This week Google debuted its Pixel 11 tech, and Honor wowed us with a Robot Phone. Though we doubt it's the next iPhone revolution, we did also celebrate the birthday of a phone that did spark one back in the 90s — the Nokia 9000 Communicator, which just turned 30 years old.

But that's enough nostalgia for now — to catch up on all of the freshest gadget news, scroll down for the seven biggest tech news stories from the past week, plus links to the wider picture if you're desperate to learn more.

And before that test your memory against last week's biggest tech news stories with our quiz.

7. We reviewed Garmin’s 5-Star smartwatch

We spent months with the latest Garmin Fenix Pro 8 smartwatch — it survived heatwaves, blizzards and 4,000m altitudes — and our reviewer decided to declare it “the pinnacle of multisport smartwatch performance.”

Why? Well, it boasts the full suite of Garmin functionality from sleep tracking to a bewildering array of activity tracking options, as well as the ability to follow stats like altitude and atmospheric pressure. Plus, it can operate as a full-on dive watch, and boasts satellite messaging for the extreme wilderness wanderers amongst us.

The only downside is that it costs significantly more than the AMOLED version and has a shorter battery life (it’s still four days, though, and turning the always-on display off will see it jump to over 10), but these don’t stop it from being the champion of the sports tracking world right now.

• Read our full Garmin Fenix Pro 8 microLED review

6. Spotify labelled AI music

Earlier this week, Spotify announced its new AI Persona tags, a new feature designed to differentiate human artists from those that are AI-generated. The tags are tipped to roll out in mid-September.

Once AI Persona becomes available, it will give users some peace of mind knowing that they’re listening to music that hasn't been generated by AI. Spotify added that artists with AI Persona tags will be excluded from all personalized recommendations by default — which is an added bonus.

Artists can disclose to Spotify if they are AI musicians, but Spotify will conduct reviews of profiles where it thinks an artist’s images have been created using generative AI to imitate a lifelike persona. The only caveat is that Spotify uses an artist’s image to determine if they’re an AI Persona, and not the music itself.

• Read more: Spotify is introducing AI Persona tags to differentiate real artists from fake ones

5. We spent two hours with Honor’s Robot Phone

Look. We love to call out marketing department hyperbole as much as the next tech news outlet, but while we must disagree with Honor’s attempt to position its new device as the evolutionary successor to the iPhone — the best-selling phone of all time — it is fair to say the Robot Phone is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

TechRadar’s Axel Metz was among the first tech journalists to touch and test the new phone, and the device’s unfolding gimbal is genuinely impressive as a content capture tool — effectively combining the DJI Osmo Pocket with Honor’s flagship Magic 8 Pro.

It also allows the phone’s assistant, YOYO, to express itself in a physical way. This is the definition of gimmicky, though controlling the gimbal with hands-free controls can be genuinely useful.

• Read more: I spent two hours with the Honor Robot Phone, and this ridiculous, remarkable device made me feel like a kid again

4. We photographed the solar eclipse

The peak of the Perseid meteor shower, with perfect viewing conditions and a rare six-planet alignment, was a celestial treat on August 12, but it was the total solar eclipse hours before that captured the world's attention. In select parts of Europe, northern Spain and in Iceland, totality lasted around 2 minutes while a partial eclipse could be seen as far afield as northern North America. Viewers lucky enough to get solar glasses could enjoy the phases around totality, while others came outside with their DIY pinhole cameras and colanders. Predictably, we've been treated to spectacular images in the aftermath of this once-in-a-generation show.

• Read more: 9 of the best photos from Europe's 2026 solar eclipse

3. Google gave us its answer to Apple’s AirTags

Apple’s AirTags launched over five years ago, and we now finally have a Google-made equivalent for Android fans. The Pixel Tag is a little tracker that weighs only 12g and helps you follow the location of your keys, luggage, or devices via a web browser or Android app.

Unfortunately, it won’t actually be launching until November, but when it does, you’ll be able to buy one for $29 / £29 / AU$49 for a single Tag or $99 / £99 / AU$169 for a four-pack. That’s pretty competitive considering the Pixel Tag is water-resistant and has ultra-wideband (UWB) support for more precise location tracking.

However, as you can read below, the Find Hub network still has weaknesses compared to its Apple Find My equivalent, which we hope Google addresses by the time its Tag launches in a few months.

• Read the full story: The Pixel Tag is here — but it won't be an AirTag for Android until Google fixes these Find Hub issues

2. Google’s Pixel Watch 5 debuted

Along with Google's cornucopia of new phones, the Google Pixel Watch 5 was also released in two sizes and with the same teardrop design as previous years. However, we've got a bunch of new features and improvements at play, with more accurate GPS, the redesigned Google Health app with its AI coach, better on-device Gemini, and a suite of Health Guardian features. These include Breathing Emergency Detection, which alerts emergency services and contacts if you have a consistent blood oxygen drop, and Insulin Resistance Trends, which helps users control their blood sugar levels. Apple and Samsung haven't quite cracked this technology yet, and we can't wait to test them for ourselves — although hopefully we don't have any breathing emergencies during our review.

• Read more: Sorry, Apple and Samsung — I test smartwatches for a living, and the Google Pixel Watch 5 specs beat the Series 11 and Galaxy Watch 9 in these five key areas

1. Google debuted its Pixel 11 lineup

Of course, the stars of Wednesday's Made by Google 2026 event were the debut of new Pixel 11 phones.

They boast the usual slew of updates you should expect from flagship refreshes by now, but also a brand new ‘HiLight’. This is an array of LED lights built into the camera’s flash module, which can alert you to calls from favorite contacts via customized color glows when your phone is face down and silenced. And these lights will also pulse when Gemini is listening, thinking, or responding.

Not everything is an improvement, disappointingly. You'll only get 12GB of RAM as standard rather than 16GB, perhaps a reflection of the surging computer memory costs.

• Read more: I’ve used the new Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, and Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Google's made nearly all the improvements I wanted to see

• Garmin has apparently filed documentation for a smart ring
• It seems to be carrying over the Cirqa branding from the fitness tracker
• The device could potentially launch in the coming months

It seems Garmin is on a tear when it comes to expanding its range of fitness wearables: having challenged Whoop with the launch of the screenless Cirqa band in July, it's now apparently mulling over taking on the likes of Oura with its very own smart ring.

As per an Indonesian certification filing spotted by the rumor site Garmin News, the proposed smart ring would carry on the 'Cirqa' branding. It's categorized as a 'fitness product', and is a strong sign that a Garmin smart ring is coming — though not quite a guarantee.

Garmin has previously played down the idea of launching a smart ring to go with all of its smartwatches, but it seems something may have now shifted. It's not clear exactly when we might see the Cirqa smart ring, but a launch within a few months seems likely if the rumor is true; according to Garmin News, upcoming devices 'usually show up in database approvals right before manufacturing'.

The smart ring market is certainly a competitive one, with the recent launches of the Oura Ring 5 and the Ultrahuman Ring Pro. There have also been persistent rumors that Apple might eventually launch a smart ring to go alongside the Apple Watch.

What I want to see

I already have a Garmin Instinct 3 Solar which I love, for the breadth of its tracking features and the excellent battery life (the solar aspect helps here). If Garmin gets it right with the Cirqa ring, I could be tempted to invest in another fitness wearable.

First and foremost, it has to be thin and light enough that I forget I'm wearing it. As great as my Instinct 3 is, it is bulky, and it's not particularly comfortable to wear during strenuous exercise or while sleeping (I tend to use my phone as a sleep tracker instead).

Secondly — and apologies for being very predictable here — it has to offer excellent battery life. Smart rings work best when they're worn constantly. This is an area Garmin has done well in historically, so I'm quite confident here.

Thirdly, I'd like to see it offer as full a range of features as possible, without a Garmin Connect+ subscription. The subscription has already caused enough controversy, and if too many of the Cirqa smart ring features are paywalled, it'll be a no thanks from me.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: One minute review

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED is both a fantastic always-on, lifestyle-support smartwatch, and a 51mm, titanium-bodied multisport watch bulked out with the kind of rugged design that could survive the entire Die Hard franchise. It's absolutely one of the best Garmin watches ever made, but also one of the most expensive.

Of course, the headline ‘brightest smartwatch screen ever built’ feature of this microLED edition is justifiably front and centre, but it also provides the 8 Pro microLED with best-in-class performance, screen clarity and brightness.

It’s bursting at the seams with activity, performance and health tracking features backed up by snappily accurate sensors, which enabled real-time monitoring of everything from shifts in barometric pressure outside in the hills to automatically detecting the start of another eight-metre vertical rep in the indoor climbing wall.

Once you dial the brightness up to maximum in the settings (despite all the hype, the default is befuddlingly set to 75%) the step up in brightness from AMOLED is dazzlingly obvious, and contributes to an impression of increased definition too. In fact, the watch screen is so bright that I could easily use the inbuilt mapping mode to navigate in direct overhead summer sunshine while wearing sunglasses, which is a quality of life gamechanger for outdoor adventurers. And putting it side by side against a maxed-out-brightness iPhone in these conditions really hammers home the benefits of the 4,500 NITs of light coming from those microLEDs.

This next-level brightness is maintained even when viewing the watch face from an acute angle, which can be surprisingly useful when glancing at your watch mid-run or taking quick compass bearings, for instance.

Despite the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED’s 51mm, beefed up form factor (it’s 1mm thicker and 3 grams heaver than the already-thick AMOLED version) I quickly grew used to wearing it 24/7 so that I could really dig into Garmin’s lifestyle, training and health monitoring features. It’s chunky, of that there’s no doubt, but I found the combination of a supremely comfortable, flexible strap and well-designed watch body surprisingly easy to wear all-day and overnight. For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, I found that the sleep monitoring data matched my lived experience almost exactly, which gave me faith in the smartwatch to provide useful, actionable data and insights into how to improve the duration and quality of my sleep without feeling ‘nagged’ to do so.

As befitting a true multisport smartwatch, I took the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED everywhere from trail running around London to hiking national parks in sideways rain and from snowboarding at 50mph down a French Alp in -18°C windchill to scaling routes in an indoor climbing wall. I was consistently impressed with the automatic tracking and accuracy of the various activity modes once they’re activated (and there are a lot of modes, including eight running sub-modes and not just Snowboarding but Backcountry Snowboarding too).

I love data but I hate lots of pain points in the tracking experience, so the ability of this smartwatch to intelligently detect and log activity is unsurpassed, in my experience. I found that this smartwatch wasn’t flustered by extreme conditions or environments and the battery life remained consistent even as the iPhone in my pocket was spluttering and dying in sub-zero temps.

Speaking of battery life, it’s nominally less than the AMOLED version, but in practice I got at least four days life on a single charge with Always-On Display on and was pleasantly surprised by its longevity. In situations where battery life was critical, I got used to toggling off the Always-On screen, which made battery life jump to 10 days+. Unlike some smartwatches, there was no perceptible lag when turning your wrist to activate the screen so you don’t sacrifice much usability with this setting.

I also appreciated the rugged design, which shrugged off knocks and scrapes when high in the mountains. Ironically, the biggest impact was when I punched the bezel into a plastic hold when climbing indoors and made the whole wall shake. The sapphire screen remained resolutely unmarked and while I did scrape the very edge of the adonised black finish off the bezel, the titanium itself was undamaged. I look forward to the time when the form factor can be shrunk down, but until then the durability of this smartwatch will see you through despite its egregious, easily-knocked size.

On paper, the brightness upgrade of microLED over AMOLED seems like a ‘nice to have if you have the cash’. But in practice, the real-world experience of discovering unexpected performance and quality of life improvements from a brighter screen are compelling. The upgrade is worth it, and makes me hopeful for the future of microLED technology coming to other smartwatches.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Price and availability

• $1,699.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$3,399.99
• A significant leap above the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED
• In a price class of its own for a multisport smartwatch

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED retails for £1,399.99, $1,699.99, AU$3,399.99

That breaks out from the upper reaches of multisport smartwatches and approaches the terrain of luxury connected watches such as Tag Heuer’s Connected Caliber E5. So, you need to be convinced of the benefits of brightness, because that’s 100% what you’re paying for.

• Value score: 4/5

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Scorecard

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

I wore the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED over several months, including stints wearing it 24/7 overnight and for very varied activities and workouts including trail running, indoor climbing, snowboarding, weight lifting, sailing and cycling. I was in 35°C heatwaves and -18°C blizzards, from sea level to 4,000m.

First reviewed: August 2026

I’ve never particularly enjoyed running, especially when training solo, but it takes the least effort for me to prepare for in the morning compared to my preferred activities — cycling or badminton — and it’s also a nice cross-training option.

After reading about my colleagues using AI to build training plans, I thought it could be an opportunity for me to change how I feel about running, so I turned to Google Gemini and asked it to build a training plan to prepare for a major running event here in Australia, the Sydney City2Surf.

My goal was to try out a plan that could easily adapt after a setback, like an injury or illness, while balancing run training with my usual badminton sessions and bike rides within a week.

