A Garmin CIRQA Smart Band Pro has leaked from code found in Garmin Connect. The details document a new second button and a speaker. Garmin CEO Cliff Pemble hinted at wearables beyond the wrist on the Q2 2026 earnings call, and a family of CIRQA products is taking shape.
How is it different from the current CIRQA?
The Pro has two physical buttons: one to start and stop workouts. The other plays audio like workout stats, adjusts volume, and, when held down, calls for assistance. This is documented in the leak.
What new health features could it have?
The Pro version, released so soon after the original CIRQA, has to have a significant new feature to justify the name; likely, it would also be based on the Elevate Gen 5 sensor (the original uses Gen 4.1)
- Muscle fatigue tracking. Garmin registered the name Muscle Battery, a score for how depleted your muscles are, before it registered the CIRQA name. The Garmin app is already built to store that kind of reading. However, the sensor needs to sit directly on the working muscle, which means an athlete monitoring several muscle groups would need several sensors. On that basis, this site discounts it as the primary Pro differentiator.
- Emotional stress tracking. Garmin’s own registration documents in the US, Canada and the UK describe CIRQA measuring emotional stress separately from physical stress. The standard band launched without it. It works by reading sweat through the skin and can tell a hard session from a stressful day at work, which heart rate alone cannot.
Is there a hardware filing?
Garmin filed a new fitness device for regulatory approval in Indonesia on 10 September, the same day the Pro name appeared in the app. It could be an unrelated product, but it is a strange coincidence.
When could it launch?
The September filing points to a launch before Christmas. January is a popular alternative launch window.
Pro speculation
- Elevate Gen 5 with ECG is the most likely sensor upgrade. Garmin uses it in its more expensive watches, and its absence from the original CIRQA was a genuine surprise. ECG on its own isn’t a big deal for most athletes, but moving to Gen 5 brings accuracy improvements across all metrics and gives Garmin the option to enable ECG.
- Emotional stress tracking is the most interesting candidate. It was in the trademark filings, it was expected before launch, and the original shipped without it. A Pro band is the right test bed before rolling it out across the watch range. Buttons that let you hear your stress score without looking at your phone actually make some sense for this feature.
- Muscle fatigue (SmO2) would fit the Pro name but gets discounted here. An athlete monitoring multiple muscle groups would need several sensors, and two buttons on each one feels off. The hardware and timing case is strong, but the use case logic is awkward.
What could it cost?
The standard band is $199.99 / £179.99 / €199.99. The Pro would likely land at $249 to $299.
Quick answers
Is the Garmin CIRQA Smart Band Pro confirmed?
Garmin has not announced it. The name has appeared in the Garmin Connect app, along with clues pointing to two buttons and a speaker.
What would the Pro add?
A second button and spoken stats. It may also track muscle fatigue or emotional stress, which the current band lacks.
When might it launch?
No date is confirmed. A September regulatory filing in Indonesia points to before Christmas, with January as the alternative.
What would it cost?
No price is confirmed. The standard band is $199.99, so $249 to $299 is a reasonable estimate for a Pro with extra sensors.
Would the CIRQA Pro replace the standard band?
No. The standard band is already on sale and is not going anywhere. The Pro would sit above it as a more capable, higher-priced option.
Does the CIRQA Pro have ECG?
Not confirmed. The original CIRQA uses the older Elevate Gen 4.1 sensor and has no ECG. If the Pro upgrades to Elevate Gen 5, ECG becomes possible, though Garmin could still choose to disable it as it did on the Index Sleep Monitor.
Source and original research by: the5krunner, Gadgets & Wearables and Garmin News.
Last Updated on 11 October 2026 by tfk the5krunner
Small things I always use
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter: Charges your Garmin from any USB-C cable. Essential when travelling. I use one.
- Body Glide: The blue anti-chafe stick swimmers and runners carry. I use it.
- Speedo earplugs: Fewer ear infections and no cold-water dizziness. I use them.
- Dryrobe Advance: My winter changing robe for open-water swims. I use one. A cheaper option is the AONYIYI changing robe.
- Maurten: Race fuel that stays easy on the stomach. I use them.
- Beet It Sport nitrate shots: Beetroot shots I take in the days before a race. I use them.
- Garmin charging puck: The quickest way to top up before a session. I use one.
- Injinji: Toe socks that stop rubbing, so you run more. I use them.
- Ultimate toe protectors: Stop black toenails on long runs. They work. I use them.
