Did Garmin Just Kill Whoop with the new Cirqa?

Garmin is releasing their first screen-free smart fitness tracker to compliment their already robust roster of GPS watches and fitness wearable. And Whoop just might be left staring up at the night sky while Garmin shovels dirt into their grave.

Garmin already has a very large 14.6% market share for wearable devices in the U.S., and an 8.4% global market share in the premium high-end smartwatch category. Revenues in 2026 are projected to grow from $7.5 billion in 2025 to $7.9 billion in 2026. In short, they have a very large and diverse customer base. 

Checkout our rundown of the best Garmin watches by need.

Compare that to Whoop’s 39% market share in the non-display fitness tracker category, and it really looks like Whoop is the real giant. Even if you combine Amazfit’s 19% and Polar’s 15%, Whoop still sits comfortably ahead. But the non-display category is considerably smaller, and while that large slice of piece amounts to a $10.1 billion valuation, their $1.1 billion annual revenues shows the smaller scale in comparison to Garmin,

Garmin Cirqa Overview

Let’s take a quick look at what the Garmin CIRQA will be offering up, and why this should be sounding the alarm bells at Whoop HQ.

Garmin CIRQA Specs

• Weight: 20.7 – 21.2 grams, depending on band size
• 4 ComfortFit band color options
• Available in SM-MD or L-XL 
• Lithium ion battery with up to 10 days battery life
• Subscription-free access to over 20 health, fitness, and wellness metrics
• Automatic activity detection
• Available for $199

Will Garmin users want to ditch their watches, or wear both?

Now this is where Whoop can run into some trouble. I know a few people who wear both a GPS watch on one arm and a Whoop strap on the other, with most of those being Garmin users. According to our gear tester Leslie, the Whoop has a better read on HRV + HR than Garmin and us two-band folks prefer to sleep with the Whoop.

From what I’ve learned, the features Whoop offers are seen as superior to what Garmin offers.

Metrics such as ECG tracking and blood pressure monitoring, as well as strain and recovery metrics that are more advanced than Garmin are what keeps them paying the subscription fees. For example, Leslie says “The ECG doesn’t work if you RHR is too low. I keep my Whoop for the HRV + Recovery scores + detailed journaling behaviors.”

With Garmin releasing their own version of a Whoop strap, they can potentially steal users from Whoop. 

Garmin Cirqua No Subscription Fee

The biggest draw for potential former Whoop users should be the lack of a subscription fee. In a world where rapidly rising prices are raising the cost of living, many people are cutting out unnecessary luxuries. 

And Garmin and Whoop do not coexist, so to speak.

Garmin users can’t move data from their Garmin account into their Whoop account, and vice versa. You can upload GPS data from an outdoor workout into your Whoop account, but it can only come from Apple Health, which adds a few extra steps. 

With the release of the CIRQA, Garmin has positioned themselves to move in on the more niche non-display fitness tracker market. For the one-time purchase price of $199, Garmin users can now get access to advanced fitness and wellness metrics that were not previously available, but were available to Whoop users at annual subscription costs of $199 to $359, depending on the amount of features.

It’s quite possible that this is the beginning of Garmin’s takeover of Whoop’s dominance in their sector of the market. It’s also possible it’s a massive flop. The Whoop band is considered the pioneer in the screen-free, distraction-free wearable category, but without a significant tweak to their business model they could potentially be watching from outside the kitchen as Garmin raids its fridge.

And again is all of this tied back to Garmin’s recent purchase of Training Peaks as well??

Are you a Whoop User? What would get you to switch and if you aren’t is this appealing as a Garmin user??

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