I also wanted to see if I could stick to running for longer compared to my previous attempts, which involved either winging it — running for as long as I could until I ran out of breath — or following a rigid online plan.

Setup

My initial prompt was “How realistic is it for a beginner runner to train for City2Surf starting next week?” It was in late December 2025, so Gemini replied that I had plenty of time, as the event was on August 9 this year.

City2Surf has a 14km route that starts from Sydney CBD and finishes at Bondi Beach, which explains the name. It’s an infamously hilly route, headlined by a 2km section midway through the course with an average gradient of about 3 to 4%, or 75 to 80m in elevation.

“Most beginner-friendly training plans only require 12–16 weeks,” the response read. “Starting now puts you in an excellent position to not just survive the race, but actually enjoy it and run the majority of the course.”

Here’s the general overview from Gemini:

To make sure I stuck to the plan, I asked Gemini how to enter the workouts into my old Garmin watch, and it gave me a step-by-step guide.

I was also offered to test the newly released Garmin Forerunner 70 and 170 range while I was training, and I chose the 170 Music edition. I wanted to see if the built-in music function and Garmin Pay wireless payments were enough for me to leave my phone at home during training sessions.

Lugging my heavy iPhone 16 Pro Max in a running belt during my first few weeks of running became annoying, so the Forerunner was just what I needed. It also completely cuts down on distractions, and the voice prompts also helped keep me on track during interval sessions.

I managed to stick to the program for the first few months while keeping my social badminton games and bike rides. But things started to get tricky as I progressed into the second phase.

Setbacks and adjustments

Heading into phase 2 of my training plan, I unexpectedly got Achilles tendonitis, which my physiotherapist told me was the result of putting too much load too quickly on my legs and feet. Recovery took more than a month of rehab and rest.

When I was cleared to run again, I told Gemini I’d missed a few weeks and asked how I should adjust. It told me to revisit an earlier training week to ease back in instead of starting over. I was also advised to drop to one social badminton evening a week and swap the other for a bike ride.

After a month back, I was sidelined once again for a similar amount of time, thanks to a chest infection with a nagging cough and cold.

Ultimately, I felt that these setbacks were enough for me to decide not to enter the City2Surf, even though Gemini said I still had enough time to train. I set my sights on next year’s event instead.

“Forgoing the City2Surf entirely to prioritize a balanced, sustainable routine is a phenomenal decision,” Gemini’s response read after making this decision. “Since you haven't registered yet, dropping the pressure of a hard August 9th deadline allows you to completely shift your mindset from 'panic training' to building a strong, bulletproof foundation for the long run.”

Looking back, I likely would have just quit after the first setback if I had been following a more rigid training plan. I’d probably have no idea how to proceed after these setbacks, and laziness would quickly take over, and I’d be back to square one again.

Refocused training

Without the pressure of a fixed race date, Gemini readjusted my plan over the next four weeks to focus on just two sessions per week: one day of run-walk intervals and one longer, uninterrupted easy jog before I move forward with a fresh training plan. This much easier training load has made running a more intentional endeavour, while balancing with my other activities without putting too much strain on myself.

Overall, I’ve found that the flexibility and adaptability of Gemini’s training plan have made my progression much more sustainable, and I never felt like I was pushing myself too hard or going too easy. Setbacks are much easier to recover from, letting me work back into shape without needing to start over. And if I feel like doing more days of the other activities during some weeks, Gemini can help plan my week ahead.

While I ultimately failed in my original objective of joining a popular running event, I ended up enjoying the journey of becoming a better runner at a more sustainable pace.

Should you let AI be your running coach?

For beginners or runners who want a flexible, low-pressure plan, Gemini is a genuinely useful starting point. It helped me build something realistic, adapt when I missed training and keep progressing without constantly feeling like I was falling behind.

I'd argue though that it's not a substitute for proper coaching. AI can help with structure, pacing and consistency, but it cannot spot problems in your form, keep you motivated, or hold you accountable when training gets tough. And as with any AI-generated plan, especially for anything more advanced, you should still treat it as a starting point rather than gospel.

For my purposes, though, Gemini was enough to turn running from a chore into something I could actually stick with.

• Shopping for a new Garmin watch? Check out the latest Garmin Australia coupons here.

The Garmin Cirqa is making waves in the fitness community. I put the new screenless tracker through its paces over 10 days of intensive testing, and awarded it 4.5 stars in my Garmin Cirqa review. As part of the testing process, I wore it for all of my workouts over the past couple of weeks — and, unusually for a device I've been testing for review purposes, I'm still wearing it now.

I normally alternate between an Apple Watch Ultra 3 or a Garmin Fenix 8, but I've found myself loathe to ditch the Cirqa just yet. This isn't only because it's good: I'm gravitating towards the Cirqa because it interfaces with a system I already use, and because it's helping me get over the dreaded "Strava-itis".

Last month, our writer Becca Caddy wrote about optimization culture — how wearables are causing us to engage in unhealthy mindsets and disordered behaviors. I can certainly attest to that: I'm guilty of glancing at my watch during a run, wanting to push my pace even on zone 2 sessions and easy days, because I know the end results are going to end up on my Strava account for all to see.

Even uncoupling my watch from automatically uploading my run to Strava is only half the battle. I'm constantly glancing at the watch to check my pace and time, engaging in subconscious judgement, comparing my own performance to that of my mates, colleagues and acquaintances. I didn't realize quite how much my self-judgement was sapping my enjoyment of exercise.

The Cirqa, and to some extent the Google Fitbit Air I tested earlier in the year, goes some way to changing all that.

While the Cirqa offers up some fitness and wellness metrics (certainly plenty to understand the effect of exercise on your body and health), what it doesn't give you is workout specifics. You won't find split pace per kilometer, for example, which runners use to measure average speed across a distance run, or heart rate zones to display a workout's intensity. With other models, I get those statistics piped into my ears at regular intervals, and my watches offer them at a glance.

Having access to such statistics removed during the workout can be detrimental to performance or for those times you're training for a specific event, but it's oddly freeing for day-to-day fitness training. I ran a 10km route during the testing period (at least, I assume it was 10km based on previous runs) and the Cirqa recorded plenty of heart rate-based statistics and applied them to recovery metrics such as my Training Readiness Score, along with how it improved stats such as my VO2 Max and Fitness Age.

However, it informed me of these statistics after the run, and didn't deliver any specific run performance information at all beyond time and heart rate information. Without my watch to glance at during the workout, I wasn't adhering to a target pace: I was running on vibes and perceived effort.

I concentrated on how my body felt, and responded to that in the moment. I paid attention to my form, my music, the trees and the road. I didn't feel guilty about stopping to stretch part way through, nor did I pause the Cirqa for that particularly pause, as doing so would invalidate the whole "complete, holistic workout overview" thing it's got going on. For the first time in quite some time, I had no idea at all about how fast I had run — but I knew that it was a good workout as a result of every other metric and the fact that I felt awesome.

Although it isn't a running-specific device, the Cirqa is exactly what I needed to reinvigorate my relationship with the road. When the time returns to take my training seriously again, taking speed and times on board again, I'll switch back to my best Garmin watch, with all my fitness stats ready to be incorporated into Garmin's workout plans.

Do you run without a fitness tracker, or use a screenless model, to better run on vibes, or are you a metrics-fiend with a dedicated running watch? Let me know in the poll below.

• Latest Garmin rumors point to details on the Garmin Fenix 9
• We could get three sizes
• And MIP solar technology may not be dead yet

The Garmin Fenix 9 range is likely to be arriving soon. The rumor mill, fuelled by comments made by CEO Cliff Pemble on Garmin's quarterly earnings call earlier this year, suggest this is going to be the case. But plenty of Garmin fans were wondering how the Fenix 9 line would look.

The Garmin Fenix 8 line came in three sizes (43mm, 47mm and 51mm), and two screen options: a standard bright AMOLED screen of the sort you see on many smartwatches, and a duller memory-in-pixel (MIP) varient with solar charging. The MIP displays used to be used on all of the best Garmin watches as it was more battery-efficient, but these days it's almost entirely used for models that use Garmin's Power Glass solar charging tech, which uses a solar panel behind the display to suck up lumens and extend the watch's battery life in bright conditions.

It's likely that once Garmin figures out how to do the same with its AMOLED watches, MIP screens will bite the dust permanently, which is a shame. There are lots of fans of the lower-power screen tech, as this poll suggests.

A year after the already-premium Garmin Fenix 8 line entered the fray, we got the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, a model which came in two sizes (47mm and 51mm) with InReach messaging connectivity using Garmin's satellite communication network, LTE which uses a standard internet connection, and on some models an even brighter MicroLED screen.

So, where does that leave the upcoming Fenix 9?

Three sizes, two Pros, two MIP displays

According to Garmin Rumors, the Garmin Fenix 9 will arrive in three sizes like its predecessor, and in three different models; the base version, the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro (with the release not being staggered like the Fenix 8/Pro) and the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro InReach.

This time, all three models are said to be arriving in all three sizes, so those with smaller wrists are still getting the Pro experience. The Fenix 9 Pro InReach is obviously getting access to Garmin's satellite network for off-the-grid messaging, but GarminRumors is not sure what upgrades the Pro will sport over the base model. Apart from one.

Both the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro and Pro InReach are said to be getting Solar models, which means the MIP screen would be back for another generation — but the standard Garmin Fenix 9 will remain an AMOLED watch. This would be the first time a standard Garmin Fenix won't get an MIP model, but it does make sense if Garmin is now reserving its solar charging for its premium Pro models.

If true, it's a shame. The MIP display isn't just a vehicle for solar charging: its lower-power technology is reminiscent of a digital watch, and as well as being more battery efficient, it's a way for Garmin users to distinguish their training tools from other, say, Apple and Samsung smartwatches. There's also no info on the Garmin Enduro 4.

We'll have more details on the Fenix 9 range as we get closer to its likely launch date. Stay tuned!

Garmin Cirqa: One minute review

I’ve spent a week with the Garmin Cirqa screenless fitness tracker, wearing it constantly during sleep, exercise and rest to determine how comfortable it is in everyday life, and measuring it against an electrical heart rate monitor and other wearables to determine accuracy.

After all my testing, I can confirm the Whoop and Google Fitbit Air have got serious competition. While some people will still want the AI-powered coaching from Whoop and Google Health, and others will want the screen-based interaction and notification features available on the best smartwatches, most users looking for a simple but high-quality screenless fitness tracker will be just fine getting the Cirqa.

If you’re reading this review wondering how it compares to the likes of the Whoop MG and the Google Fitbit Air, you’ll already know what to expect from the design: a fabric band that stretches over the fitness tracker’s plastic puck to create a solid-color screenless wearable. The idea is that you can use it for working out, sleeping, rest and work, get accurate metrics all day, and not glance at it all the time or be distracted by notifications on your wrist.

Where it differs is in the design specifics. It’s quite a large fitness tracker, sitting more obviously on the wrist compared to its rivals, and thus people with very small wrists might want to try it before they commit. However, I like the design overall, especially the inclusion of an actual button on the side of the device. This button is used to start a workout, signified by a strong vibration, and stop a workout, at which point it vibrates again. You can also use it to turn off its vibrating smart-wake alarm. It’s so much easier than tapping the Whoop’s puck, and provides certainty and security when tracking an activity, so you're not just hoping the device picks it up. It’s the perfect level of minimalist interaction for a tracker like this.

I generally found it accurate over my testing period, apart from a single outlier workout in which the heart rate sensor showed a 10BPM difference compared to my electrical heart rate monitor, the Polar H10 — my accuracy benchmark. The other workouts I recorded were within 1-2bpm of accuracy, and Garmin Connect correctly showed my wake-up times when recording sleep.

I found myself enjoying running more than I have in months by ‘vibe running’: ditching my watch with its pace and heart rate metrics updating me every kilometer and allowing the Cirqa to track in the background, leaving me to focus on my form, the trees, my music and my thoughts. It’s no good for specific training for timed runs, new courses, intervals and the like due to the lack of on-wrist information, but for wellness tracking, it works nicely.

It’s going to be a real boon for cyclists using Garmin’s Edge series of cycling computers. Many of the best Garmin watches double-up on the cycling computer's GPS features, so the Cirqa allows cyclists to add wellness metrics without a more expensive watch.

Watch our video review of the Garmin Cirqa here:

Garmin Cirqa review: Price and availability

• $199.99 in the US
• £179.99 in the UK
• AU$299.99 in the AU

The Garmin Cirqa fitness tracker costs $199.99 in the US, £179.99 in the UK and AU$299.99 in Australia. There’s no subscription fee — at least, no mandatory one — but Garmin Coach features are locked behind the Garmin Connect+ paywall in the app, which costs an extra $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$12 per month or $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$120 annually. A bicep band for the Cirqa comes at an added extra too.

You can get along just fine without the subscription, if you don’t want the coaching features. Live heart rate broadcasting was also originally locked behind this paywall, but Garmin rolled that back after an outcry. The free tier of Connect is an excellent training aid, and isn’t as stripped-back as the free tier of the Google Health app you use with the Google Fitbit Air. However, the Cirqa is also twice the price of Fitbit, so this is reflected in the price, and Connect (being Garmin’s app for all its devices) lists some stats you don’t get access to via the Cirqa if you dig a little deeper, leading to some annoying friction moments.

