. Its defensible advantages are built-in GPS, an on-device display, and access to the Garmin Connect ecosystem without a subscription. Buyers already inside the Garmin ecosystem will weigh those differently than first-time band buyers.
Last Updated on 1 June 2026 by the5krunner
My favourite kit and nutrition
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- Garmin charging puck — the fastest and most reliable way to top up your Garmin before a session.
- Ravemen FR300 — front light that mounts directly under your Garmin or Wahoo head unit. Keeps your bars clean and your beam pointed where it matters.
- Garmin Varia RTL515 — radar rear light that alerts you to vehicles approaching from behind. Pairs with your Edge or Garmin watch.
- Stryd — the footpod that brings running power to your Garmin. The single most useful running upgrade I have made.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
If it is a 470$ product it is a hard pass for me. No way. Even 300+ is asking too much but what is the point of 470 bucks? I hope they dont go that way or Fitbit Air is the way to go.
I reckon $300 will be too low: https://the5krunner.com/2026/05/14/garmin-cirqa-leaked-price/
Wow $470 is absolutely ridonkulous. As Yusuf said, hard pass.
This will be an especially bad look given the Fitbit Air at just $99.
At prices above $199 the Cirqa will be DOA. Not even users switching from Whoop, that might look favourably for a one time payment compared with a subscription, can save it at that price.
Unless there’s something really unique about the Cirqa (eg. Glucose, lactate sensor, etc), or it has an amazing new App that makes you coffee just the way you like it, it will not sell well above that price. If it really is $400+ then I don’t even know what to say. But considering the launch price of the sleep index, then maybe it really is true.
The delay is probably Garmin trying to salvage what they now realise was a strategic mistake. The next weeks will let us know.
start from the $250 price of the entry level FR70. Garmin has now factored in recent inflationary component cost rises. future products will have the same
garmin is not a low end commodity seller.
CIRQA will be relatively unique. $400++ depending on subs
you rightly identify the fly in the ointment of it being able to sense something else. it could have elevate 6 (possible but i dont think so), it could have the leaked SmO2 sensor (I very much doubt it).
delay: Nope, it;s them waiting to grab some Whoop people jsut as their subscriptions come to an end => https://the5krunner.com/2026/05/14/garmin-cirqa-leaked-price/
As usual, Garmin keeps on going downhill. They just released FR 70 and 170 with awful specs for 2026, and its mid-2026. You can get Huawei, Amazfit and even Apple products with better specs for 50% of the price. And not to mention the sensors, and Fenix 8 with 1000 nits, just nuts!
I hope Garmin crashes, they were setting the standard, but now, they are just making mistakes.
Garmin wont crash for a few more years yet: https://the5krunner.com/2026/05/05/garmin-empire-crumble-when/
yeah i initially think fr170/70 are not cheap but have cheap components. But on the flip side they have garmin’s ecosystem capability which is great. just if they could imrpove the ui and softwre realiability could they ge away with the pricing they are going for these days – at least that’s what i think
If they are able to cram a GPS and altimeter in the CIRQA, 400+ might be justified…or an altimeter and an E6 sensor. Otherwise, especially after the Sleep Monitor debacle, it will be a hard sell at that price point. But knowing Garmin, you might want to skip the 1st Gen CIRQA anyway and wait for the Gen2 device.