A February trademark filing discovered by Gadgets & Wearables suggests Garmin is developing a fitness band called Cirqa that could compete directly with Whoop‘s screen-free health tracker. A store page for the device also appeared briefly on Garmin’s website in January before being pulled.
The trademark application describes a device that measures “the body’s physical parameters and other physiological data, bio-signals, and bodily behavior.” Broad language, and it could describe any Garmin wearable. But the filing also specifies tracking for recovery from physical and emotional stress, alertness levels, and performance. Those are Whoop metrics, not standard fitness watch stats.
A leaked store page and quick deletion
Android Authority reported that Garmin had the Cirqa store page live in January. It was documented before Garmin removed it without comment. A trademark filing the following month adds a second signal. This looks like active product development, not a defensive trademark grab.
Whoop has owned the screen-free fitness tracker space for years. Its band collects biometric data around the clock through a minimal wrist-worn device, then pushes everything to a smartphone app. No display, no notifications, no watch face. Whoop raised $575 million in its most recent funding round, which is the kind of number that makes competitors pay attention.
Fitbit is also chasing Whoop
Garmin isn’t alone. Fitbit teased a Whoop-style band in late March with Steph Curry in the promotional material. Parent company Google has been working on AI-powered health coaching through the Fitbit platform for workout analysis and nutrition tracking. A screen-free band fits that direction, since the data ends up on the phone anyway.
Garmin’s hardware side is straightforward. The company already packs GPS receivers, optical heart rate sensors, pulse oximeters, and accelerometers into its Forerunner running watches and Edge cycling computers. Shrinking those sensors into a screenless band would use components Garmin already builds. Battery life improves without a display to power, one of Whoop’s selling points with its multi-day charge. The harder part is software. Whoop’s recovery scoring, strain tracking, and readiness metrics are what keep subscribers paying monthly, and replicating that system is a different kind of engineering than putting sensors in a wristband.
Neither Garmin nor Google has announced launch dates. The Cirqa trademark and deleted store page show Garmin’s interest, but neither guarantees a finished product.