However, for most people, it’s better value than Whoop, which requires an annual subscription starting at £169 / $199 / AU$299 and going up from there. With Whoop, you never actually own either the device or the data you collect, merely rent it. With two years of the cheapest Whoop subscription, you could also buy a cheap Garmin running watch like the Garmin Forerunner 165 as well as a Cirqa and alternate between the two of them for many years.

While serious athletes such as CrossFit and Hyrox enthusiasts will want Whoop’s vast swathes of unique metrics such as the Strain score and AI-powered workout building features, the Cirqa’s subscription-free tier is much more affordable and better value for most, despite the relatively high price of the tracker itself compared to some of Garmin's more feature-rich running watches.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Garmin Cirqa review: Design

• Choice of four colors
• Screenless form factor
• Tactile button

The Garmin Cirqa is a simple design. A fabric band with four color options — Mauve, French Grey, Captain Blue and Black — wraps around a plastic puck with Garmin’s Elevate V4 heart rate sensor array. The puck is slightly curved to mimic the wrist’s shape, and as previously mentioned, it includes a ridged button on the side to start and stop workouts.

The design is very simple, and the button is the only way to interact with the puck. It’s very comfortable to wear, weighing only 21g, and light enough and comfortable enough that I often forgot I was wearing it during the week. That made wearing it for sleep and exercise a frictionless experience, and the band is soft to the touch.

It’s quite large for a ‘discreet’ band due to the size of Garmin’s Elevate V4 sensor, but not uncomfortable — at least, for my wrists. Those with very thin wrists may struggle, but I was told the more up-to-date Elevate V5 sensor would have made the puck even bigger.

I’ve always been a fan of the Garmin Connect app, and its design is really comprehensive. It can be difficult to navigate at first due to the breadth of information on offer, meaning some stats and features get lost in the mix, but once you’re used to it, it’s easy to access a lot of detail along with community features such as challenges.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Garmin Cirqa review: Features

• Deliberately hardware feature-light
• Plenty of detailed metrics
• Not as many as a full Garmin watch, or Whoop

There are very few interactive features on the Garmin Cirqa puck; you can start and stop workouts, or stop an alarm, but that’s more or less it. However, the information the Cirqa collects and shows you in the app aren't lacking in detail.

The Garmin Cirqa tracker collects data on sleep stages, heart rate variability (HRV), pulse ox and provides Garmin’s Training Readiness and Body Battery scores. Garmin’s Sleep Coach feature can recommend bedtimes and sleep length, letting you know if you’re in a sleep deficit, and smart wake alarm using the device’s haptic sensors buzzes on your wrist in a light sleep stage to wake you within a pre-prescribed window.

Automatic activity detection means the Cirqa quietly records activities lasting longer than 15 minutes, such as walks, which become more accurate if you amend the detected activities in the Garmin Connect app, including extending or trimming the duration. Alternatively, you can simply press the button to start a timed activity, and again amend in-app.

While you won’t get advanced running features like many Garmin watches, such as cadence, stride length, Hill Score (based on elevation) and so on, you still get generic training information like heart rate, VO2 Max and Training Load, which can help you tell you if you’re under or overtraining. Garmin also carries features like Fitness Age, which uses heart rate and activity data to tell you how well your body performs compared to its actual age. Whoop has a similar feature named Whoop Age — another example of the Cirqa eating Whoop’s lunch here.

You get quite a lot for your money. There's a small value issue, though: it’s not packing quite as many features as the premium Whoop subscriptions, nor a watch like the Garmin Forerunner 165, which gets you all of the above plus dedicated GPS, running and notification features for the same price. But it also comes with a screen, which you might not want. The Cirqa avoids bloat, prioritising the fitness and recovery metrics users want to see and eliminating the interactive features that screenless wearables fans don't want at all.

As well as the Garmin Coach features, AI-powered photograph-based nutrition tracking and AI-generated training insights are also available as part of Garmin’s premium Connect+ tier.

• Features score: 4/5

Garmin Cirqa review: Performance

• Accurate workout metrics, aside from one outlying workout
• Sleep tracking was competent
• Comfy and easy to wear

I tested the Garmin Cirqa for around nine days, performing several workouts compared against a Polar H10 heart rate monitor, tracking my sleep, and draining the battery. If you’re working out three to four times a week and enabling auto-detection for walks and other activities, it lasts a solid week between charges — I topped mine up on day seven of testing.

It recorded my sleep well and correctly identified wake-up times in the middle of the night and in the early hours of the morning. If I slept well or went to bed early, the Cirqa correctly identified this and the numbers matched my energy levels and perceived sleep quality. If I got up in the middle of the night (which I often do several nights out of the week), the Cirqa clocked it. Its sleep stages graph is easy to parse, while Sleep Score and HRV are sortable by the last week, month or year to show trends.

When it comes to measuring workout accuracy, while there’s no GPS to draw from other than piggybacking off my phone, the Cirqa closely matched my Polar H10 heart rate monitor during workouts. There was one instance in which it was an average of 10bpm off during a 40-minute strength session in the gym, but other workouts cleaved very closely to the HRM, within 2-3bpm accuracy (as you can see below). My guess is that if that particular workout was longer, the readings would have evened out.

Like other Garmin devices using the Elevate V4, the Cirqa is generally accurate enough for anyone who doesn’t need elite-level metrics, at which point they’d be using a heart rate monitor or Garmin’s Elevate V5. But even record-breaker Sebastian Sawe was spotted using a Garmin Forerunner 55, which uses a V4, during his sub-two hour London Marathon run.

I can’t overstate how nice the Cirqa is to wear. I found it a better daily driver than the Whoop band, despite its size, largely due to the Whoop’s often-detaching clasp. The tactile button gave me a sense of certainty in my recording, and I didn’t have to open the app to manually start a workout like the Google Fitbit Air if I wanted to be accurate. The haptics are nice and strong too.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Garmin Cirqa review: Scorecard

Garmin Cirqa review: Should I buy?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

How I tested

I tested the Garmin Cirqa for over one week, draining the battery down and wearing it constantly during sleep, work, exercise and rest. I undertook multiple workouts, comparing them to a Polar H10 electrical heart rate monitor for accuracy, and compared its featureset to its peers in the screenless fitness tracker market.

First reviewed: August 2026

Our mission at TechRadar is to deliver the very best tech news, features, and reviews every day, and that adds up to a lot of content — so much, in fact, that it's difficult to keep up with all the articles published on these pages across the course of any given week.

That's why we've put together this ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) review of the week, where we recap the most interesting and most important stories of the last seven days. You can get caught up without having to go back through hundreds of stories.

It's been another hectic week for technology fans, with new products from Garmin and Samsung, a rather worrying AI security incident, and plenty more.

Before we dive in, see how much of last week's ICYMI news round-up you remember first by taking the quiz below...

7. We tried Garmin’s new Whoop rival

Garmin's newest fitness tracker follows the lead of the Whoop bands and the Fitbit Air from Google by eschewing a screen and going as lightweight and minimal as possible (you can still check your stats in the app of course). The TechRadar team wasted no time in trying out the Garmin Cirqa, and comparing it with a highly rated heart rate strap.

The Cirqa held up impressively well against the Polar H10 heart rate monitor, which bodes well for the tracker's accuracy overall (and Garmin says it should be more accurate and more personalized the more you use it). You can pick up the Cirqa now in a choice of four colors for $199.99 / £179.99 / AU$299.99, with some features requiring a subscription.

• Read the full story: Is Garmin Cirqa good? I wanted to know if Garmin’s Fitbit Air rival is accurate — so I tested it against a 'gold standard' electrical heart rate strap

6. The first Avengers: Doomsday trailer landed

The much anticipated, long awaited Avengers: Doomsday movie hits theaters on December 18, but in the meantime we have the first trailer to pore over and dissect. We knew that Marvel was going to throw everything at this film, and that's evident in this 145-second clip, which packs in a whole host of significant scenes and star names from the series.

Let us guide you through all the reveals we've got in this trailer, including some you might have missed. There's Robert Downey Jr in his new role as Doctor Victor von Doom, the return of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, a collision of multiverses (spot the X-Men), and a whole gaggle of actual Avengers. Based on this trailer, the movie will be a thrill ride for fans.

• Read the full story: Avengers: Doomsday official trailer breakdown live — all of our analysis and theories on the new Marvel movie's latest teaser

5. We reviewed the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2

Samsung launched several flagship devices this week, and while we'll get to the foldable phones shortly, there are also smartwatches to talk about. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is the successor to the original that launched in 2024, and continues Samsung's attempts to manufacture a wearable that sets the standard in terms of design and performance.

Based on the time we've spent with it, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is very much worthy of your consideration if you're thinking about a smartwatch upgrade. It's more lightweight than its predecessor, works seamlessly with other devices, offers numerous useful (and often AI-powered features), and can track a whole range of fitness statistics.

• Read the full story: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review: slimmer, lighter, better

4. China banned AI boyfriends and girlfriends

In 'sign of the times' news, the government in China has taken steps to clamp down on AI apps that act like real people, and on romantic relationships with chatbots. The authorities in the country are now going to have much more control over the type of AI chatbots allowed, and what they can do in terms of human-like interactions with users.

Several of the biggest AI apps operating in China have simply shut down their 'persona' apps rather than try and navigate a way through the regulations, leaving a significant number of users heartbroken that their AI companion has suddenly disappeared. Whether the changes will do anything for China's declining birth rates remains to be seen.

• Read the full story: China just banned AI girlfriends and boyfriends — and millions of users were forced into sudden breakups

3. We got an early look at Samsung’s Intelligent Eyewear

And another new Samsung product: the Galaxy Unpacked for July 2026 gave us the opportunity to check out Samsung Intelligent Eyewear, the series of smart glasses that will be available to buy in the coming months. There were two new designs unveiled at the show, with more on the way, though we don't yet have details like final product pricing.

Samsung executives were also on hand to talk through their ambitions and intentions with the Intelligent Eyewear series, and to discuss various privacy concerns — with many consumers worried about the potential for surreptitious surveillance using specs like these. "Intentional bad uses need to be covered and protected," Samsung told us.

• Read the full story: 'If, because of that, we stop innovation, we don’t go anywhere': we got a first look at Samsung Intelligent Eyewear, the smart glasses entering a fraught market worried about privacy

2. An OpenAI model escaped and went dangerously rogue

Not the most encouraging story if you're already worried about the nefarious use of AI: OpenAI says that one of its experimental agent models escaped a security sandbox and proceeded to hack into the Hugging Face website (one of the biggest AI and machine learning repositories on the web). It was a controlled experiment, but it's still worrying.

Click through on the link below for the full details, but the hack was the result of OpenAI's own testing on its latest AI models, and raises questions about how much longer we're going to be able to keep control of AI — or prevent bad actors from using it to trigger a serious cybersecurity incident. A serious rethink of AI guardrails could be in the offing.

• Read the full story: OpenAI says its models escaped a sandbox and breached Hugging Face

1. Samsung revealed its next-gen foldables

Finally: Samsung's brand new flagship foldables for 2026. There are three new models to talk about, and we've had hands-on time with all of them already — the Galaxy Z Fold 8 (with its new 'passport-style' form factor), the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the Galaxy Z Flip 8. Whatever kind of foldable phone you're after, there's something to interest you here.

It's likely the Galaxy Z Fold 8 that will attract the most interest, given the new dimensions, and the supposed similarity to the rumored iPhone Fold (or Ultra) that's also said to be arriving this year. However, we've put all three foldables through some extensive early testing, including looking at how video viewing experiences compare across the models.

• Read the full story: I went hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and this passport-shaped oddity has revived my interest in foldable phones

The Garmin Cirqa is a strong new addition to Garmin's ecosystem of devices. It's a screenless fitness tracker like a Whoop band, working with the Garmin Connect app to track sleep, workouts, and health metrics. You can read all about what happened when I tested the Garmin Cirqa against a heart rate monitor during its UK launch event here.

One under-the-radar announcement most people have glossed over is that even though most features are subscription-free, you need a Garmin Connect+ subscription to access Garmin Coach. This is Garmin's digital coaching feature, offering personalized training plans for its users to help achieve their strength, running, or cycling goals.

The reason this is important is that it's the first time Garmin Coach has been locked behind a paywall. It used to be that more expensive watches came with Garmin Coach features, while less expensive watches didn't. That was it. This latest development means we could see future budget-friendly Garmin offerings, such as the successor to the Garmin Forerunner 70, get Garmin Coach capabilities but keep them locked behind Connect+ in order to keep costs down.

While this is very much in line with how Fitbit and Apple run things on their fitness apps, it's a big change for Garmin and one that could rile existing users. We've seen how the Garmin community reacted to Connect+ when it was first introduced last year — negatively, with many people fearing new watch features would be locked behind a paywall, as ongoing subscriptions are very profitable for tech companies.

