GRMN reached an intraday high of $304 on July 29 before ending the week at $293.78. Even after pulling back slightly, the company is up around 20% over the past five trading days and roughly 42% over six months.

From $187 to $304

It’s quite a remarkable turnaround.

Garmin shares closed at $187.10 on November 20 last year, after falling as low as $186.67 during the session. At the time, we covered the sharp decline as Garmin lost billions of dollars in market value following concerns around Outdoor growth and the timing of its Fenix launches.

From that November low to last week’s $304 peak, the stock has climbed about 62%. Even using Friday’s slightly lower closing price of $293.78, Garmin is still up roughly 57% from that trough.

That recovery did not happen in one go. By February, the stock had already climbed back towards $238 following Garmin’s full-year results, extending a rebound that had started around the holiday period. The share price then continued higher through the spring before breaking decisively through its previous record last week.

Before the latest move, Garmin’s previous all-time high stood at $273.32. The July 29 rally took the stock well beyond that level.

The company is now valued at around $56.7 billion based on Friday’s closing price.

Earnings provided the final push

The immediate trigger was Garmin’s second-quarter report on July 29. We have already gone into the wearable side of those results. The short version is that the underlying business remains strong enough for Garmin to increase its guidance, and investors responded far more enthusiastically than they did after several previous earnings reports.

There is an interesting contrast with last October and November. Garmin was still posting record revenue then, but weaker expectations around Outdoor were enough to send the stock sharply lower. Investors were paying more attention to what might happen next than to the numbers Garmin had already delivered.

This time the forward-looking message worked in Garmin’s favour. Management raised expected 2026 revenue from $7.9 billion to around $8.05 billion and increased its adjusted earnings forecast from $9.35 to $10 per share.

A very different Garmin from 20 years ago

The all-time chart also puts Garmin’s transformation into perspective.

Garmin went public in December 2000 at $14 per share, equivalent to $7 after its subsequent stock split. The company then became closely associated with standalone car navigation, and its nüvi products alone accounted for around 64% of total revenue in 2008.

That could easily have become a problem once smartphones made dedicated navigation devices far less important. Instead, Garmin gradually built sizeable businesses around fitness, outdoor products, aviation and marine electronics.

Wearables now sit at the centre of that shift. Garmin’s Fitness division generated $757 million in revenue during the latest quarter, while the company continues to expand beyond traditional GPS watches with products such as CIRQA and its growing training ecosystem.

There will inevitably be more swings in the share price. Garmin went from around $260 to $187 in little more than a month last year, so the recent run is a useful reminder of how quickly investor sentiment can move.

But $304 is now the number to beat. For the first time in Garmin’s history, the company has traded above $300 a share, completing a rather dramatic recovery from where things stood only last November.

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The reports do not establish that every watch running the software is affected. However, the number and variety of cases have grown since the update began rolling out on July 14.

Restarts are happening during and outside workouts

A Suunto Community Forum thread covering the Race 2 reboots now contains reports from several owners. One watch restarted four times following the update, while another locked up with a blank screen and required a forced restart.

The crashes are not limited to one type of activity. Owners have experienced them during walking, yoga and structured workouts, as well as when the watch was sitting on its regular watch face.

In some cases, the activity remained in the log after the watch restarted, but parts of the recording were missing. One owner retained the duration of a yoga session but lost its heart-rate data, while another said the watch frequently restarted at the end of a guide or interval.

The Vertical 2 is also involved. In Suunto’s crash-report collection thread, one owner said their Race 2 and Vertical 2 had been crashing every three or four runs with the current firmware.

Another Vertical 2 reportedly restarted 75 minutes into a trail run using navigation, Climb Guidance and a TrainingPeaks guide. A separate recording ended early and reached the app without its distance, GPS track, ascent, descent and pace-zone information.

Suunto is collecting logs but has not confirmed the cause

A Suunto community manager has acknowledged the reports involving the latest firmware and asked owners to send logs through the Suunto app. The company appears to be gathering information from different scenarios because some crashes involve guides, while others happen without them.

Some users have returned to the April firmware and say the restarts had not occurred on that version. This remains an owner-devised workaround, however, and Suunto has not publicly recommended rolling back.

Firmware 2.56.18 was meant to be a fairly substantial upgrade for both watches. It introduced map labels, configurable map layers, a Tide widget, updated GNSS firmware and storage for up to 200 routes. The software also included fixes for earlier restarts involving planned workouts and some SuuntoPlus apps.

That is particularly frustrating on watches built for long runs, hikes and races, where a restart can wipe out hours of useful data. Both performed reliably in our testing, with the Vertical 2 delivering solid GPS and heart-rate results and the Race 2 impressing with its navigation and battery life.

