A Garmin sleep band has been a standard request on the Garmin boards and subreddit for years. Some hate sporting a cumbersome Garmin watch to mattress, however do not need to miss out on Physique Battery knowledge. Others need the identical Garmin health knowledge with out the watch kind issue, preferring to put on luxurious watches throughout the day.
It seems these Garmin followers will lastly get their want, as The5krunner (by way of Garmin Rumors) experiences being “100% certain” {that a} Whoop-like Garmin armband will arrive by July or August 2025, primarily based on a supply, with some key particulars of what to anticipate from it.
Basically, this “Garmin Sleep Band” — the identify comes from a “supply doc” — will use LED indicators as an alternative of a display. Faucet gestures will disable the silent vibration alarm or verify the battery life. Just like the Garmin Vivoactive 6, this Sleep Band would use an optical sensor to detect a light-weight sleep stage inside your alarm window earlier than waking you.
The leak is not complete, as we do not know pricing, design, or whether or not it will require a Join Plus subscription just like the Whoop Band does. However it might match a brand new area of interest for Garmin, which has caught to chest straps just like the HRM 200 till now.
A primary backup or fully-fleshed system?
Garmin can take a number of paths with its Sleep Band, beginning with one which sticks to its namesake and solely gives sleep monitoring with an optical sensor. For individuals who hate sporting a watch to mattress, that might remedy the issue and (hopefully) preserve the value low due to its specialization.
Ideally, the Garmin Sleep Band would have the most recent Elevate v5 sensor discovered within the Fenix 8 and Forerunner 970, since that might ship probably the most correct HR and pores and skin temperature knowledge, together with commonplace Garmin in a single day knowledge like blood oxygen, coronary heart fee variability (HRV), and the newest respiration variation metric.
Ideally, the Garmin Sleep Band would seize energetic ECG or passive coronary heart rhythm knowledge, as nicely. Whoop even gives blood stress knowledge on its new, costly Whoop MG, however I do not assume Garmin wants to focus on “medical-grade” accuracy for this system.
On the subsequent stage, the Garmin Sleep Band would assist all-day well being monitoring, with the intention to correctly measure issues like Physique Battery, each day readiness, and restoration. That looks as if an apparent option to substitute for a watch, even should you should verify the Join cell app for the outcomes.
However would this system routinely detect and monitor exercises just like the Whoop Band? Most exterior Garmin sensors should pair with a watch, although the most recent Garmin HRM 600 chest strap does standalone exercises.
Arm-based optical readings are typically extra dependable than wrist-based ones. The Garmin Sleep Band may hypothetically enhance your exercise accuracy, with or with no watch. It won’t match a chest strap’s precision, however it might actually be extra snug.
That mentioned, I doubt this Sleep Band would supply built-in GPS, an altimeter, or different Garmin watch perks. If it has an accelerometer and IP68 mud and water resistance, it could actually ship the fundamentals that individuals would need out of a health tracker.
Hoping Garmin does not mess this up
I am intrigued by the thought of a Garmin Sleep Band. I really like my $79 COROS HRM armband for its HR accuracy and light-weight consolation at simply 19g or 0.67oz. I may see this new Garmin product becoming the area of interest of a good ring at a extra inexpensive worth whereas staying hidden in your bicep, leaving your wrist and fingers for non-tech equipment.
Nonetheless, the query is whether or not this Sleep Band is merely an adjunct or a real competitor to the Whoop. A Whoop band is “free” however prices $200/12 months with the necessary subscription. Garmin may simply undercut Whoop with a subscription-free rival band, however its priorities have modified just lately.
Garmin watches are getting pricier than ever. In Garmin’s newest earnings name, it talked about discovering methods to counterbalance tariffs, corresponding to elevated costs. I am involved that Garmin may make it too expensive as a “backup” system or emulate Whoop with a compulsory Join Plus payment, propping up their membership numbers and income in a single swoop.
For the time being, the Join Plus paywall is just for non-compulsory options like AI summaries, offline trails, and superior knowledge charts. So I will assume, till informed in any other case, that Garmin will follow its typical enterprise mannequin.
And in that case, the Garmin Sleep Band will make loads of long-time customers joyful by letting them take off their Garmin watches with out shedding entry to the info they depend on.