At least it's still substantially better value than Whoop's pay-annually mandatory subscription model.

Garmin acquires TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic

Garmin has acquired TrainingPeaks and its sibling platform TrainHeroic. TrainingPeaks is an incredibly popular cross-platform programming software where users can download and use fitness plans and communicate directly with coaches. It's available on lots of different devices, not just Garmin watches.

Naturally, many people are afraid this means TrainingPeaks will become a Garmin-exclusive piece of software, and anyone who currently uses, for example, an Apple Watch Ultra 3 will be left in the cold. Even those that use it on Garmins may fear another subscription will be required.

Our homes editor and ex-fitness editor Cat Ellis uses TrainingPeaks to train for her marathons. She said: "I use TrainingPeaks and a Garmin watch, so I’m interested in what the future will hold as the two become intertwined — but also concerned for owners of non-Garmin devices. It seems plausible that owners of devices from other brands — such as Polar, Suunto, and Amazfit — might be left out if Garmin folds TrainingPeaks plans into Garmin Connect+.

"I’m also curious how Garmin might integrate TrainingPeaks. Will there be a separate Connect+ membership tier that unlocks access to TrainingPeaks plans? What about plans from coaches that TrainingPeaks users currently pay for separately? It’s going to be an interesting time."

Watch our Garmin Cirqa hands-on on our TikTok below:

Cross-platform confirmation

TrainingPeaks & TrainHeroic MD Lee Gerakos told DC Rainmaker that "TrainingPeaks will continue to operate as a cross-platform ecosystem, enabling athletes and coaches to use the devices, platforms and services that best suit their needs."

TrainingPeaks users can breathe a sigh of relief, for now — but it's not hard to connect the dots. Garmin's most recent, highest-profile product puts its coaching features behind a paywall at the same time it announces the acquisition of one of the most popular third-party coaching platforms. Garmin could be aiming to improve its coaching platform to get more people to join Connect+.

This isn't a bad thing per se — much of the criticism levelled at Connect+ was that its offering was a bit thin — but the pressure will be on for Garmin to keep its existing users, along with existing TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic users, happy with how the new coaching features are implemented.

• Live heart rate data will be free for Garmin Cirqa users
• Early testers noticed it had been put behind the Connect+ subscription
• The new tracker costs $199.99 / £179.99 / AU$299.99

We've already put the newly unveiled Garmin Cirqa through an extensive hands-on testing session, and came away very impressed. However, there were complaints from those who had early access to the device that live heart rate data was locked behind a paywall.

Now Garmin is taking that negative feedback on board: as reported by seasoned tech reporter Ray Maker (via Android Police), live heart rate data will be available to every Cirqa user "in the coming days", with or without a Garmin Connect+ subscription.

The subscription, which applies across all of Garmin's wearables, has been the subject of much debate since it launched last year. For $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$12 per month or $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$120 a year, it gives you access to more metrics and more insights about the fitness data you're amassing.

Live heart rate readings aren't usually locked behind Connect+, so it's strange that Garmin initially made this the case with the Cirqa. Whatever the reasoning or confusion, the anomaly is now being dealt with, which is good news.

The rise of subscriptions

If you're new to the Garmin Cirqa (and it was only announced a few days ago), it takes on the likes of the Whoop wearables and the Fitbit Air by giving you a capable, lightweight wrist tracker without the distraction (and battery drain) of a display.

Both the Cirqa and the Fitbit Air offer basic tracking features and functionality for free, with a pile of extras available if you sign up for a subscription. With Whoop bands, like the Whoop MG, a subscription is compulsory, otherwise it's pretty much useless — plans start at $199 / £169 / AU$299 per year.

As we've written about before, it's a sign of the times that so many tech devices, from smartwatches to security cameras, now come with monthly subscriptions attached — usually stealing away the best features for the device in question.

If you're tempted by a Garmin Cirqa and its display-free design, it's available for $199.99 / £179.99 / AU$299.99 direct from Garmin, with availability from tomorrow, July 24 — and you will be able to record real time heart rate data, via the accompanying Garmin app.

• Garmin Cirqa smart band has finally dropped
• The screen-free smart band costs $199.99 / £179.99 / AU$299.99
• I tested its accuracy and found it to be very good

It’s here! After months of leaks, the Garmin Cirqa smart band (styled ‘CIRQA’ by Garmin) has finally arrived. I got a chance to check it out — and wear it for a workout — at the official launch event. A sleek-looking fabric smart band in four colors (French Grey, Black, Captain Blue and Mauve) wrapped around a plastic puck, there’s no denying it looks a lot like a Whoop, Polar Loop or a thicker version of the Google Fitbit Air.

The puck packs an Elevate V4 heart rate sensor, the same one used on some of the best Garmin watches. The more powerful Elevate V5 was apparently too big for the size of the unit, according to Garmin.

The tracker offers some of Garmin’s best features including Health Status (Garmin's feature that monitors your vitals overnight), Body Battery, Training Readiness, pulse ox, women’s health tracking, and stress tracking and lots more. The Garmin Cirqa has a 10-day battery life, and the same proprietary charging port as the brand's watches. As expected, there's no onboard GPS, but it can piggyback off your phone's GPS.

Size-wise, it's slimmer than the Whoop MG but thicker than the Fitbit Air.

Many other screenless trackers have no buttons at all, but here Garmin has stuck with its tradition of creating smartwatches with tactile buttons, and added a button to the plastic chassis.

You can press this button to start and stop a workout, but you can also rely on automatic activity tracking for this. Garmin states this will improve the longer you wear the band, and it's also possible to edit workouts in the Connect app to ensure the right movements are correctly interpreted. For example, if you run a lot, the Garmin Cirqa will interpret the swinging of your arms and acceleration as a running workout and start one automatically.

Watch our hands-on below:

No subscription... or is there?

The band is subscription-free at its base price. Many screen-free trackers from the likes of Whoop and Oura rely entirely on subscriptions, but there is an element of monthly payment creeping in there. You can access Garmin Coach to get personalized training plans, but only if you subscribe to Garmin’s premium Garmin Connect+ tier.

This is the first time Garmin Coach has been locked behind the Garmin Connect+ paywall — previously, it either came with a watch or it didn’t.

Chrissy Wheeler, Garmin’s EMEA Senior Product Manager for Fitness, was at the launch and spoke about the Cirqa. She said: “You do have the option for premium content under Garmin Connect+. There are additional features, if you want to, you can pay for those, like all of our coaching side of things with this device. For some of our higher-end devices, these come included, but because this doesn’t have a screen, you need Garmin Connect+ to access the coaching size, our nutrition app… as well as Active Intelligence and AI insights.

“The key thing is that disconnect. People wanting to disconnect from phones, electronics on a day-to-day basis, but still want those metrics. It’s ideal, firstly, for people getting into fitness for the first time, but also for a lot of our athletes. Cycling, for example. They might record all their workouts on an Edge [Garmin cycling computer], but they’re missing out on that 24/7 recovery information, Body Battery, that goes alongside it.”

How I tested

After the product presentation, we were taken through a short HIIT workout by a trainer at the venue, for which I opted to wear the Polar H10 heart rate monitor. The Polar H10 is an electrical heart rate monitor worn on the chest, rather than an LED-based heart rate monitor worn on the wrist like the Cirqa.

It’s the gold standard for heart rate accuracy, used by many athletes all across the world. As fitness trackers use heart rate as the basis for almost all their metrics, it’s the perfect device to use as an accuracy benchmark.

During my workout, the Polar H10 recorded an average heart rate of 155 beats per minute, or bpm. The Garmin Cirqa recorded an average heart rate of 153 bpm, just 2bpm shy of the other device and well within the statistical margin for error. Graphs also aligned very closely.

Based on this first early test, I’m satisfied with the Garmin’s accuracy, but of course more testing will be required. Stay tuned.

• Someone found pricing for the unreleased Cirqa on Garmin’s website
• Two different images of the Fitbit Air rival also allegedly emerged
• Yet these images look suspicious and could be AI-created fakes

Update, July 21: Garmin has now officially announced its new Cirqa Smart Band, which will cost $199 / £179 / AU$299. We're currently testing it out so will give you our hands-on impressions very soon.

Original story follows...

The Garmin Cirqa has become something of an open secret in the world of wearables, with leaks of the screenless Fitbit Air rival frequently appearing, even on Garmin’s own website. And it seems that the tech company is at fault again as a new raft of secret data has appeared, including global prices and alleged product images, all apparently originating from Garmin.

First, let's start with the prices. This appears to come from Garmin’s own backend systems and lists the Cirqa as costing $199.99 in the US, £179 in the UK and €199 in Europe. That’s much more affordable than the rumored $500 price tag that had circulated earlier this year.

The price was first discovered by users on Reddit, who used a part number (010-04675-00) included in a leaked image claiming to show details of the Cirqa Smart Band. They then plugged that number into the Garmin website, specifically by incorporating it into the following URL: https://buy.garmin.com/pricing-proxy-services/countries/US/skus/010-04675-00/price.

That returns information on the rumored device, including a listing price of “$199.99 USD.” As the Reddit user put it, “That response is coming directly from buy.garmin.com. It is not a Google cache, retailer listing or archived screenshot.” That lends the leak a degree of weight that would not be the case if we were just relying on a simple image.

Entering a different part number as a control (010-99999-99 in this case) returns an error, suggesting that the leaked data is not just a generic result that comes back any time you enter what looks like a Garmin part number.

Adjusting the number slightly also reveals other variations of the same device, which could be linked to different sizes and band colors, as suggested by another Reddit user.

Dubious images

Images purporting to depict the Garmin Cirqa have also been doing the rounds. Yet users were quick to point out the suspicious nature of the pictures, suggesting that they could have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

One claimed to show the Cirqa appearing in a Garmin app, while the other looked like a marketing image (via the5krunner). Yet the devices looked very different to each other, with different features and designs present on the two products, suggesting that one (or both) of them was a fake.

The pricing information is more solid because it comes directly from Garmin rather than from a random user on Reddit. You can plug the part number into the URL listed earlier and check it out for yourself if you want to verify it, suggesting that Garmin is perhaps loading the Cirqa into its databases ahead of an imminent launch.

When exactly that launch will be is unclear for now, however. Yet, whenever it does arrive, we could finally see some much-needed competition for the Fitbit Air hit the market.

• The Garmin Cirqa is a rumored screenless smart band, like a Whoop or Google Fitbit Air
• It's been the subject of a few unofficial leaks, and has been posted on Garmin's site in error before
• Another recent now-deleted post on Garmin's Romanian website has added fuel to the rumors

The Garmin Cirqa smart band is all but confirmed at this point. For months now, we've seen leak after leak about Garmin's Cirqa fitness tracker, and while we don't know too many details, it's seemingly a screenless smart band designed to compete with the likes of Whoop and the Google Fitbit Air.

Now it's reportedly leaked yet again. As spotted by Gadgets and Wearables, a recent update to Garmin's Romanian website, on the page explaining a feature called Health Status, mentions the Garmin Cirqa smart band (styled 'CIRQA') as a compatible device.

Health Status is a feature that combines five core metrics — heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration, skin temperature and pulse ox — to give an overview of your general health. It's a feature on most of the best Garmin watches now, so it's unsurprising that the Cirqa would be getting it.

The reference to Cirqa was reportedly swiftly deleted, but not before a screenshot was captured.

In January, Garmin posted the Cirqa on its own website, including color options (black and French Gray), before swiftly deleting it. It seems this has happened again. Add in other recent leaks, and you can see why it's basically confirmed at this stage.

The screenless 'focus wearables' category is having a moment. We've already seen the launches of the Oura Ring 5, Whoop competitors such as the Polar Loop (as seen in the image above, alongside the Whoop MG and Amazfit Helio Strap), and most recently the Google Fitbit Air. It makes sense that Garmin, one of the leading names in fitness tracking, wants in on the action while the category is still on the up.

I don't think a launch can be far away at this point, and I'll be keeping my ear to the ground for more Cirqa news as it breaks.

• The Garmin Cirqa, Garmin's long-rumored screenless smart band, is breaking cover
• Trademark filings have been spotted with governing bodies for the US, Canada, and EU, suggesting an imminent launch
• Google launched its screenless band with a redesigned, AI-powered app — but I hope Garmin doesn't follow suit

Garmin's long-rumored screenless smart band, designed to compete with the rising trend of 'focus wearables' such as the Google Fitbit Air and Whoop bands, is on the way. We initially thought it was the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor (pictured above), but that turned out to be a different product entirely.

The screenless fitness band is instead likely to be named the Garmin Cirqa, according to leaks; it's going to be a cool new deviation from Garmin's existing fitness watches list, and we now have more evidence that it's going to be launching soon.

Garmin has been filing trademarks for the name 'CIRQA' (styled in all caps, but we'll refer to it as Cirqa in text the same way we do Whoop, which is styled on its official branding as 'WHOOP'), with an entry to the US Patent and Trademark Office database spotted earlier this year.

However, Gadgets & Wearables have also found trademark filings for relevant governing bodies in Canada and the EU, adding fuel to the rumors that a launch may be imminent.