- Compressport R2 v2 calf sleeves: My calf sleeves of choice. I use them.
- Cellucor C4: My pre-workout before hard sessions.
- TPU tubes: Schwalbe Aerothan, Tubolito and Pirelli SmarTube. Light, tiny spares. I use all three.
- G8 insoles: Adjustable insoles that are good. I use them.
- Cycplus Cube: A 97g electric pump that gets a road tyre rideable in two minutes. I carry one. 5% off with code THE5KRUNNER.
Watches and sensors
- Polar H10: My daily driver for waking HRV.
- Polar Verity Sense: My backup arm-worn HR sensor.
- Nomad bedside charger: Charges my iPhone and Apple Watch overnight. I use it, and many of their bands.
- Train.Red: The best muscle oxygen sensor I’ve used.
- Tymewear: Accurate heart rate and reliable ventilatory zones. I use it to pace endurance rides over an hour.
- Garmin Forerunner 970: A pro-grade triathlon watch. I use this.
- Apple Watch Ultra 4: My daily smartwatch. No phone needed on rides.
- Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: I’ve just bought one.
On the bike
- Continental GP5000 for everyday riding, and Aero 111 on the front for special occasions.
- Helmets: Specialized S-Works Evade 3 for road riding, and Rudy Project Wing for TT-style races. I use both.
- Ravemen FR300: A front light that mounts under your Garmin or Wahoo. I use one.
- Wahoo TRACKR Radar: I use it on one bike and Varia on the other. They perform the same.
- Garmin Varia RTL515: Radar that warns you of cars from behind. I use this model.
- Wahoo ELEMNT Roam 3: The bike computer that’s easy to use. I use mine on most rides.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2: Accurate power pedals that swap easily between bikes. I use this model.
Home and indoor training
- NPE Runn: Makes my basic treadmill smart, sending more accurate speed and distance to my watch and Zwift. I use it.
- Google Wifi: Keeps Zwift connected in my pain cave. I use it.
- Apple TV 4K: Zwift on the big screen. I use two.
- Google Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen): My video doorbell, running in both Google Home and Apple Home. I use it.
Health, recovery and sleep
- FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus: Shows how my blood sugar responds to diet.
- hDrop: Measures my sweat loss in summer and indoors.
- Fourth Frontier Zone: Checks my heart under load in hard sessions.
- Oura Ring 5: My partner’s recovery tracker of choice.
- Eight Sleep: A cooling mattress cover my partner and I use nightly.
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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. See the gear tfk uses. ID
Emotional stress tracking will need extra data. Elevate 5 has improved heart rate sensor but does not have the ability to measure conductivity at the wrist like Google can do.
I’m hoping adding this functionality means an elevate six sensor will come out with this which also means future Garmin high-end devices will probably also have this feature. I also feel like Garmin hasn’t improved its metrics much since the Fenix 7 and will need to improve on what they can do to better compete against Apple
yeah, there’s not too much more it can realistically do at the raw sensor level, at least with ohr.
can’t see anything coming before eda/smo2
eda would probably be on elevate 6 or (guessing) and extra element next to elevate 5 somehow. idk about what it would need for conductivity
optical heart rate on its own can give blood pressure trends but guessing if garmin isn’t already doing it the sensor isn’t giving out the needed data (HR is just the time between peaks of blood seen in the image caught by the sensor, blood pressure requires keeping track of the height of those peaks) If gamrin updates the sensor to give that data adding on electrodes for eda seems a no brainer to do at the same time. While small tweaks can be done to improve ohr, I don’t see that improving much past elevate 6 (need a faster refresh rate for HRV while no at rest but that jump in refresh rate isn’t likely to happen mostly from power use limits.
smo2 won’t be measured at the wrist cause there isn’t anything there to measure.
The low hanging fruit of easy to collect and analyze data is mostly all gone so effort has to go to more obscure areas
The fitbit air getting insulin resistance and blood pressure trends as I see reports of today should pressure Garmin to respond
i was just looking at that. again it’s trend info tho: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/google-health/pixel-watch-health-guardian/
do you think garmin can keep up with the leaders on health metrics?
