Garmin CIRQA’s live heart rate paywall makes little sense

CIRQA tracks heart rate continuously, but during a workout the free Garmin Connect screen appears to show only average heart rate, not your current live reading. To see live heart-rate data in the workout interface, Garmin wants users to pay for Connect+.

A basic number goes missing

The issue was highlighted by DC Rainmaker during his early testing of CIRQA. Start an activity through Garmin Connect without a subscription and the app gives you elapsed time and average heart rate, but not the live number most people would actually want to check during exercise.

That is a strange restriction for a $199 screenless heart-rate band. The phone effectively becomes the display, particularly during gym sessions, indoor cycling, strength workouts or runs where someone wants to stay inside a target heart-rate range.

Garmin has already built the fuller Live Activity interface. Connect+ adds a heart-rate graph, heart-rate zones and guided workout content, all of which make more sense as paid extras. Hiding the basic current reading is much harder to explain.

Garmin’s wording adds to the confusion

The situation gets more awkward because Garmin says users can see basic activity data in Garmin Connect, including current heart rate and time. On the same product page, the company describes live graphs and heart-rate-zone information as Connect+ features.

That wording suggests the live number should remain free while the graph and zone visualisations sit behind the subscription. Based on the early testing and discussion from CIRQA owners, that does not seem to be how the app currently behaves.

It is not clear whether this is a launch bug, unfinished software or a deliberate Connect+ restriction. Garmin needs to clarify it because the current experience does not match the way the feature is described.

There is a workaround – kind of…

CIRQA can broadcast live heart rate to a compatible Garmin watch, Edge cycling computer or another supported device. That should work well for existing Garmin users who want to wear CIRQA during the day and use a separate device as their main training screen.

We touched on that ecosystem advantage in our Garmin CIRQA vs Fitbit Air comparison. It does not help someone who bought CIRQA specifically to avoid wearing a sports watch and expected Garmin Connect to provide the display during workouts.

Some might argue that a screenless tracker does not need live data. That misses the point. A screenless band does not remove the need for feedback, it simply moves that feedback to another screen.

When we first covered the early Garmin CIRQA listing, one of the obvious questions was how much Garmin would place behind Connect+. Most of the main health and recovery experience remains available without paying, which is good, but live workout heart rate is about as basic as exercise data gets.

Garmin could fix this neatly by keeping the current heart-rate number free and reserving graphs, zone breakdowns and guided sessions for Connect+. That would better match its product wording and make the subscription split much easier to understand.