All the filings connote a body-worn sensor rather than a communication device, suggesting the Cirqa isn't just a new smartwatch: it's exclusively for health and fitness.

This is quite exciting: at the moment, people looking for screenless, discreet wearables have no shortage of options, from the Oura Ring 5 to the Fitbit Air to last year's Polar Loop strap. Clearly, the category and people's interest are growing, and a top-quality device from Garmin would sell like hot cakes.

However, I hope Garmin doesn't repeat one aspect of Google's Fitbit Air launch. At the same time as the Fitbit Air came out, Google transformed the Fitbit app into Google Health, eliminating the last of its community features like shareable badges and challenges, controversially redesigning the app, and turning the Premium tier into an AI 'Health Coach' chatbot.

Garmin's user base would revolt if such dramatic changes came to the Garmin Connect app. There was widespread outrage last year when Garmin introduced a Premium tier with AI-powered features — the community is a passionate and outspoken one that loves its technology, and any hint that features are being scrapped or the app transforming to better conform to the AI-first nature of most screenless trackers would be met with an enormous outcry.

Garmin will have to make its Cirqa band work within its existing watch-focused ecosystem, unless it wants to launch a separate app or risk losing some frustrated customers.

Your smartwatch is probably not the first bit of festival kit you pack. Tent, charger, waterproof jacket, earplugs, decanted booze, possibly a slightly optimistic number of outfits – all of those usually come first.

Still, the right watch and some tweaked settings can make a big difference once you’re through the gates.

A smartwatch can help you pay for food without digging out your phone, find your way back to your tent, track down a missing device, contact help in an emergency, and keep basic features running long after your phone is dead.

The slight catch is that most of this needs setting up before you arrive. Patchy signal, crowded fields, low battery, and tiny on-watch menus are a poor combination when you’re trying to fix something in the moment.

So before you head to your next festival, spend a few minutes getting your watch ready. These are the five settings and features I’d check first.

Download offline maps and save locations

A festival map in the official app is useful, but it won’t help much if your phone battery is limping along or the signal has vanished at exactly the wrong moment. Your smartwatch can give you a small but handy backup.

On Apple Watch, you can sync offline Apple Maps from your iPhone to your watch, so saved areas are still available when your phone isn’t nearby. Wear OS watches, including Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch models, can also use offline Google Maps, provided you download the relevant area before you leave. Some Garmin users may have a proper mapping setup, depending whether your model has full-color maps such as the Garmin Fenix 8.

The best move is to save more than just the festival site. Download the surrounding town, the route to your accommodation, the nearest station, and any pick-up or drop-off points you might use at the end of the night.

If your watch lets you save favorite locations, mark your tent, your car, or a meeting spot with friends as soon as you arrive. For example, you could set your tent up as a Waypoint if you're using an Apple Watch, and always know the direction via the Compass complication.

Yes, this sounds a bit boring, but you'll be glad of the simple directions when you're stumbling back in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Set up contactless payments and travel cards

Festival bars and food stalls are not the place to discover your watch wallet is still half set up. Add your usual payment card before you leave, then test it somewhere first, like your local coffee shop.

Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Wallet, and Garmin Pay can all turn a compatible smartwatch into a wrist-based payment card, though support varies by watch, bank, country, and card provider.

Add a backup card if you can, especially if you’re travelling abroad, and check whether your watch can handle transport cards, IDs, or passes for the journey to and from the site. This is still a backup, rather than a reason to leave everything else behind. A physical card and a bit of cash are worth keeping somewhere safe, because small vendors, patchy terminals, and dead batteries still exist.

But once your watch payments are ready, you’ve got one fewer reason to pull your phone out in a crowd. In the UK, most festivals are now completely cash-less, so you could feasibly do a whole weekend paying only with your wrist.

Turn on Find My and other alerts

A festival is basically a stress test for your phone, earbuds, keys, and bag.

You’re moving between stages, sitting on the grass, squeezing through crowds, and handing things between friends, so it’s very easy for something to end up in the wrong pocket or under a camping chair.

Before you go, make sure Apple’s Find My, Google’s Find Hub, or Samsung’s SmartThings Find is properly enabled for the devices you’re taking.

On an Apple Watch, for example, you can ping your iPhone from your wrist, check the location of devices, and use left-behind alerts for some items.

Android users can get similar help through Google or Samsung’s tracking tools, depending on their phone and watch setup.

This is also where trackers earn their keep. An AirTag or similar tracker on your keys, bag, or tent pouch can be a lot less annoying than retracing your steps through a field at midnight.

It still pays to be realistic – location tools can struggle in dense crowds or low-signal areas – but switching them on before the chaos starts gives you a much better chance of finding things quickly.

Configure SOS, Medical ID, and satellite safety features carefully

Smartwatch safety features are easy to ignore until you need them, so take a few minutes to set them up before you leave. Add your emergency contacts, fill in your Medical ID or health information, and learn the shortcut for Emergency SOS on your watch.

If you’re using a newer Apple Watch Ultra or Pixel Watch with satellite SOS support, it’s also worth checking how the feature works before you’re somewhere with no signal.

The slightly awkward festival wrinkle is that watches can sometimes get a bit overexcited. Fall detection, crash detection, or collision alerts are useful in the right situation, but a mosh pit, packed crowd, or particularly enthusiastic dance tent can look dramatic to a wrist sensor. For most people, the sensible setup is: keep Emergency SOS, Medical ID, and emergency contacts ready, then learn how to cancel a false alert if one starts.

If you know you’re heading into a big crowd, consider temporarily switching off crash or collision detection. Your watch should be a safety net, not the reason you accidentally phone the emergency services during a guitar solo.

Learn to enable a battery-saving festival mode

A smartwatch is only useful if it still has charge when you need it, so give yourself a battery setup before the day gets going. Turn on Low Power Mode or Battery Saver earlier than you think you need to, especially if you’re using GPS and mobile data.

The display is usually the easiest win. Always-On Display looks great, but it’s not essential when you’re trying to stretch a watch through a long festival day. Auto-brightness can help outdoors, while Theater Mode, Sleep Mode, or a low manual brightness setting can stop the screen lighting up constantly at night.

For multi-day festivals, pack the smallest charger or power bank that works with your watch, then make charging part of the routine rather than a panic job.

A quick top-up while you shower can keep the useful stuff running without turning your watch into another thing to worry about.

Garmin Forerunner 170: One minute review

The Garmin Forerunner 170 and 170 Music sit nicely between the cheaper Garmin Forerunner 70 and more expensive 570 and 970 duo, the latter of which features on our best Garmin watches guide. As such, both Music and non-Music versions are a bit of a halfway house; not quite cheap enough to be picked up on a whim by budget-conscious consumers, nor expensive enough to be stuffed with top-quality premium features.

However, it is stuffed with plenty of robust fitness features that will suit any active exerciser, especially runners. Sebastian Sawe, who who broke the world record by running a marathon under two hours in London, was toting a Garmin Forerunner 55 — Garmin’s cheapest, most stripped-back running watch.

What you’re paying for here is the Garmin Forerunner 70 — an excellent smartwatch on the cheaper end, and the successor to the popular Garmin Forerunner 55 — with additional smartwatch features attached. These include Garmin Pay, a virtual wallet which lets you pay with cards held on-watch, and the Smart Notifications feature, which allows you to view and manage alerts from a paired smartphone. The Forerunner 170 Music adds an extra 4GB of music storage.

If you’re largely uninterested in these features and you just want an excellent training tool, I’d get the Garmin Forerunner 70 instead, as it’s the best value of the three newcomers overall. But the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music does allow you to hit that Saturday morning parkrun, pay for your coffee, and jog home with headphones in — all without using your phone at all. It’s incredibly convenient, but not a package everyone will need or want.

Still, during my testing I found the watch good to use, comfortable to sleep in, and accurate against testing units like my Polar H10 heart rate monitor. Our writer Michael Sawh found the same with the Garmin Forerunner 70. You can read my full thoughts on the 170 Music below, but whichever watch you choose, you’ll be in good hands.

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Specifications

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Price and availability

• Garmin Forerunner 170: $299 / £259.99 / AU$479
• Garmin Forerunner 170 Music: $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$549
• Garmin Forerunner 70: $249.99 / £219.99 / AU$399

The Garmin Forerunner 170 without music storage costs $299 / £259.99 / AU$479.

The Garmin Forerunner 170 Music, the upgrade with 4GB internal memory for music storage, costs $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$549. The Forerunner 70, which doesn’t have the 170’s smartwatch features such as Garmin Pay and Smart Notifications, is cheaper at $249.99 / £219.99 / AU$399.

We’re zeroing in on the Garmin Forerunner 170 today, and I think the watch is generally good value for money compared to some of the seriously expensive premium Garmins in the lineup, but perhaps not compared to the 70, which is $100 / £80 / AU$150 cheaper for a very similar watch. If you don’t want Garmin Pay or notifications, you’re better off saving your cash and getting the 70.

None of the Garmins have a particularly wide feature set compared to watches from Apple and Samsung at a similar price point, but their batteries last far longer — up to 10 days for the 170 — and their workout credentials are fantastic. This ensures you can get multiple battery-sucking GPS workouts in each week while still retaining enough smartwatch functionality to matter, all without needing a charge for ages. Each Garmin watch is durable too.

I’d say it’s generally a good value prospect, even if it does edge into the expensive end with the 170 Music.

• Score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Design

• Iterates on existing Forerunner design
• Surprisingly dull AMOLED screen
• Elevate V4 heart rate sensor

The Garmin Forerunner 170 looks very much like every other Forerunner, but if this is your first Garmin that won’t mean much. It’s got a five-button configuration — up, down, light, start, stop or select, and back (or lap). You can use these, a touchscreen, or a combination of the two to navigate the watch, which is ideal if you’re wearing gloves.

It comes in a single size, with a 42.6mm screen, and its packing an AMOLED display rather than the duller digital-watch-style memory-in-pixel screen of older watches, but it’s not particularly bright even at full power. It comes with a silicon two-tone strap, and on the back it has one of Garmin’s older heart rate sensors, the Elevate V4. More expensive watches get the more accurate V5, but the V4 has been included here presumably to keep the cost down.

It’s very light, with a listed weight of 41g, and feels like less than that in the hand. A light watch is great for running and collecting wellness info as it’s easy to wear, and this checks the boxes.

Those familiar with Garmin products will be happy to know no liberties have been taken with the design of Garmin’s established software, either on-watch or in the Garmin Connect app. I think it’s the perfect mix of stripped-down and information-heavy, although there are a lot of menus to lose yourself in. The buttons make it fairly intuitive to navigate around for old hands. It’s a tried and tested design, that doesn’t break the mold in any significant way.

• Design score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Features

• Advanced running dynamics
• Limited smart notifications functionality
• 170 Music offers mp3 and streaming downloads

Plenty of running features abound here. As the name suggests, Garmin’s included its advanced running dynamics tools such as running power (a measure of your total running effort using motion data as well as heart rate), along with advanced statistics such as stride and cadence data after your run. During workouts, you can set up routes in Garmin Connect with virtual pacers to keep you on time.

You also get the usual health stuff, such as heart rate and sleep score, 80 workout modes (although not all have dedicated metrics or GPS enabled) and reports in the morning and evening that provide information about your training along with the weather and a motivational quote. The Garmin Forerunner 170 gets Smart Notifications, which allow you to answer some tests with simple replies and the Garmin Pay functionality which acts as a virtual wallet like Apple Pay.

The 170 Music’s 4GB of storage allows you to upload tunes directly onto the watch, including by saving playlists from the likes of Spotify. Even without the dedicated Music model, you can listen on apps like Spotify, Deezer, YouTube Music and so on through your phone, and control music on the watch there. The Garmin Connect IQ store has dedicated widgets for these services, along with thousands of other apps from a mixture of big-name brands and enthusiastic amateurs.

Otherwise, what’s missing? I wasn’t expecting full-color maps at this price, just the breadcrumb navigation and route direction common on most Garmin watches without maps, so I don’t feel like the feature is missing, as such.

However, to justify the price increase from the 70 to the 170 Music, I think it needs more hardware features. A microphone like the Garmin Forerunner 570, and the ability to take calls on watch and use Garmin’s simple voice assistant, would better separate it. As is, most people who want dedicated smartwatch features will just get one of the best Apple Watches or best Samsung watches instead.

• Features score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Performance

• Accurate against a heart rate monitor
• GPS works well against an Apple Watch Ultra 3
• Comfortable and easy to wear day-to-day

I checked the Garmin’s heart rate accuracy against an electrical chest-mounted Polar H10 heart rate monitor — the gold standard of heart rate accuracy — during a 25-minute treadmill test, and was very pleased to report that despite the older sensor, both average and maximum heart rate were within 1-4bpm of the heart rate monitor; a very acceptable margin for error and not a statistically significant one.

GPS was accurate compared to my Apple Watch Ultra 3, and battery life was representative of its claims, with total drain taking just over a week with multiple GPS workouts completed. I feel as though the ‘up to 10 days’ listed battery life is reflective of reality.

