AI Summary
5 min readIn 2026, a strange thing is happening in the wearable market. Fitness trackers are losing their screens. The Garmin Circa, the Google Fitbit Air, and the original Whoop all share the same basic shape: a small pill-shaped sensor inside a fabric strap, with no display, no touchscreen, and no way to glance at your wrist mid-run. This is not a niche experiment. It is a trend with three major players, and it signals a real shift in what people want from the technology they wear.
The "Whoop Doop" pattern and what it gets right
The Garmin Circa, which journalist Victoria Song had on her arm during the conversation, is the latest entry in this category. It is a screenless fitness band that relies on connected GPS (meaning you need your phone for location tracking), offers about 10 days of battery life, and targets a more casual, lifestyle-oriented user than Garmin's hardcore adventure watches. But the hardware is almost identical to the Whoop and the Fitbit Air. Song noted that Garmin pitched the Circa as a companion device for existing smartwatch users—something more comfortable to wear while sleeping, for example, compared to a chunky Fenix.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:57) **Introducing the "Whoop Dupe" Trend** - David brings on Victoria Song to discuss the rise of screenless fitness trackers that look like the Whoop.
- 2 (04:32) **The Garmin Circa: A "Lifestyle" Whoop Dupe** - Victoria describes the Garmin Circa, its target audience, and how it fits into Garmin's broader lineup.
- 3 (06:38) **The Shared Aesthetic and Whoop's Innovation** - David and Victoria analyze the nearly identical hardware design of these devices and what Whoop originally solved.
- 4 (09:13) **The Paradox of Whoop's Appeal** - David explores the surprising fact that Whoop, a screenless device, is most popular with elite athletes, not casual users.
- 5 (12:59) **The Technical Trade-Offs of Screenless Trackers** - The hosts discuss what you lose and gain by choosing a screenless fitness band over a smartwatch.
- 6 (15:08) **The Multi-Device Ecosystem** - Victoria suggests the best experience might be wearing a screenless tracker alongside a smartwatch, not replacing one with the other.
- 7 (19:28) **Subscription Models: Premium Status vs. Affordability** - The hosts break down how subscriptions factor into the value proposition of Whoop, Oura, Fitbit, and Garmin.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
For the last few years, the trend in wearables has been all about screens. As many of them as possible. But now, companies like Whoop, Fitbit, and Garmin are creating new products that ditch the display entirely. The Verge's Victoria Song explains why no-screen is the new flex, why even the most quantified athletes might not want a display on their wrist, and whether Whoop and the Whoop Dupes are a sign of a broader trend
Further reading:
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