Owners who experience a crash should synchronise the watch and send logs through the app as soon as possible. Until Suunto provides more information, anyone preparing for an important race or long outing may want to test version 2.56.18 thoroughly before relying on it for the full recording.

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The images were published by The Mac Observer and reportedly show an unannounced device carrying the internal name Moto Watch Ultra. That may not necessarily be the final retail name, but the hardware looks considerably more ambitious than Motorola’s current watches.

The circular watch has a 46mm stainless steel case, a numbered bezel, a large rotating crown and a second button on the side. Markings on the rear also reveal built-in GPS, LTE connectivity, IP68 protection and water resistance to 50 metres, or 5ATM.

Interestingly, the Ultra is not actually bigger than Motorola’s existing round watch. The current Moto Watch uses a 47mm case, so Motorola appears to be putting the emphasis on materials and features rather than simply making another oversized Ultra watch.

LTE is part of the package

The LTE marking is probably the detail worth paying most attention to. Motorola’s current Moto Watch can handle calls through a connected phone, but it does not have cellular connectivity of its own.

That raises a fairly obvious question about the software. Motorola launched the current Polar-powered Moto Watch at CES earlier this year with its own lightweight operating system rather than Wear OS. The approach comes with limitations, including no third-party app store, but it also helps the watch stretch to a claimed 13 days of battery life.

LTE does not mean Motorola is switching to Wear OS. A cellular connection could work perfectly well with its existing platform, and there is no evidence in the leak confirming Google’s operating system.

Still, an LTE-equipped Ultra watch makes the software choice much more interesting. Motorola could build a more capable version of its current platform and retain the long battery life advantage, or it could use the Ultra as a route back into the full smartwatch market. For now, both possibilities are speculation.

Motorola’s smartwatch reset is starting to make more sense

The timing also fits with something we spotted earlier this year. In May, Motorola quietly reduced its smartwatch lineup to just two current models, removing the Moto Watch 40, Watch 70 and Watch 120 from its wearable pages. At the time, it looked less like routine housekeeping and more like a reset of a range that had become crowded with similar lower-cost watches.

That left the rectangular Moto Watch Fit covering the fitness-focused end of the range and the newer round Moto Watch sitting above it. Adding a Watch Ultra would give the lineup a much clearer third tier, particularly if Motorola intends to move beyond the affordable end of the smartwatch market.

The leaked model also appears better suited to that role. Stainless steel construction is a step up from the aluminium used on the current Moto Watch, while 5ATM water resistance is considerably more useful than the current model’s 1ATM rating. LTE would also give Motorola a feature it does not currently offer anywhere in the range.

These renders make Motorola’s recent wearable moves look a little less isolated. The company spent the first half of 2026 simplifying its range and strengthening the fitness side through Polar. The Watch Ultra could be the next part of that strategy, this time aimed considerably further up the smartwatch market.

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The app is available through the Zepp app store for many round Amazfit watches. Users can search for WatchFM or use app ID 1120343.

How WatchFM works

WatchFM streams audio from the internet rather than storing music on the watch. According to the WatchFM developer, there is no account, subscription or lengthy setup process.

The initial version includes three stations. These are SBS PopAsia, KIIS FM 102.7 and Z100, so the current selection mainly covers mainstream pop music.

The interface displays the station name, artist and current song. It also includes a spectrum display, listening statistics and volume controls that vary depending on the watch.

Audio can play through the watch speaker or paired Bluetooth headphones. Playback can also continue in the background while another app is open.

More importantly, WatchFM can run during a workout. Users can start a station, leave the app and record an activity without stopping the audio stream.

The app loads audio in buffered chunks. A full buffer can provide around five to ten minutes of playback, depending on the station, which may keep the music running briefly if the watch loses contact with the phone.

A phone is still required

WatchFM does not give the watch an independent mobile data connection. The Amazfit device must remain connected to a phone running the Zepp app.

There is also no option to download stations or save audio for offline use. Once the buffer runs out, playback stops until the watch reconnects.

The current release supports round watches using Zepp OS API 4.0 or newer. Support for square and rectangular models is planned, although the developer has not announced a date.

Regional availability may vary. Some users may not see WatchFM immediately in their local Zepp app store, even when their watch meets the software requirements.

A useful Zepp OS mini app

WatchFM is not a native Zepp Health feature. It is a third-party Zepp OS mini app developed by Silver, who also works as a software architect at Zepp Health. Many Zepp OS downloads are simple games, remote controls or small utilities, while WatchFM adds a feature that owners may use regularly.

It should work best on newer models with speakers and solid Bluetooth support. Devices such as the Amazfit Balance 3 run the newer Zepp OS platform needed for more capable mini apps. But many other watches have also now received support for Zepp OS 6. WatchFM shows how developers can use that platform for more than watch faces and basic tools.

The limited station selection and phone requirement prevent WatchFM from replacing a full music service. Still, it gives Amazfit owners a simple way to listen to live music without preparing and transferring playlists first.