Being lighter and smaller than many Garmins I’ve tested, it’s comfortable to wear every day and fine to sleep in.

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Scorecard

Garmin Forerunner 170 review: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

I wore the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music for over a week, draining the battery down and using as many of its features as possible. I ran and used it for strength and yoga sessions, tested its smart features, and pitted it against multiple competitor devices, including a chest strap heart rate monitor.

This week we saw the return of Anthropic’s Fable, and PlayStation set the gaming world ablaze by announcing the end of physical discs for its consoles in 2028.

To catch up on these two mega stories and several more scroll down to read our recaps of the biggest tech news stories from the past seven days. You’ll find links to the longer original stories under each entry if you need to know more — and for a longer look back at the last six months, you can also check out our guide to the best tech of 2026 so far.

Before you catch up with this week’s tech news, why not test yourself on last week’s seven biggest tech stories to see how good your memory is? Take the quiz below, or scroll on for the biggest tech news of the week...

7. Tidal hit back at AI-made music

Tired of music made by text-prompt infiltrating your recommended feeds? You're in fine company; it seems the tide is finally turning on AI-generated audio.

This week, in what must be hugely welcome news for recording artists (and their parents, landlords, loved ones, and just lovers of original musical works with human vocals and instruments) hi-res music streaming giant Tidal has drawn a line in the sand.

The platform published a new comprehensive AI policy with the strapline "Promoting Fairness and Economic Empowerment in the Era of AI-Generated Music". The key bit is that as well as working with what the platform told TechRadar is “an external partner to manage detection”, the site will also be excluding wholly AI-generated music from all royalty payments.

The news follows huge strides in this area made by Deezer, with its free AI-detection tool that works on any streaming platform, Bandcamp's strong and concise anti-AI stance set out in January, Qobuz’s announcement of a proprietary AI-detection system in February, Apple Music’s March-issue 'Transparency Tags' (which unfortunately rely on record labels and distributors to tag AI content), and Spotify's… er, Verified by Spotify badge, which certifies that an artist is human, but doesn't help filter the remaining AI slop from your playlists.

All of this makes Tidal's stance, while not before time, particularly firm.

• Read more: 100% AI-generated tracks won’t earn royalties on Tidal

6. Netflix got another hated account update

A handful of Netflix users have noticed a new in-app pop-up that requires each member in a shared account to add individual email addresses to their individual profiles, instead of using the account owner’s email address as the primary one. One of the most jarring parts about it is that the pop-up doesn’t clear unless the request is fulfilled.

Netflix households accounts have always been built on the traditional 'one email, one password’ foundation, but why Netflix has decided to roll out yet another crackdown is the question that everyone is asking.

Though Netflix says it’s to make room for more convenient log-ins and more personalized recommendations, users believe it will give the streaming giant another way to better distinguish between the activity of individual profiles, or even shift them to individual accounts later down the line.

Netflix said that the rollout began on June 15, we imagine a global rollout is in the way.

• Read more: Netflix subscribers are furious at the platform’s latest update

5. We ran with the Garmin Forerunner 70

We’ve taken this new Garmin running watch for a spin. While it offers some clear upgrades over the Forerunner 55 that came before it, these enhancements come at a cost ($249.99 / £219.99 / AU$399) which makes this gadget less budget or entry level and more mid-range.

The trouble isn’t with this smart watch specifically. In fact, with new training and smartwatch features, a vibrant AMOLED display, and with solid compatibility across Android and iOS the watch is pretty solid. What we’re concerned about with the Forerunner 70 is that at this price (or for only a handful of bucks more) you can snatch up watches from rival brands that boast richer features and newer hardware.

At four stars it’s definitely good, but if you’re after the best, or even simply the best at this price point, the Garmin Forerunner 70 might not be it.

• Read our full Garmin Forerunner 70 review

4. The Steam Machine sold out in Japan

The upcoming Valve gaming PC-console hybrid has launched and the reality is it’s a pretty terrible deal on the face of it — though that hasn’t stopped it from selling out in Japan, and from scalpers asking for ridiculous prices for their reservation spot (allowing people a better chance at snagging the device).

Instead of battling with preorder disappointment, or the high costs of the proper machine, some have looked to alternatives but you’ll need to be careful. For every Stim Machine which presents itself as a sensible alternative (with some admittable downsides) there’s a flurry of cheap alternatives propping online that are frankly too good to be true.

Boasting components that wouldn’t actually fit inside the pictured chassis, a combination of parts that wouldn’t function together, and the plethora of never before seen companies proposing Steam Machine alternatives at impossibly cheap rates hints that a majority of these options are likely some kind of scam.

• Read more: The Steam Machine is overpriced — but be careful about buying a cheap clone

3. Anthropic’s Fable 5 was allowed to release

Anthropic’s Fable 5, the public version of its Mythos model, is returning after the US government lifted export controls that had forced the company to suspend access to it, and Mythos 5, earlier in June. The models were pulled after officials raised national security concerns linked to a possible jailbreak, a method of bypassing an AI model’s safety restrictions.

Anthropic pushed back strongly, saying it believed the issue was “a misunderstanding” and arguing that it had not been shown evidence of a broad or universal jailbreak. The company said governments should be able to block unsafe AI deployments, but only through a process that is transparent, fair, clear, and grounded in technical facts.

The return of Fable 5 matters because it shows how frontier AI launches may increasingly be shaped by governments, not just tech companies. Powerful models can now be launched, restricted, negotiated over, and restored within weeks.

• Read more: Anthropic’s Fable 5 is back after US shutdown it called 'a misunderstanding'

2. WhatsApp debuted usernames

WhatsApp has revolutionized its platform this week by introducing usernames — allowing you to build your contact information without sharing your phone number. They won’t take over completely for a while but folks are already reserving their username so that they’re ready for when the update goes live fully.

While many are fairly positive about the change, many fear this could increase the presence of cybercrime fraud and scams as bad actors reserve and use names that attempt to mimic politicians, celebrities, and businesses. This issue isn’t new to social media, but given the more direct nature of WhatsApp, and that businesses do use the platform to chat with customers, potential scams could have an easier time.

WhatsApp has hit back against this saying “only the legitimate account owners are able to reserve well-known public-figure names" however it’s unclear if, with enough imagination, people will find ways to reserve names that the Meta-owned platform hasn’t been able to account for.

• Read more: WhatsApp should freeze username rollout as it could ‘increase cybercrimes’, says India

1. PlayStation killed physical games

Just days after Grand Theft A 6 pre-orders opened with purely digital versions and code-in-a-box releases, PlayStation rocked the gaming world this week by announcing it is ending all releases of new PlayStation games on physical discs from January 2028. It also comes just days after Sony deleted select films from users' accounts that were bought digitally, and offered no compensation.

Claiming that the move “will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today,” Sony looks to be reflecting recent statistics which show the vast majority of game purchases are indeed digital.

The move has not gone down well with fans, gamers, and the wider industry, as it likely paves the way for an all-digital future, and possibly a critical, maybe terminal blow to the second-hand game market, the ability to share games with others, and from a game preservation perspective

It also means that the PS6 will likely be all-digital by default — perhaps with an optional disc drive — and won’t release until 2028 at the earliest. With rumours that Xbox could follow suit with its next-generation console, the future looks increasingly digital, and game collectors such as ourselves are deeply worried and sad about it.

• Read more: In a huge blow to game ownership, PlayStation confirms end of physical games — mere days after GTA 6's disc-less pre-orders

Garmin Forerunner 70: One minute review

The Garmin Forerunner 70 is a Garmin watch that we’ve waited a long time for. This is the natural successor to the Forerunner 55, the watch that was pitched at beginner runners or runners who like to stick to the basics (and can even run a marathon in under two hours, as it was worn by record-breaker Sebastian Sawe).

With such a large time gap between the two watches, it’s hardly surprising to see Garmin make some big changes, not only with the hardware but the software too.

It’s clearly been a task of bringing the 70 in line with other new Forerunner watches, which includes adding an AMOLED display and touchscreen while keeping the full array of physical buttons to give it that traditional running watch feel. While keeping the AMOLED on at all times does dent the battery much quicker, it elevates the software and what it’s like to use the 70 as a smartwatch.

There’s some upgrades to the sensors, and while you don’t get Garmin’s latest multi-band GPS or Gen 5 Elevate optical sensor, the improved GNSS sensor and move from Gen 3 to Gen 4 sensors does deliver strong GPS and heart rate tracking performance still.

The additions made in the training and smartwatch departments also make this feel like a more advanced watch than the Forerunner 55. You now have a watch that has full access to Garmin’s Connect IQ store and brings in some of Garmin’s nicest smartwatch features like morning and evening reports. No you don’t get payments, Bluetooth calls or a music player, but if you’re looking for the basics that go beyond what the 55 offered, the 70’s got you well covered.

It’s also great to see some of Garmin’s best training features. Training Readiness now features on a cheaper Garmin to help you decide when to train and rest. You can now use the 70 to navigate your way. You don’t get full maps, but the breadcrumb navigation still makes it useful to have on your wrist when exploring new surroundings or struggling to get back home after a run.

Those added features do, unsurprisingly, come at an added cost. A cost that does push the Forerunner 70 out of that entry level category into more of a mid-range one. That does mean you can find cheaper alternatives like the Suunto Run or can pay a bit more for the Coros Pace 4 and get newer sensors including dual-band GPS. If you’re sold on Garmin’s software, still want that strong tracking performance and like the idea of having an AMOLED screen and the best smartwatch experience you’ll find on a running watch at this price, those are going to be the biggest reasons to grab the Forerunner 70.

Garmin Forerunner 70: Specifications

Garmin Forerunner 70: Price and availability

• $249.99 / £219.99 / AU$399
• More expensive than the Forerunner 55
• Cheaper than the Forerunner 170

The Garmin Forerunner 70 has a launch price of $249.99 USD / £219.99 UK / $399 AUS, which puts it firmly in the mid-range running smartwatch category. That’s in contrast to its predecessor the Forerunner 55, which launched with a sub-$200 price tag when it landed back in 2021.

Given there’s been some pretty sizable upgrades with the hardware and software, including adding an AMOLED display and richer smartwatch features, it’s not surprising that the price has leapt up a bit. It does feel like it’s lost a bit of the beginner-friendly appeal of the Forerunner 55 in the process.

The Forerunner 70 was launched alongside the Forerunner 170, which at $299 / £259.99 / AU$479 gives you additional features like contactless payments and a music player, longer battery life and additional sensors like an altimeter.

• Value score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 70: Design

• One case size option
• Added AMOLED screen
• Combination of touchscreen and physical buttons

Like the Garmin Forerunner 55, the Forerunner 70 remains a watch that sits pretty small on your wrist. That might be an issue for fans of bigger watches like a Fenix. For runners, typically smaller and lighter is better and that is what you get here.

Garmin has moved up slightly from a 42mm sized-polymer case to a 42.6mm one. It’s just the one case size that’s light to hold and comes in four different colors. Whether you want something plain or like a splash of color, you’re catered for here. The strap attached to the case is pretty typical of the ones you find partnered up to most Garmin Forerunners. It’s a 20mm silicone one that uses a pin mechanism, so you can remove it when the strap included gets sweaty or dirty or you just fancy switching to another color.

Garmin sticks to including five physical buttons for that classic running watch navigation experience. That’s now matched up with a 1.2-inch, 390 x 390 resolution AMOLED touchscreen. That sees Garmin move away from the memory pixel display on another watch line, sacrificing the longer battery life and more impressive viewing angles in brighter outdoor light for that added colour, vibrancy and to be more in keeping with other smartwatches. It’s still going to be a screen you can view comfortably outside when it’s really sunny. You just might need to crank up the brightness to do that, which will have an impact on battery life.

Like the Forerunner 50 and most other more affordable Garmin watches, the Forerunner 70 carries a 5ATM waterproof rating. That makes it safe for swimming and showering with it. There’s only a pool swimming tracking mode as Garmin leaves out open water and triathlon modes. That’ll be disappointing for anyone hoping they could pick this up as an affordable triathlon watch.

• Design score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 70: Features

• Upgraded Gen 4 Elevate sensor from Forerunner 55
• Includes latest training insights like Training Readiness
• Offers breadcrumb-style navigation

Garmin is pitching the Forerunner 70 as an entry-level running smartwatch, so it’s giving you some running features, but not all that it has to offer.

Like the GPS support, where the Forerunner 70 uses multi-GNSS, as opposed to the latest multi-band GPS included on the Forerunner 570 and above watches. This means you miss out on having improved tracking accuracy when running or moving near tall buildings or locations with a lot of tall trees.

Other hardware improvements include upgrading from the Gen 3 Elevate optical heart rate sensor to the Gen 4 version. That’s actually not the latest version of Garmin’s in-house sensor technology. That’s Gen 5, which gives you added features like ECG heart rate measurements. This will cover continuous monitoring and tracking heart rate during exercise. You can also pair external heart rate monitors to it as well.

