Garmin vs. Fitbit: Two Fitness Bands With No Screens, Very Different Prices
Garmin and Fitbit each released a fitness band with no screen, but the two devices cost very different amounts and work in very different ways.
According to an Engadget comparison published August 11, 2026, the Fitbit Air costs $100 and the Garmin Cirqa costs $200. Garmin's pricing matches the $199 US / £179 UK figures from the Cirqa's July 21 launch via Tom's Guide. The Fitbit Air, marketed with the tagline "Lighter gets mightier" and offered in a Special Edition variant, costs about half as much as Garmin's band.
Both devices are screenless smart bands. That means they are small trackers you wear on your wrist that have no display — instead of showing information on your wrist like a watch, they collect data and send it to an app on your phone. They automatically detect activities like walking or running and monitor your health around the clock. Garmin announced the Cirqa Smart Band on July 21 through its official newsroom, describing it as a screen-free tracker with 24/7 health monitoring, stress tracking, and no subscription required for core features. Fitbit introduced the Air via its investor newsroom as a lightweight tracker with long battery life and detailed wellness insights.
Battery life favors Garmin on paper. The Cirqa reportedly lasts 10 days, while the Fitbit Air lasts seven. Both take about 90 minutes to charge fully. Fitbit has a quick-charge feature: five minutes plugged in gives you a full day of use. Garmin does not offer a similar fast-charge option.
The Fitbit Air is also smaller and lighter. It weighs 12 grams with a band and measures 17 x 34.9 x 8.3 mm. The Garmin Cirqa weighs 20.7 grams (21.2 grams with a larger band) and measures 27 x 47 x 9 mm. For a device you wear all day and night, including during sleep, the lighter weight could make a real difference in comfort.
The two bands handle workouts differently. The Garmin Cirqa has a single side button that you press to manually start a workout session. The Fitbit Air has no button for this — it relies entirely on automatic workout recognition, meaning it uses motion sensors to figure out when you are exercising and starts tracking on its own. Garmin's button gives you precise control over exactly when a workout starts and stops, which matters if you are following a training plan. Fitbit's approach is simpler: you just start moving and the band does the rest.
The health data they track is also different. Garmin's Cirqa measures several things: Training Status (whether your recent exercise is actually improving your fitness), Body Battery (an estimate of how much energy your body has), Training Readiness (how prepared you are for a hard workout), and Fitness Age. Fitbit's Air tracks two main things: a weekly Cardio Load and a Daily Readiness score based on your sleep and exercise. Garmin offers more measurements, aimed at people who follow structured training. Fitbit keeps it simpler, which may be easier for casual users to understand.
The subscription picture adds another layer. Garmin's Cirqa does not require a subscription for its core features. Garmin does offer an optional subscription called Connect+ at $7 per month, which adds extra features beyond the basics. Fitbit pairs the Air with Google Health Premium at $10 per month. That is $3 more per month than Garmin's optional plan. Over a year, the difference adds up to $36, which eats into the money you saved by buying the cheaper Fitbit hardware.
The broader context here is how the screenless band category has grown up. What was once a niche product pioneered by a company called Whoop — a screenless strap meant to be worn all day and night, originally aimed at serious athletes — has now attracted both Garmin, known for its training data, and Fitbit, backed by Google's resources. The two companies are aiming at different people: Garmin leans toward athletes who want manual control and detailed recovery data, while Fitbit targets a more general audience who wants something light, simple, and automatic.
For buyers thinking about the total cost over time, the math is simple. At $100 for the device plus $10 per month for Google Health Premium, a Fitbit Air user who subscribes reaches the same total cost as the $200 Garmin Cirqa after about ten months — assuming the Garmin user does not subscribe to Connect+. Over two years, the Fitbit Air with subscription costs $340, while the Cirqa costs $200 (or $368 if you add the optional Connect+ subscription). Whether the Fitbit saves you money depends entirely on whether you pay for the subscription. That makes Garmin's no-subscription-required approach more than just a marketing claim — it is a real difference in what you end up paying.
