This paper presents a comprehensive AC loss study of a circular HTS coil. The AC losses from a circular double pancake coil were measured using the electrical method. A 2D axisymmetric H-formulation model using FEM package COMSOL Multiphysics has been established, which was able to make consistency with the real circular coil used in the experiment. To model a circular HTS coil, a 2D axisymmetric model provided better accuracy than a general 2D model, and was also more efficient than a 3D model. Three scenarios have been analysed: Scenario 1 AC transport current and DC magnetic field (experiment and simulation); Scenario 2 DC transport current and AC magnetic field (simulation); Scenario 3 AC transport current and AC magnetic field (simulation and experimental data support). The angular dependence analysis on the coil under the magnetic field with the different orientation angle has been carried out for all three scenarios. For Scenario 3, we investigated the effect of relative phase difference ∆ between AC current and AC field on the total AC loss of the coil. To summarise, we have carried out a current/field/angle/phase dependent AC loss (I, B, , ∆) study of circular HTS coil, which could potentially benefit the future design and research of HTS AC systems.