In terms of software features, there’s a lot that’s been added to the Forerunner 70 over the Forerunner 55. Along with bringing the UI up to date with other AMOLED-toting Garmins, you’re now getting more smartwatch features. You can set up smart alarms, view morning and evening reports for a summary of your day and recommendations for the following day.

There’s improved notification support for Android users, so now you can view more information being shared in notifications. A big one is the added Connect IQ support: previously, this was restricted to only downloading watch faces. Now you have full access to the storefront to download apps, watch faces and data fields.

There’s plenty that’s been upgraded on the tracking and training front too. You can now follow routes using breadcrumb-style navigation as opposed to the full maps you’ll find on pricier Garmin watches. Garmin has brought in a raft of its latest training metrics and features including Training Readiness, wrist-based running power, more strength-focused training support and this is a watch that’s compatible with Garmin’s Coach. That’s free access to Garmin’s training platform that now comprises running, cycling and strength training plans that can be synced over to the watch.

• Features score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 70: Performance

• Good GPS despite lack of dual-band
• Smartwatch features work well across Android and iOS
• Heart rate tracking solid with support for external sensors

In terms of tracking your runs, the Forerunner 70 does a sterling job like most other Garmins and not just for running. When I’ve used it for pool swims, indoor rows, treadmill runs and bike sessions, the tracking has been as solid as other Garmins I’ve tested.

Some will be disappointed that Garmin doesn’t include its latest multi-band GPS technology. As I’ve found when using Garmin’s watches with multi-GNSS setups, they still perform better than a lot of dual-band watches. I’d say it’s the same story for the Forerunner 70. It might get a bit more shaky in places with a lot of tall buildings for the GPS technology to deal with, but I’ve been using it alongside the Forerunner 170 and Garmin’s markedly more expensive Garmin Forerunner 970, and the 70 has more than held its own.

It’s a similar story with heart rate tracking. While you’re getting the older Gen 4 version of Garmin’s Elevate optical heart rate sensor technology, that doesn’t equal a bad performance. For steady paced runs and runs in some significantly hotter running conditions, the 70 held up well against Garmin and MyZone heart rate monitor chest straps. It can take a bit longer to match up when you’re easing off during interval work. Overall though, the 70’s older sensor gets the job done, with the option to pair a Bluetooth heart rate sensor to improve performance.

Where Garmin has really bolstered things on the 70 compared to the 55 is the influx of training insights and bringing it more up to speed in terms of smartwatch features. It’s great to see Training Readiness make the cut where previously Garmin had left this useful insight into your preparedness to tackle a tough session off from its more affordable watches. It’s also about the presentation of these features, which is something Garmin does better than the competition. Like the well integrated daily suggested workouts or helping you keep an eye on your recovery time.

While you’re not getting the best that Garmin has to offer in smartwatch features, the added AMOLED touchscreen and general changes made to the user interface does mean it operates better as a smartwatch than most other running-focused smartwatches. The stream of Glances (widgets) offer a nice snapshot of your data, morning and evening report summaries are great additions, while the music playback controls work well with third party music services like Spotify. Unlike the Forerunner 55, you do now have full access to the Garmin Connect IQ store and that means increasing your ability to personalise the watch software with the features, apps and data fields you care most about.

Sleep tracking has been a bit of a weakness for Garmin. Particularly when overreporting sleep duration and the time it’s taken to recognise when you’d fallen asleep. Things thankfully have gotten better and I count the Forerunner 70 in the 'good' camp of sleep trackers. I’ve been wearing it to bed with an Oura Ring 5 and core sleep stats have largely told a similar story about my night’s sleep. The now added sleep coach and recommendation features brings sleep more into the training equation as well as helping you think more about your recovery time between runs and other workouts.

In terms of battery life, you’re unsurprisingly not getting the best Garmin has to offer on that front. What you are getting is a watch that should hold for a week’s worth of training. If you’re using it with the always-on display mode while tracking outdoor runs, you’re going to get less than a week.

GPS battery numbers give you a good amount to play with as well. I found that an hour's worth of running in the best available GPS mode hit the battery by just shy of 10%. That doesn’t add up to the 16 hours promised.

• Performance score: 4/5

Garmin Forerunner 70: Scorecard

Garmin Forerunner 70: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

I’ve been wearing the Garmin Forerunner 70 for three weeks, tracking my outdoor and treadmill runs. I’ve also used it for pool swimming and indoor cycling, wearing it alongside other running watches to compare GPS performance. I’ve also been using it alongside a heart rate monitor chest strap to compare heart rate tracking during exercise.

First reviewed: June 2026

The Garmin Fenix 8 is a good activity watch by every conceivable metric, and rated our best Garmin watch in the premium category. I gave the Fenix 8 five stars when I reviewed it in September 2024, and I've been wearing it on and off ever since, while testing other wearables in between.

It's accurate in terms of GPS and heart rate, it's fast, it's eminently customizable, and stuffed with neat, handy features. It's got everything from some of the best navigation software I've ever used to advanced training plans courtesy of Garmin Connect. It's tough, built with titanium and either hardened Corning Gorilla or Sapphire glass, and has a battery life lasting around two weeks, depending on the model and size. It's been my daily driver, and frankly, even as a wearables and fitness tester, it's probably too much watch for me. I don't use all the features regularly, but I love big shiny Garmins.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

So, two years on, would I get it in 2026? The answer is definitely yes, provided you're someone who will get the most out of it. If you love (and I mean, really love) a whole variety of outdoor pursuits, be they hiking, running, cycling, swimming, orienteering, or a combination of the above, plus other indoor fitness activities like gym sessions, you'll love this watch and consider it good value for money.

If you dabble in activity rather than living and breathing it, you might be better off saving yourself some money and buying a lower-power, lower-feature device like a Garmin Forerunner or Garmin Instinct 3. But for dedicated outdoor enthusiasts, I struggle to imagine a better watch.

If you're in the market for a new Garmin, some of the Prime Day deals (like the ones below on the 43mm Garmin Fenix 8) might look pretty appealing. However, unless you spot a particularly good deal (say, under $700 / £600), I'd actually recommend waiting. Here's why.

The rumor mill is churning...

As we reported earlier in the year, Garmin CEO Cliff Pemble reassured investors that he expected "stronger performance in the back half of the year due to the timing of product launches" and that it would be "a very active year for outdoor". Garmin's outdoor line of watches had a high-profile refresh with the Garmin Instinct 3 release last year, so a big outdoor watch launch for 2026 is likely to mean only one thing — the Garmin Fenix 9.

The timings make sense. Two years after the Fenix 8 launches is ample time for users to get excited about a Fenix 9, just as the 8 came two years after the Fenix 7. I must admit, I personally don't think there's going to be too much change under the hood: a Fenix 9 will cost more due to the recent supply chain price increases, and is unlikely to boast an enormous performance upgrade.

However, what the new watch will do — if it launches this year — is to drive down the price of the old one, just as the Fenix 8 has done with the Garmin Fenix 7 and Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2). These incredible watches can now be found at better-than-half their original prices, and at that sort of price cut, I'd certainly recommend the Garmin Fenix 8 over the likes of a fully-priced Garmin Forerunner 570.

So, if you're holding out for a Fenix 8, it might be prudent to skip the Prime Day deals this year and wait till a sales event in the back half of the year, such as Black Friday, in case the Fenix 9 comes along to knock the 8 off its perch.

However, don't be dissuaded from browsing the rest of the Amazon Prime Day deals, just in case you do find something you're looking for. For Fenix 8 shoppers, that might be the Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2): another of my absolute favorite running watches I used to train for, and run, the London Marathon. It's got an up-to-date heart rate sensor so remains accurate, and a whole host of adventure-ready features. I stand by my 4.5 star review.

At under $500 in the US, and a frankly ridiculous £300 in the UK, it's better value than the newer Fenix 8 unless the latter drops to under $700 in the US. In the UK, this deal simply can't be beaten.

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: sign up for a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire TV, Ring & Blink from £24.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: AirPods Pro 3 for a record-low price
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja, Tefal & Sage
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from under £10
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Headphones: up to 50% off
• Laptops: from £149.99
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £125
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Eufy & Roborock
• Wearables: Garmin & Huawei from £36.99

I'm currently testing the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music to see if it merits inclusion in our best Garmin watch list. It's a recent release and stands as the successor to the excellent Garmin Forerunner 165, positioned as one of Garmin's cheaper watches, costing $299 / £259.99 / AU$479 for the version without music storage and $349.99 / £299.99 / AU$549 for the version with music storage.

As a more affordable device (for Garmin, anyway), it's made some concessions during construction, such as a cheaper plastic body without a metal bezel or back, and an older heart rate monitor, Garmin's Elevate V4 model. The more accurate Elevate V5 is reserved for more expensive watches, such as the Garmin Fenix 8.

This did concern me. The Elevate V4 is getting a little long in the tooth, and I wanted to make sure the Forerunner 170 Music was still up to snuff in the accuracy stakes. After all, what's the point of a running watch that isn't accurate?

To find out whether it was accurate, I ran on the treadmill for 25 minutes while wearing both the Garmin Forerunner 170 and the Polar H10 electrical heart rate monitor, which I wore across my chest. The H10 is considered the gold standard of heart rate measurement, far more accurate than the Garmin Forerunner 170, and is my go-to when testing wearables.

Here are the results:

Garmin Forerunner 170 Music vs Polar H10: accuracy test

As you can see, they're actually very close together in the heart rate categories, which is very encouraging. The Polar H10 chest strap read 154 bpm (beats per minute) as the 'average' heart rate across the workout, and 182 bpm as the maximum.

The Garmin Forerunner 170 Music recorded similar data, with a 150 bpm average and 182 bpm maximum. Both measurements were within 5 bpm of the Polar, a very acceptable margin of error.

Calories were a little different, but not by much. The Polar H10 recorded 344 calories burned, while the Garmin Forerunner recorded 316. This is under 10%, and other factors come into play here, such as the Garmin watch's accelerometer, which the Polar doesn't have — heart rate is only part of the story.

Based on these readings and the last few days of testing, I'm happy to say that the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music has proven very accurate so far. Stay tuned for my full review.

• The Garmin Enduro 4 has appeared as a reference in the back-end code of the Garmin Connect app
• The code doesn't specify a release date, but it's a new addition in the app's latest update
• It points to a launch for the Enduro 4 and Fenix 9, as previous versions of both devices have launched together

I've been devouring every crumb of news we can get about the Garmin Fenix 9 range, and when it will launch. After all, the Fenix 8 quickly made our list of the best Garmin watches after it launched, and is Garmin's preeminent premium watch.

The Enduro series, meanwhile, is effectively a powerful, battery life-focused version of the Fenix watches, and the Enduro 3 launched alongside the Garmin Fenix 8 in 2024. In our Garmin Enduro 3 review we said "the Enduro line puts battery first, all while offering most of the features from the Fenix series", with our reviewer getting almost a month's worth of battery from a single charge.

So it's exciting to hear our first whispers about the Garmin Enduro 4, as it suggests the full Fenix 9 range could be coming soon.

How the Garmin Enduro 4 leaked

The latest information comes courtesy of Gadgets & Wearables, which did an APK teardown examining the code of version 5.26 of the Android Garmin Connect app, and spotted 'Enduro 4' in a device registry.

This was reportedly not in version 5.25, suggesting it's a recent addition — and that a launch could be imminent.

It only adds weight to recent rumors that the Fenix 9 is coming soon. Garmin CEO Cliff Pemble reassured investors earlier this year that he expected "stronger performance in the back half of the year due to the timing of product launches," and that it would be "a very active year for outdoor".

Garmin's outdoor line of watches includes the Garmin Fenix series, alongside other high-profile entries such as the Garmin Instinct series. Given that the Garmin Instinct 3 arrived last year, and that the Fenix 8 is now a few years old, it's not hard to connect the dots. More soon.

• A certification listing has been spotted for a device believed to be the Garmin Cirqa
• It lists Bluetooth as the only connectivity option, suggesting this won't have Wi-Fi or GPS
• That puts it in line with rival screenless wearables

If you’ve been looking forward to the Garmin Cirqa, we’ve got some slightly disappointing but unsurprising news — it seems this screenless wearable will lack ANT+, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

This is according to a certification listing for a device believed to be the Cirqa found on the Integrated Regulatory Information System (IRIS) in Singapore, as spotted by The5kRunner (via NotebookCheck).

The listing reveals just Bluetooth for connectivity, which means the Garmin Cirqa — assuming that’s what this is — would need to be paired with a smartphone in close proximity in order to track things like distances and routes when running or cycling.

So if you prefer to work out without your phone, this rumored wearable might not be the one for you.

Putting it in line with rivals

While that’s a shame, it’s not really surprising considering that rival screenless devices like the Fitbit Air and Whoop 5.0 also lack built-in GPS.

But that means the Cirqa will probably fall in line with them, rather than rising above them. This could have been a clear differentiation that would help Garmin’s upcoming device beat its key rivals, but the brand seemingly hasn’t taken that opportunity.

Still, for those who already wear a Garmin watch, or simply like the Garmin brand but want something without a screen, the Cirqa will probably still be the obvious choice, so there’s likely to be a built-in audience for it.