The post Amazfit watches gain live radio through the WatchFM app appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The device carries the internal model number OW261 and is described as an “Outdoor Watch” in the regulatory paperwork. However, the packaging document included with the filing is considerably less discreet, naming the product Suunto Run 2 and displaying the finished retail box.

This appears to be a direct successor to the original Suunto Run, which launched in May 2025 with a 1.32-inch AMOLED display, dual-band GPS and onboard music storage. It is also a separate product from the recently leaked Suunto Race 3 and Race 3 S, giving Suunto at least three new sports watches somewhere in its pipeline.

The Run design appears to be staying

The small product render printed on the packaging shows a circular case with the familiar crown and button layout on the right side. Nothing in the image points to a major redesign, although the final materials, display dimensions and overall thickness remain unknown.

An internal frame drawing measures approximately 44.5mm across and 45.5mm vertically. Those are not the dimensions of the complete watch, but they suggest the Run 2 will remain in roughly the same 46mm size category as the current model rather than becoming a smaller running watch.

The antenna layout also shows Suunto using sections of the metal frame as part of the wireless system. The satellite antenna sits near the lower-left side of the watch, while the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antenna is positioned towards the upper-left.

Only the All Black version appears in this filing. That does not mean it will be the only colour, as manufacturers commonly submit one representative model while preparing several retail variants.

Dual-frequency GPS returns

The antenna specification confirms GPS L1 and L5 support, which means the Run 2 will continue to offer dual-frequency positioning. This was already one of the stronger features of the first-generation Run, so the filing does not reveal whether Suunto is changing the satellite chipset or improving accuracy through a revised antenna design.

Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy are also supported. The current Run uses Bluetooth for syncing, sensor connections and direct headphone pairing, so local music playback is likely to remain, although the public documents do not confirm storage capacity or audio features.

The Run 2 also gains both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi support. So that’s something that is new. The test report includes 802.11a, b, g, n, ac and ax modes, although the watch uses 20MHz channels and a single internal antenna.

Suunto has not explained what it plans to do with Wi-Fi. Direct firmware updates, quicker music transfers and background synchronisation are the most obvious possibilities. Offline map downloads are another possibility, but there is currently no evidence that Run 2 will include maps or move closer to the Race series.

The test unit uses an internal 3.8V battery, but the filing does not disclose its capacity or expected runtime. There is also no sign of cellular connectivity or NFC in the available radio documents, making phone-free calls and contactless payments unlikely.

Launch timing remains unclear

The packaging artwork carries a July 14, 2026 date, while the FCC approved the device on July 30. Finished retail packaging usually means development has moved well beyond the prototype stage, but it does not guarantee that an announcement is only weeks away.

Suunto has requested temporary confidentiality for the user manual, external photographs, internal photographs and test setup images. Those documents are scheduled to become public on January 27, 2027, although Suunto can ask for them to be released earlier when it announces the watch.

The first Suunto Run arrived only a little over a year ago, so an immediate replacement would make for a fairly short product cycle. A launch later in 2026 or during the first part of 2027 looks plausible, but the filing itself provides no confirmed release date.

The post Suunto Run 2 clears the FCC ahead of launch appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

US patent application 2026/0219706 A1 was published on July 30. This does not confirm that an Amazfit Helio Ring 2 is around the corner, but it gives us a useful look at the ideas Huami has explored for its smart ring platform.

The patent claims priority from an earlier Chinese filing made in October 2023. That means the underlying work began before the first Helio Ring reached the market, and several parts of the design overlap with the current model.

Those include optical heart rate and blood oxygen tracking, skin temperature measurement and electrodermal activity. In our Amazfit Helio Ring review, I found the first-generation device particularly strong during exercise, an area where many smart rings still struggle.

The more interesting parts of the patent describe features that the current ring does not offer. This includes body composition measurements and ECG recording.

One pair of electrodes could do several jobs

The proposed ring has two large, curved electrodes running around most of its inner surface. Together, they can cover more than two-thirds of the ring’s internal circumference, giving them a larger contact area with the finger.

Huami says these electrodes could collect electrodermal activity, body impedance, ECG and temperature signals. They could also act as charging contacts when the ring is placed inside its case.

Using the same electrodes for several functions would reduce the need for separate contacts and free up space inside the ring. The patent describes switching circuitry that changes how the electrodes connect depending on whether the ring is collecting health data or charging.

The drawings also show a curved battery and circuit board occupying separate sections around the ring. Huami says this arrangement can use the available space more efficiently and reduce the thickness of the device.

A charging case would be another useful change. The original Helio Ring uses a small dock, which worked reliably during our testing but could be fiddly when aligning the ring.

Body composition looks like the strongest upgrade

Body composition is one of the potential new features. The patent describes using bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate measurements such as body fat.

