Fitbit Air Beats Garmin Cirqa in 7,000-Step Test as $99 Tracker Tops $199 Rival
Updated
Updated · Tom's Guide · Jul 27
Fitbit Air Beats Garmin Cirqa in 7,000-Step Test as $99 Tracker Tops $199 Rival
3 articles · Updated · Tom's Guide · Jul 27
Summary
A 7,000-step walk test found the Fitbit Air missed the manual count by just 10 steps, while the Garmin Cirqa overcounted by 70.
Dan Bracaglia manually tallied every 100 steps over about an hour in Seattle, with Strava on an iPhone 16 Plus serving as a control that also finished 10 steps high.
The Fitbit Air also matched Strava’s 3.86-mile distance, but its elevation reading came in at 236 feet versus Strava’s 405 feet, extending earlier concerns about climb accuracy.
Garmin’s Cirqa failed to log distance, climb or pace because the workout was recorded as a generic session rather than an outdoor walk, limiting the comparison beyond step counts.
Heart-rate results were inconclusive without control data, though the test follows an earlier 4,000-step comparison that also gave Fitbit Air a narrow edge.