Serious about swimming? A set of smart swim goggles can seriously help improve your performance in the water, projecting real-time performance metrics including pace, distance, stroke rate, and, importantly, your heart rate directly into your field of vision, via an AR display. Here we put two brilliant new sets, the Form Smart Swim 2 LT, $150 / £130, and Speedo IQ Vanquisher, $190/£149, head-to-head.
Design and fit
The Smart Swim 2 LT, which weigh 68g, aren’t as sleek as regular goggles yet still pull off packing in the sensor and battery without feeling hulking to wear in the water. The nose guards also do a fine job of keeping water out from obscuring your view of those real-time metrics. Form’s mirrored lenses are equipped to block out 98% of UV rays during outdoor swims with a coating in place to fight off fog that could obscure your view of your stats on-screen.
On the other side of the pool, Speedo does a great job of making the IQ feel as close to wearing a regular pair of its popular Vanquisher training goggles, they’re lighter too, at 42g. The tracking sensor is neatly hidden inside of the casing and can be easily popped out and moved into a new pair. Speedo also offers the IQ with clear or mirror lenses to help make them a better fit for long sessions in the pool or taking them for a dip in the sea.
Winner: Speedo IQ Vanquisher
Swimming smarts
Form’s swim tracking is up there with the best with an augmented reality display that projects performance without ever feeling like a distraction. Pairing it up with an Apple Watch or Garmin watch can project pace and distance stats for open water swims too.
The IQ lets you focus on swimming and review data in the app after. It can accurately capture metrics like pace and distance while monitoring swimming technique. That includes head position, which can then be re-lived in animated form in the Speedo app.
Winner: Form Smart Swim 2 LT
Accompanying App
Form’s smartphone app lets you dive into your core swim stats for free, though does make you pay up for access to its excellent Head coach mode. This brings gamified training drills to the display to let you work on technique during swims.
Speedo’s app is loaded with stats, offering a precise breakdown of swimming technique for those that like to drill deeper. Beginner swimmers will find it an overwhelming place while it’s a shame you can’t share data to other apps like Strava or TrainingPeaks.
Winner: Form Smart Swim 2 LT
Overall winner: Form Smart Swim 2 LT
The Form Smart Swim 2 LT is the best smart swimming goggle with the Speedo IQ Vanquisher offering a much sleeker way to track your swim time.
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