A basic version could use the two electrodes inside the ring. A more advanced setup could add conductive areas to the outside, allowing the wearer to touch the ring with another finger and create a longer electrical path through the body.

Huami also describes combining the ring with another wearable. One example uses an electrode on a smartwatch as an additional contact point, allowing the watch and ring to perform a multi-electrode body composition measurement together.

ECG and improved optical tracking are also possible

The electrodes could also capture ECG signals. The patent does not describe a finished ECG feature or explain how the wearer would complete a reading, but an outer contact could let someone touch the ring with their opposite hand in much the same way as a smartwatch ECG.

Huami also explores more elaborate optical sensor layouts. These can include multiple light emitters and detectors, convex lenses and several optical paths with different distances between components.

Using several paths could help the ring find a cleaner signal when its position changes or when the fit is less than perfect. It could improve heart rate, blood oxygen and movement performance without relying solely on tighter contact with the finger.

The patent briefly mentions blood pressure and glucose among the measurements an optical sensor might support. However, it provides no detailed method for either feature, so those references are too broad to treat as evidence of a glucose or blood pressure ring.

There is no guarantee that all this will appear in a second-generation Helio Ring. Still, the document shows where Huami sees room to expand. A future model could be slimmer, easier to charge and capable of body composition or ECG.

That would give the Helio line a clearer identity in an increasingly crowded category. The first model already holds its own among the best smart rings available today, but these extra features might make the next version stand out more.

The post Next Amazfit Helio Ring could add body composition and ECG appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

Garmin’s Fitness business had another strong quarter, with revenue rising 25% to $757 million. Outdoor moved in the opposite direction, falling 2% to $483 million, partly because of weaker sales across the adventure watch category.

That is not a dramatic decline on its own. The more interesting detail is Garmin’s explanation of what comes next.

New launches should lift Outdoor sales

Garmin expects stronger Outdoor revenue during the second half of 2026 because of the timing of upcoming product launches. It made a similar point earlier this year, when the company outlined a launch-heavy second half for its Outdoor division.

The latest earnings call shows that plan has not changed. Garmin still expects full-year Outdoor growth to improve compared with 2025, despite revenue declining during both the first and second quarters.

No specific watch was mentioned. Garmin did not confirm the Fenix 9, Enduro 4 or a new Instinct model, and it offered no launch dates.

Still, Enduro 4 currently looks like the most concrete candidate. Our Garmin Connect 5.26 teardown uncovered an Enduro 4 device entry, complete with internal ID 5179 and category flags for fitness, outdoor, golf and wellness.

That does not tell us what the watch will look like or when it will arrive. However, Garmin is clearly preparing its software to recognise the device, while its financial guidance assumes stronger Outdoor sales later this year.

The Enduro series has also followed a fairly tidy two-year rhythm. Enduro 2 arrived in August 2022, followed by Enduro 3 in August 2024. An August or September 2026 release would fit that pattern.

CIRQA demand beat Garmin’s expectations

The call also provided Garmin’s first proper comment on early CIRQA demand.

An analyst pointed out that the screenless band appeared to be sold out, with estimated delivery times stretching to between five and eight weeks. Garmin CEO Cliff Pemble said the delays were being driven by both supply and demand, but confirmed that the response had exceeded the company’s forecasts.

Pemble described early demand as ahead of anything Garmin had imagined. The company now expects to spend some time working through back orders, while initial device registrations have also been strong.

We recently covered the long CIRQA shipping delays across different regions. The earnings call now confirms that Garmin did not simply assign conservative delivery estimates. Actual demand has come in above its expectations.

Garmin also clarified how subscriptions work with CIRQA. The band includes the normal health, fitness and recovery features available through Garmin Connect without requiring a subscription. Connect+ remains optional. It adds extras such as AI features, nutrition tracking and other tools Garmin plans to introduce later.

Garmin is still exploring other wearable formats

When asked whether the company planned to enter other wearable form factors, Pemble declined to discuss the product roadmap directly. He did say Garmin regularly explores new categories and described its current roadmap as very rich.

That is not confirmation of a Garmin smart ring, sensor patch or another specific device. It does, however, show that Garmin sees CIRQA as more than an isolated experiment.

The initial demand gives Garmin a reason to keep exploring. A screenless band lets existing Garmin users collect sleep and recovery data without wearing a large sports watch around the clock. It also opens Garmin Connect to people who may not want a watch at all.

Sources: Garmin’s Q2 2026 earnings release, Q2 2026 earnings call.

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Garmin CIRQA is the better buy for existing Garmin users and anyone who wants detailed training metrics without another mandatory annual payment. Whoop remains the stronger recovery coach, but it now has to justify a subscription costing at least $199 every year.

