Garmin could finally take on Whoop with a screenless fitness tracker next week — here’s what to expect

• A major Garmin launch is rumored for next week
• We think it could be the screenless Cirqa smart band
• Another possibility is a new Forerunner watch

The best Garmin watches are some of the leading wearables currently on the market, and it seems Garmin might be adding to its portfolio of devices before March 2026 is over if the latest rumor is to be believed.

This is a rumor that's quite difficult to pin down the sources for, but it seems to be from well-known tipster the5krunner with input from DC Rainmaker and via Notebookcheck — and the rumor is that there's "some goodness" on the way from Garmin next week.

Another unnamed source has told the5krunner that there's a "significant drop" coming from Garmin in the very near future, backing up the idea that we're about to see something new from the company. Next week is the last full week of March of course, giving Garmin a window of several days to get its new product out.

So what actually is it going to be? Nothing is certain yet, but most indications suggest we're going to get the Cirqa smart band that leaked earlier this year, a screenless fitness tracker ready to take on Whoop directly.

Multiple possibilities

The Cirqa briefly popped up on Garmin's website in January, but the listing didn't tell us too much: two sizes, two colors (black and gray), and shipping in 4-5 months (which at that time would line up with May or June).

However, it's not hard to imagine what Garmin may come up with, if it's following the template laid down by Whoop (and other competitors such as Polar): a lightweight but intelligent tracker with no display, that feeds all of your health and fitness stats back to the companion app on your phone.

While this is likely to be what we see next week though, it's not the only possibility. A tip over on Reddit suggests the Cirqa is coming later in the year, between April and June. It's not clear if this is referring to when the device will be unveiled or when it will actually ship to customers — and those dates may not be the same, of course.

Other rumors floating around this week suggest we may see a new Forerunner smartwatch or even swimming goggles from Garmin, but if we had to make a prediction at this stage, it's the Cirqa smart band that seems the most probable launch.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.