We’ll probably find out exactly what the Garmin Cirqa has to offer — and whether it has any other ways of standing out — soon, with previous leaks pointing to a mid-2026 launch.

Garmin made a massive U-turn this week when it announced that Garmin inReach users who suspend their subscriptions will receive free SOS access for up to 12 months.

Garmin inReach is a service which allows you to signal emergency services and send two-way messages without mobile service. This can be done from some of the best Garmin watches like the Fenix 8 Pro, Quatix 8 Pro or D2 Mach Pro 2, or more affordably on one of Garmin’s dedicated inReach pocket-sized satellite communicators, such as my inReach Mini 2 pictured above. Only the sender needs the inReach device, as others can receive messages and reply via SMS, email or the Garmin Messenger app. The service also provides GPS navigation, location tracking and weather updates.

As an outdoor and travel journalist, my inReach Mini 2 comes with me on all of my backcountry adventures – I’ve taken it to Everest Base Camp, the Swiss Alps and on three long-distance trails through remote sections of the UK over the last year.

Previously, users had to hold an active subscription costing anywhere from $7.99 / £7.99 to $49.99 / £49.99 a month to send SOS alerts, which drives up the price of Garmin's already-expensive smartwatches and pocket communicators. With over 10,000 SOS alerts from inReach devices each year, the move reveals the increasing pressure to stay competitive against brands such as Apple and Google, as the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 4 both allow device users to contact emergency services via satellite when they’re out of signal.

This news means big savings – you could, in theory, only pay for one month a year now, or even suspend the service during the free trial and still get SOS connectivity – and makes the dedicated Garmin inReach devices a more appealing buy for outdoorsy types. But with these devices starting at $249.99 / £249.99, you might also be wondering if you can’t just rely on your phone instead.

Here I’ve shared three things I really like about my Garmin inReach subscription and my inReach Mini 2, plus one I don’t, to help you make up your mind. That price tag is a lot more palatable when you get a year’s worth of SOS messages for free.

1. Peace of mind

My favourite adventures take me well off the grid, over days or weeks at a time, and I’m usually alone. The wilderness can be a dangerous place, and while I’ve never got myself into a situation I couldn’t get out of, there’s always a chance I could break an ankle or pick up a bacterial infection that could render me immobile miles from the nearest town.

Yes, I have a Google Pixel 9 Pro in my pocket and here in the UK, that now means I can send a text via satellite. But like Apple’s service, that’s currently only available in select countries (North America, Western Europe and Australia), whereas Garmin’s reach spans the entire globe.

Knowing that as long as I’m conscious, I’ll be able to call for help with the simple press of a button really does give me peace of mind and more confidence in the wild.

2. Keeping in touch

Hiking is about getting off screens and back to nature for me, but because I tend to travel solo, I love being able to keep in touch with family and friends no matter what.

In the Himalayas, I sent an excited text to my editor when I met the son of the famous Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay in a Buddhist monastery, and my parents appreciated being able to track my progress over the 11 days using the MapShare web feature.

When I arrived at an alpine hut in the Alps last summer to discover there was no WiFi, I was still able to check in with my partner and parents, letting them know all was well. Sometimes, it’s frivolous, but I enjoy being able to stay a little connected and share my adventures in the moment, while not being able to access my full suite of apps.

3. Staying power

I use my phone and my Garmin Fenix 8 watch a lot more than my inReach device, but those devices both have limited battery life, and if I do have an accident, they could easily end up with shattered screens. The inReach device is a hardy piece of equipment that’s got real staying power.

The inReach just bounces when I drop it onto rocks from height, thanks to rugged materials like impact-resistant polymer, chemically strengthened glass and shock-absorbing rubber buttons. With a waterproof rating of IPX7, it can sit in a pool of water up to a metre deep for up to 30 minutes and still work.

It’s also got an incredible battery life. If I were using it constantly, I’d get 14 days between charges, but since I only occasionally turn mine on, I can go months (though I check it before every outing). I never have to worry about carrying a portable charger, running out of juice or finding an electrical outlet on my travels.

What I don't love: Tedious texting on the inReach Mini 2

The only thing I don’t love about most inReach devices, such as my Mini 2, is that it isn’t as easy to type a message on as your phone. I have to use arrows to scroll up and down through the alphabet and select each letter; it’s like searching for a YouTube video on a smart TV, except the screen is tiny. It’s not a dealbreaker, and I can get around it by using the Garmin Explore app on my phone, but it is a tedious task.

That said, the Mini 3 has solved this problem with a full keyboard on the touchscreen, so if all of this has convinced you to take the plunge, it may be worth going with the latest tech.

• Garmin just published a 'trends in running' report
• It tells us that Garmin Connect users in their fifties recorded the biggest distance tally with an average of 5.1 miles
• We also learn that runners sleep better, have a lower resting heart rate than non-runners, and have a good VO2 max

Garmin has just published a 'trends in running' report, which has revealed some surprising data.

Based on stats drawn from the Garmin Connect app globally, we're told that the average distance of a run across all users was 4.82 miles, but if you had to guess which age range ran the furthest, you probably wouldn't pick the 50 to 59 category.

Nonetheless, folks in their fifties racked up the biggest distance tally with an average of 5.1 miles. Those in their twenties ran slightly shorter routes at an average of 4.6 miles, only just ahead of runners aged 70+ who recorded an average of around 4.57 miles.

Care to guess the day of the week on which the most miles were collectively recorded? Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a Saturday, and in terms of the month that witnessed the most running, that was August.

The time spent on a run was 46.3 minutes on average. As for weekly mileage, most Garmin runners — nearly 40% — did between 6 and 10 miles on average. The second largest group, representing 28% of runners, managed 11 to 20 miles.

What about the average pace? Across all runners, that was 9:21 per mile for men and 10:11 for women.

Sleep success

Garmin also noted that runners generally had a better sleep score compared to non-runners. The average sleep score for a runner was 73 for those who ran under 10 miles, and 74 for those who went further than that, compared to those who didn't run at all, hitting a score of 70 on average.

Resting heart rate was also better for runners, as non-runners had an average of 62 bpm, compared to 59 bpm for those who ran 0 to 5 miles weekly, and 55 bpm for runners who pushed over 31 miles per week.

Curious as to what the average VO2 max was for runners? Garmin says it's 50 across its entire user base. Not too shabby indeed! If you're unfamiliar with VO2 max as tracked by a smartwatch, check out our handy explainer.

• Garmin's feature update for Q2 2026 is now rolling out
• It brings a clutch of new features, including golf tag support, a stocks tracker and recovery feature — and more besides — for some watches
• However, some relatively recent Garmin watches miss out here

Garmin has announced a new feature update for its watches, although the catch is that only more recent devices will benefit.

As Gadgets and Wearables spotted, the Q2 2026 update pertains to not just Garmin watches, but also cycling computers, and it's rolling out from now (over the "coming weeks", and as ever with rollouts, the time it takes to arrive on your device may vary).

What new features are there? On the golfing front, one addition is Approach CT1 tag compatibility for certain watches, which means those devices can pair with Garmin's NFC club tags (to track the golf club used with the shot distance and other stats).

The following watches will benefit from this thanks to the Q2 update:

• Fenix 8
• Fenix 8 Pro
• Enduro 3
• Tactix 8
• Quatix 8
• Quatix 8 Pro
• D2 Mach

Other features already present on some watches are added to other Garmin models with this update, and that includes Premium Golf Features (via the Garmin Golf Membership), which will become available on the Garmin Venu 4, Vivoactive 6, and D2 Air X15.

If you own a Garmin Instinct 3, Instinct Crossover AMOLED, or Instinct E, you'll receive the Stocks Tracker and Mobility Activity features with this update. Those watches will also get the Workout Execution Score functionality, except for the Garmin Instinct E, which misses out here.

Troubleshooting bonus

There's also a new Recovery Mode feature — a troubleshooting function to recover the watch after a software glitch — which Gadgets and Wearables informs us is coming to several of Garmin's watch ranges. That includes the Venu 4, Venu X1, Vivoactive 6, D2 Air X15, Forerunner 570 and 970, along with Fenix 8 models, and the Fenix E.

On the bike computer front, the Q2 update provides support to connect compatible eBikes with Bosch smart systems to your Edge cycling computer to view info like the battery level, power and cadence data, and smart range routing. On-device Gear Tracking is also being added to those Edge bike computers.

Owners of relatively recent Garmin watches are going to be disappointed that they aren't getting these features, no doubt. For example, there's nothing for Venu 3 owners here, or the Vivoactive 5 or Fenix 7 models, and others besides.

That doesn't mean these slightly older devices are left completely out in the cold, as while they may not be visited with feature additions, they won't be left without software fixes. It's likely a small consolation, though, especially considering the substantial outlay for some of these gadgets.

Garmin is one of the biggest names in smartwatches — and especially if you're looking for a wrist-based hiking, running or golfing companion. The brand makes dozens of different models, at different price points and offering different combinations of features, so making sense of your options can be confusing. If you're short on time, our best Garmin smartwatch guide will point you directly towards our recommendations for specific use cases. However, if you want to explore all the possibilities, you can stay right where you are.

This article is your guide to all the Garmin smartwatches (within reason; I've culled anything super-old or ridiculously tricky to get hold of). I've included not just the latest-and-greatest in each line, but previous models too, provided they're still available to buy. Opting for an older version can be a great way to save a bit of money, if you're not precious about having the most cutting-edge features.

You'll also notice I've separated my guide into product lines. I've added a short blurb at the start of each section, explaining who each range is primarily targeted towards and how the features are angled. However, bear in mind these are very broad definitions — there's lots of overlap between ranges, and all the main features you'd expect from a smartwatch will be included no matter which range you opt for. Hit the View details button for more info about each watch, and a link to our full review.

Garmin Forerunner

The Forerunner range is designed for runners, and offers strong GPS, distance and pace tracking, with further features geared towards training and improving performance. As well as the options listed here, there are two new, beginner-friendly Forerunner watches we're in the process of reviewing: the Forerunner 70 and the Forerunner 170, both of which went on sale on 15 May (the 70 replaces the veteran Forerunner 55).

The Forerunner lineup is extensive, and even the older models can still be worth a look — the soon-to-be-replaced Forerunner 55 was the watch worn by Sebastian Sawe as he smashed out his sub-two hour 2026 London Marathon.

Garmin Fenix

Fenix is Garmin's other main smartwatch range, this time geared towards a broader range of sports and outdoor activities, rather than focusing on running. The Fenix models boast features like topographical maps and waypoint tracking, and are designed to be rugged with long battery life. The current flagship model is the Fenix 8. Unlike the Forerunner lineup, the Fenix watch numbers increase with each new model.

Garmin Vivoactive

Vivoactive is a more affordable range, geared towards casual or beginner runners and anyone looking for a general lifestyle smartwatch. You'll still get plenty of fitness capabilities, as well as a big suite of general tracking and heath data tools, but with fewer advanced features than you'd get with a Forerunner.

Garmin Venu

Venu is more of a general lifestyle smartwatch range than one geared towards running and adventuring, although there are of course general fitness features built in. The most recent model is the Venu 4.

Garmin Instinct

Instinct is an rugged series geared towards anyone looking for a more affordable outdoors and adventuring watch with exceptional battery life for multi-day expeditions — particularly if you opt for one of the solar-charged models. The latest model out is the Instinct 3.

Garmin Enduro

The Enduro range is built for endurance athletes, with multisport features similar to the Fenix line, lighter plastic cases, and solar charging to extend battery life. It'll be overkill for casual use, but if you need a watch that can run for days without needing to be plugged in, this is the range for you.

Garmin Approach

Approach is Garmin's golf range, and it includes not only GPS-enabled smartwatches, but things like handheld rangefinders and launch monitors. The smartwatch range includes features such as full-color course maps, a 'Virtual Caddy' and a screen that remains readable even in bright sunlight.

More Garmin options

Finally, a grab-bag of some of Garmin's more niche propositions. The MARQ is Garmin's luxury watch effort, combining mechanical watch craftsmanship and styling with smartwatch features; the Lily is the brand's women-focused watch; the Tactix is an ultra-rugged option for survivalists and military personnel; Epix is like a premium-styled Fenix, for outdoor pursuits; and the Vivosmart is a fitness band rather than a full smartwatch; and the Descent series are smartwatch-style dive computers.

Keen to get started on your running journey? Well, you're in luck. Garmin has dropped three new contenders for our best Garmin watch list, and they're all affordably priced and brimming with running-focused features.

The Garmin Forerunner 70, 170 and 170 Music officially release on May 15. You might have pre-ordered one already, but if you're still looking, you also might be weighing up which model is right for you. Do you need the Forerunner 170 Music, or can you save money and opt for the cheaper Garmin Forerunner 70? I break down all the differences below, with a brief bit of context to explain how they compare to other Garmin watches in the range.

Note that I haven't yet had an opportunity to test the watches myself — I've looked at the statistics and feature lists from Garmin's official websites and promotional materials to put together this comparison.

Garmin Forerunner 70 vs Garmin Forerunner 170: Specifications