Garmin’s entry into the screenless tracker category was always going to invite this comparison. CIRQA covers much of the same ground as Whoop, including continuous heart rate, sleep, recovery and workout tracking, but the two companies take very different routes once the data reaches the smartphone.

The biggest difference is not the hardware

CIRQA is essentially a Garmin sports watch without the screen, GPS chip and most of the controls. It records the familiar Garmin metrics, sends them to Garmin Connect and works alongside the company’s watches and cycling computers.

CIRQA also sits between cheaper screenless trackers and more coaching-focused platforms. Our Garmin CIRQA vs Fitbit Air comparison looks at how it stacks up against this simpler and more affordable alternative.

Whoop starts from a different place. The band collects the data, but the real product is the app and the way it connects Recovery, Strain, sleep and everyday behaviour.

That distinction became clear during my Whoop review. The hardware was comfortable and easy to forget, but the more useful part was how Whoop encouraged me to pay attention to recovery instead of constantly chasing faster times and a higher VO2 max.

That opinion still applies. Whoop presents its numbers as a daily plan, while Garmin gives you a larger collection of metrics and leaves more of the interpretation to you.

CIRQA is much cheaper over time

Garmin CIRQA costs $199.99. Its main health, sleep, recovery and training features work without a Garmin Connect+ subscription.

Connect+ remains optional at $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. It adds features including Active Intelligence, expanded dashboards and access to some coaching tools, but CIRQA does not stop working when the subscription ends. Plus, you don’t really need the subscription.

Garmin CIRQA

Screenless tracking with no required subscription

View on Amazon View on Garmin

Whoop takes the opposite approach. The tracker comes with the membership, but an active plan is required to continue using the platform.

Whoop One starts at $199 per year, while Peak costs $239. The $359 Life plan includes Whoop MG and its additional heart features.

Whoop

Recovery, strain and sleep coaching with membership

View on Whoop

That makes the long-term calculation fairly brutal. Three years with CIRQA can cost $199.99, while three years of the cheapest Whoop plan costs at least $597.

The difference grows to $717 with Peak and $1,077 with Life. Whoop therefore needs to provide continuing value every year, rather than simply offer a slightly better app.

Whoop is easier to wear and charge

CIRQA is lighter, but it takes up more space along the wrist. Its body measures 47mm from end to end, compared with 34.7mm for Whoop 5.0.

Whoop is slightly narrower but thicker, so neither device wins the comfort comparison purely from the numbers. Wrist shape, band tension and where the sensor sits will probably have more influence than a few millimetres.

CIRQA’s length looks more intimidating in comparison images than its weight suggests. It comes in at a little over 20 grams with the band, while Whoop 5.0 weighs around 26.5 grams.

My experience with Whoop suggests its woven band should remain comfortable during continuous wear. The low-profile shape also works well during activities where a normal watch becomes awkward.

Whoop has the clearer advantage when charging. Its battery lasts more than 14 days, compared with up to 10 days for CIRQA.

The Wireless PowerPack available with the higher Whoop memberships slides over the tracker while it remains on the body. CIRQA uses Garmin’s familiar charging cable and needs to come off the wrist, creating a small gap in the data each time.

Garmin gives you more conventional training tools

CIRQA supports more than 80 activity profiles, automatic workout detection and connected GPS. Its physical button can also start and stop one favourite activity without opening Garmin Connect.

The band feeds into Training Readiness, Training Status, VO2 max, recovery time, workout benefit and Garmin’s wider training-load system. It can broadcast heart rate over ANT+ and Bluetooth, which gives it a useful role alongside other Garmin devices.

Whoop supports more individual activity types, but its approach is less conventional. The app concentrates on how much Strain the workout produced and what that exertion is likely to do to tomorrow’s Recovery.

That is useful, but runners and cyclists may find Garmin’s platform more complete. Garmin Connect gives you more recognisable workout records, routes, pace data and performance trends, while Whoop is better at explaining how hard the session was for your body.

Neither band has built-in GPS or a display. Anyone who needs navigation, live pacing or detailed data fields during a run will still need a phone, sports watch or cycling computer.

Accuracy also remains an open question. CIRQA uses a modified version of Garmin’s Elevate Gen 4 optical sensor, while Whoop collects heart-rate data 26 times per second with its newer PPG hardware.

The faster sampling rate does not guarantee better results. Whoop can still struggle with wrist movement and rapid heart-rate changes, while CIRQA needs broader independent testing across running, cycling and strength sessions before it earns an accuracy win.

Whoop still explains recovery better

Where Whoop has made a name for itself is in recovery tracking. Garmin offers these metrics as well, but Whoop connects the info more effectively. Recovery, Strain and Sleep operate as parts of the same system rather than separate numbers competing for space inside an app.

