I walked 29,000 steps with the Garmin Cirqa in Berlin — 5 things I learned along the way
I logged my time covering the IFA tech show in Berlin using the new Garmin Cirqa screen-free fitness tracker. Here's what it did well and where it came up short.
During the 2026 Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) tech conference in Berlin, I wore the Garmin Cirqa fitness tracker to monitor my activity levels. Over the course of two days, I logged an impressive 28,000 steps, covering more ground than I expected, especially on the first day before the show's public opening. The Garmin Cirqa proved to be a comfortable and long-lasting wearable, but it had a few drawbacks.
My first-day step count of 17,902 exceeded any other single day during my coverage of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but it still fell short of CES day one, where I logged 20,253 steps. The Garmin Cirqa's screen-free design and discreet appearance worked well for me, but I realized its limitations concerning GPS and pace tracking. Commuting on Berlin's U-Bahn system seemed to skew the Garmin Cirqa's distance and pace data, as it inaccurately calculated my movements while riding the train.
While I found the Garmin Cirqa to be comfortable and suitable for tracking my steps, I decided not to wear it during future tech conferences. The lack of GPS interference with the tracker's accuracy and the preference for a device capable of distinguishing between walking and subway time led me to explore other wearable options.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Guide's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