Short term, yes. Long term? Apple and google have way more money to throw at it. At some point the overhead of wear os will be small enough that data sport watches can use it as a base allowing for more watches with less effort (no need to make the core OS or the base hardware, just the sensors and even those may become third party to use on any of the devices)
Long term those who have the data can use ai to get better metrics and so garmin is limited the most from having a smaller user base
(long term meaning 5+ years, the fenix 10/11 will still be better in the same way fenix 9 is better now)
yes future fenixes will be better, but will the EU have forced apple to suffiiciently open up smart features for it to be a good enough smart watch? probably not
yes future appel watches will be better, but will they be good enough for 80% of people who currently buy fenix but don’t really need the advanced sport/adventure features?
I don’t see Apple making the smart watch experience worse then it is already.
Apple won’t directly aim for the features Garmin watches aim their feature set at. That isn’t Apple’s focus, but they will slowly get there. Garmin has lots of advanced sport features, most people don’t want all of them but do want a subset and currently can’t get that subset with Apple. The feature set Apple targets is way larger then just advanced sport that Garmin targets so they will grow the advanced sport feature set very slowly as that isn’t their focus but will get there at some point
would be interesting if apple ever introduce ‘data fields’ where one app could insert its data into another app such as the workout app.
I believe Garmin claimed that gen 5 sensor is physically too large for Cirqa. And it’s already relatively big. Given that they went back and modified gen 4, it is believable. They must have faced a serious-enough obstacle to warrant it. After all, the Index Sleep is gen 5. It’s unlikely due to sensor cost.
The only other obstacle I can think of right now is energy demand. Cirqa as it is struggles with 24/7 tracking. And that’s something the Pro version could bring (high fidelity all the time, like competition). It would certainly be a significant differentiator.
Which probably means it will have a new sensor. With a smaller footprint. And perhaps optimized for 24/7 recording. But given that Fenix 9 just launched with an old sensor, I don’t expect Cirqa Pro in a hurry. Early next year at the earliest I would say.
it could be cost.
but it could also be intentional differentiation. The PRO having E5 just like the high end watches have E5 and lesser ones have E4.
Could be. But development of a dedicated sensor isn’t cheap either. Unless they plan on using this variant in future cheap watches, it’s not necessarily cheaper (it depends on how big a success Cirqa will be). And Index Sleep is a cheaper device with E5. If cost was the factor, it would have made more sense to use straight E4. That’s why I’m willing to believe that E5, which was designed for a watch, might be too big for a wrist band. And the Index Sleep is about as wide as small Garmin watches, it’s not narrow.
We will have to wait and see.
So, if it has a new sensor and it’s significant capability upgrade, I expect the launch to be later rather than sooner. Because of Fenix. And Cirqa itself (why modify E4? if they waited this long, a few more months wouldn’t have made a difference.). If it launches soon, I expect it to be more of a gimmick and I don’t expect a new sensor. I don’t expect E5 unless it has just been re-packaged and the point is something like ECG.
The CIRQA is HORRIFIC looking to the point a certain ‘buy’ turned into a certain ‘won’t buy’. It seemed ideal where I like to wear a mechanical watch on in place of my Fenix 8. I have the Vivosmart 5 but never wear it because it looks tacky and especially compared to the Whoop, which aesthetically looks very premium. Where I currently live, the CIRQA has been delayed. That turned out to be very fortunate.
A friend came to visit and he has the CIRQA.
It is large and goofy looking. The black band is dark greyn – not black – meaning it stands out even more on the wrist. The plastic module looks cheap and low class. Any strap that doesn’t cover the plastic module will make it look like you are wearing an tracking tag from your local law enforcement.
I suspect the CIRQA Pro will be the same size or larger with more sensors and buttons. I don’t see the purpose of it for that reason: you may as well buy a Garmin watch = Venu X1.
What is nuts is the Venu X1 is physically SMALLER than the CIRQA. 41 wide x 46 mm long x 7.9 mm thick vs the CIRQA monstrosity at 27 mm wide x 47 mm long x 9 mm thick.
It is a joke! I am surprised more reviewers didn’t point this out that a FULL smartwatch from Garmin is 1mm shorter and 1mm thinner than their wrist band, where the whole point is that it’s supposed to be discreet and significantly smaller than a watch.
Maybe they will make it smaller with CIRQA 2, but I doubt it. I think they have made it that size on purpose to force those with the budget to just buy their recreational smartwatches instead.
your wish was my command a few weeks ago: https://the5krunner.com/2026/07/24/garmin-cirqa-too-big/
Current problem is that it sometimes loses complete workouts. I’ve stopped using mine until that’s fixed. It’ll be fine as a sports sensor for the biceps