Whoop can show whether you are ready to train, suggest a daily Strain target and adjust your sleep requirement around previous exercise and accumulated sleep debt. It’s simple and it works. The Journal then connects behaviours such as alcohol, caffeine, supplements and late meals with changes in Recovery.

That remains Whoop’s most useful advantage. It turns the tracker into a structured self-experiment rather than simply another source of graphs.

Garmin provides Body Battery, Training Readiness, HRV Status, stress, sleep score, recovery time and Training Status. The information is useful, but there is overlap between some of the scores, and Garmin Connect does not always explain the relationship between them particularly well.

The new Essentials section improves the situation by bringing key recovery information closer to the front of the app. Even so, Whoop remains better at reducing a complicated physiological picture into a small number of decisions.

Health tracking is closer than it looks

Both trackers record continuous heart rate, resting heart rate, HRV, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature and sleep. Each also provides a vibration alarm, although Garmin offers a Smart Wake feature that aims to wake the user at a lighter point in the sleep cycle.

CIRQA includes abnormal heart-rate alerts, stress tracking, nap detection, menstrual tracking and sleep-based temperature data. Most of those features work without Connect+.

Standard Whoop 5.0 does not have ECG. That feature belongs to Whoop MG, which comes with the $359 annual Life membership.

MG also adds irregular heart rhythm notifications and daily blood-pressure insights where available. Those features give Whoop a higher health ceiling, but they sit in a much more expensive version of the product.

For most buyers comparing CIRQA with standard Whoop 5.0, the health sensors are not the deciding factor. The larger differences remain software, training style and cost.

Existing Garmin users have an easy decision

CIRQA makes the most sense as a companion to another Garmin device. It can handle sleep, daily health and background activity, while a Forerunner, Fenix or Edge takes over during serious training.

That keeps the data inside Garmin Connect. Users do not have to compare two recovery scores, maintain separate histories or decide whether Garmin or Whoop should act as the main authority on their training.

It also gives Garmin owners a practical way to wear a mechanical watch during the day. CIRQA can continue collecting health data on the other wrist or upper arm without displaying notifications or adding another screen.

Whoop works with services including Strava, Apple Health and Health Connect, but it remains a separate recovery platform. That is useful for people who mix devices from several brands.

Someone already paying for Whoop and using its Journal regularly may not gain much from moving immediately. Someone wearing a Garmin watch for training while paying Whoop for recovery now has a much stronger reason to consolidate.

The post Garmin CIRQA vs Whoop: One payment or a yearly subscription appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

Tipster Yogesh Brar claims the Nothing smartwatch will initially reach a limited number of markets. Further information is expected soon, but there are no product images, specifications or model names attached to the leak yet.

Nothing already sells watches through its more affordable CMF sub-brand. However, this would be the first model to carry the Nothing name directly, suggesting it may sit considerably higher in the company’s product range.

A different watch from the CMF line

The current CMF Watch 3 Pro combines a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with dual-band GPS, Bluetooth calling and up to 13 days of battery life. It covers the basics well, but uses a lightweight operating system with limited app support rather than Google’s Wear OS.

A price below $300 would leave Nothing plenty of room above that device. It would also put the new watch closer to models from OnePlus, Samsung and Google, where buyers expect more capable software, third-party apps and stronger integration with their phones.

That makes the operating system the biggest unanswered question. Nothing could produce a more polished version of the platform used by CMF, retaining long battery life while focusing on design and basic health tracking. Alternatively, it could adopt Wear OS and offer something closer to a full smartwatch.

Wear OS would make the reported price easier to understand, but it would also bring shorter battery life and place Nothing in a much more competitive part of the market. A custom platform would give the company more control over the interface, although charging close to $300 for an RTOS watch would require something more substantial than a transparent case and familiar health features.

Nothing has already brought its watches closer

There have been signs that Nothing wants to treat wearables as a larger part of its ecosystem. The company previously moved CMF Watch support into the Nothing X app, retiring the separate CMF Watch application and bringing watches, earbuds and other connected products under the same roof.

Nothing described the underlying app architecture as suitable for future CMF Watch development. In hindsight, consolidating watch support inside Nothing X could also provide the foundation for a main-brand wearable.

The reference to Nothing’s design DNA is less revealing than it sounds. It probably means some combination of transparent elements, exposed-looking components and the dot-matrix graphics used across the company’s phones and accessories. Whether that produces a transparent case, a distinctive watch face or something more unusual is still open to interpretation.

A September launch is close enough that further leaks should not be far away. For now, the interesting part is the positioning. Nothing does not appear to be preparing another inexpensive fitness watch. The reported price suggests a more ambitious wearable, and the choice between Wear OS and a custom platform will tell us just how ambitious it really is.

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7.8

Design 8.5/10

Ease of use 8.0/10

Use of information 7.5/10

Value for money 7.5/10

Pros

• – One of the better-looking watches I have tested
• – Bright and easy-to-read AMOLED display
• – Responsive crown, button and touchscreen
• – Good everyday health and fitness tracking
• – Strong accuracy in running comparisons

Cons

• – GPS can be slow to connect in built-up areas
• – No third-party app store

Design and comfort

The Honor Watch 6 is a big watch, but it does not feel especially bulky on the wrist. The 46.5mm case sounds huge on paper, yet the relatively slim 10.8mm body helps keep it under control.

Honor sells it in two versions. Shadow Black comes with a black fluoroelastomer strap, while Twilight Brown pairs a silver case with a brown leather strap. I have the Twilight Brown model, and it is one of the better-looking watches I have worn recently. The silver case and brown strap work well together.

Using it is straightforward. The rotating crown lets you move quickly through menus, while the flat button underneath takes you straight into workouts. Both respond instantly, and the touchscreen feels just as quick. I never found myself waiting for the interface to catch up.

The 1.46-inch AMOLED screen is another strong point. It is bright, sharp and easy to read outside thanks to a peak 3000 nits of brightness. I normally need glasses, but I could still check my running stats mid-run without them. The large display helps, but Honor also makes good use of the space.

The screen also stays cleaner than most. Some watches pick up fingerprints almost as soon as you touch them, but that has not been much of an issue here. It sounds like a small thing, but it helps the watch keep its good looks.

The leather strap is soft enough for all-day and overnight wear, although I am not convinced it feels quite as high-end as the rest of the watch. I tighten it for runs so the watch stays put, although silicone is the better option for running and swimming. The quick-release pins make changing straps easy.

Worth noting – there is only one case size, but I would not automatically rule it out if you have a smaller wrist. It works fine on mine, and the slim profile keeps it from feeling awkward. Overall, the Watch 6 has been comfortable to wear and is easily one of the nicer-looking models I have tested lately.

Under the hood

Under the hood, Honor has focused on the parts that affect everyday use. But it’s not trying to turn the Watch 6 into a miniature phone.

The dual-band GPS is important for anyone planning to use the watch for running or cycling. It supports both L1 and L5 frequencies, along with GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS and NavIC. That gives it the right tools for dealing with tree cover, tall buildings and other places where cheaper GPS setups often start to wander.

Honor does not reveal the processor or memory, but the watch never feels underpowered. Menus open quickly, scrolling is smooth and moving between widgets or workout screens does not bring any obvious hesitation. That matters more here than a processor name most buyers would never recognise.

The sensor lineup covers optical heart rate, blood oxygen, movement, direction, altitude and ambient light. These feed into the usual mix of sleep, stress, activity and workout tracking. There is no ECG or temperature sensor, so the Watch 6 does not try to compete with more expensive health-focused models on every front.

You also get a microphone and speaker for Bluetooth calls, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4 and 4GB of storage. Music can be stored locally, but there is no streaming support or proper third-party app store. Android and iPhone compatibility is broad, although features such as payments and notification replies can still vary by region and handset.

Battery life

Battery life is one of the main reasons to consider the Honor Watch 6. Honor has managed to squeeze a 980mAh battery into a relatively slim case, which gives the watch far more breathing room than most mainstream smartwatches.

The headline figure is up to 35 days, but that comes from Honor’s stripped-back long-endurance mode. The more relevant claim is up to 17 days with standard use, while continuous outdoor GPS tracking is rated at up to 42 hours. As always, features such as the always-on display, continuous health monitoring, calls and regular GPS workouts will pull that figure down.

I have been using the watch with all the bells and whistles switched on, along with regular notifications and workout tracking. It has been 10 days since my initial charge and the watch is still going strong. So the battery claims seem reasonable.

What is clear is that the Watch 6 does not create the usual battery anxiety. You can wear it overnight, track several workouts and leave the charger behind for a trip without watching the percentage every few hours.

Health and fitness features

Honor covers the basics well. Heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, HRV, steps and sleep are all tracked, and there is a quick health scan when you want several readings in one go. You also get a morning report that pulls together the previous day and night without making you dig through the app.

The Honor Health app is easy to get around. The main Health screen gives you a quick look at your latest numbers, and tapping on any of them opens the longer-term view. You can switch between daily, weekly, monthly and yearly data.

Accuracy has been reasonable in my testing. Nothing jumped out as obviously wrong, and the results were consistent enough for keeping an eye on general trends. Other reviewers have had more mixed results, particularly with the step counter, which sometimes ran high.

The watch also turns some of that data into broader fitness estimates. My VO2 max came out at 45 ml/kg/min, while Honor put my fitness age at 47, nine years below my actual age. The app even labelled both results as “Professional”, which is flattering, although probably best taken with a pinch of salt.

Body Energy works along similar lines, combining heart rate, HRV, sleep and stress into a single estimate of how much you have in the tank. It is a handy number to glance at, although Honor does not make it the centre of the experience.

The watch does track HRV, but there is no separate screen where you can view the readings. Instead, Honor folds the data into the Body Energy score, which feels like a missed opportunity if you like keeping an eye on HRV trends.

Sleep tracking covers overall duration, deep sleep, light sleep, REM and time awake. I found it easy to wear the watch overnight, and the results looked reasonable. Nap detection can be a bit hit and miss, though.

There are limits. The Watch 6 does not have ECG or skin temperature tracking, while the blood pressure trend feature available in some regions is not offered in Europe. I would have liked to see that included.

Still, the everyday health package does not feel stripped back. The main features are here, the app is simple to use and the accuracy has been good enough for day-to-day tracking.

Sports tracking

There are 122 sports modes, so finding the activity you want is not a problem. Starting a workout is quick too, especially with the lower button taking you straight to the exercise menu. The large screen also helps while you are moving, as the key numbers are easy to read at a glance.

Not every mode goes particularly deep. Running gets far more attention, while plenty of the others mainly track time, heart rate and calories. Once you finish, the Honor Health app does a good job of laying everything out without making it feel messy. It is more than enough for everyday exercise, although serious training tools are not really what this watch is about.

I did several runs with the Honor Watch 6 on one wrist and a Garmin on the other in Central London. This 29 minute 49 second run is a good example of the results I was seeing.

Honor measured 5.09km, while Garmin came in at 5.01km. That gave me an average pace of 5:51 per kilometre on the Honor and 5:57 on the Garmin. The Honor was around 1.6% longer, which is a small enough difference for general running through a heavily built-up area.

The other basic numbers lined up very well. Both watches recorded an average heart rate of 133 bpm, with maximum readings of 155 bpm on Honor and 154 bpm on Garmin. This was in line with a Frontier X chest strap I wore for the same run.

Average cadence was identical at 176 steps per minute, while the maximum was 186 on Honor and 189 on Garmin. Stride length was also close at 97cm versus 95cm, with the small difference matching Honor’s slightly longer distance.

Calories were reasonably close too. Honor estimated 403 calories, compared with 375 total calories from Garmin. The altitude readings were less convincing. Honor showed a range from 9.5 to 14.4 metres, while Garmin ranged from minus 11 to 14 metres and calculated 33 metres of ascent. This was a fairly flat London run, so I would not put much weight on either watch’s elevation totals here.

Both apps provide plenty of extra information after a run. Honor gave me aerobic training stress, recovery time, heart-rate and pace zones, kilometre splits and running-form estimates such as ground contact time, left-right balance and vertical movement. Garmin goes further with power, stamina, training load and more established running dynamics, but Honor still gives casual runners plenty to look through.

The training estimates did not match particularly closely. Honor rated the session at 2.1 for aerobic stress and suggested 14 hours of recovery, while Garmin gave it a 3.4 aerobic training effect and classified it as a base run. That is not necessarily a problem, as the two companies use different algorithms, but it shows why these scores are better used for trends within one platform rather than compared directly.

The bigger issue is getting started. Garmin usually found GPS first, while the Honor could take noticeably longer. In built-up parts of London, it occasionally needed a few minutes to lock on. Once connected, though, the Honor Watch 6 produced distance, pace, heart-rate and cadence figures that were impressively close to the Garmin.

Smartwatch features

The Watch 6 runs Honor’s MagicOS, but it feels more like a fitness watch with a few smart extras than a full smartwatch platform. There is no app store, so you cannot add Spotify, Google Maps or other third-party services later. What you get out of the box is broadly what you are going to have.

That did not bother me much in everyday use. The interface is quick, the rotating crown makes getting around easy and notifications are clear on the large screen. They are grouped by app and show enough of each message to tell whether it is worth reaching for the phone.

Calls have also worked well. The speaker is surprisingly loud, and voices come through clearly at both ends, even in noisier surroundings. You can also control music and use the usual alarms, timers and weather tools.

I noticed some rough edges, though, when the watch starts talking to the phone. I tested it with an iPhone and the Honor Health app would occasionally lose its connection. The watch was still listed in Bluetooth, but I had to open the iPhone settings and tap it before the app would reconnect. It did not happen constantly, but it happened often enough to become annoying.

Honor Health was also very persistent about getting access to my contacts. I did not want to allow it, but the request kept returning and there was no obvious way to dismiss it permanently. These feel more like annoying software quirks than major problems, and hopefully Honor will clear them up in future updates.

All things considered, for everyday use, the Watch 6 still covers the main smartwatch features well. The interface is quick, notifications are easy to read and calls work directly from the wrist. It does not offer the same app selection as an Apple Watch or Wear OS model, but not everyone needs that level of depth.

View Honor Watch 6 on Honor’s website.

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