Are the Form Smart Swim 2 Goggles Worth The $250 Price Tag? – Triathlete

State-of-the-art swim goggles? It's a thing. But are the Form Smart Swim 2 Goggles worth the $250 price tag? Read our review for the verdict. Photo: Chris Foster/Triathlete

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If you haven’t heard of Form Smart Swim 2 goggles yet, you will soon. The so-called “smart goggles” are now available in Apple stores, which means a lot of triathletes, swimmers, and fitness enthusiasts will be spotting the tech and wondering: Are Form goggles worth the $250 price tag? And yes, you read that right – $250, which is significantly more than what most of us pay when it comes to swim goggles. But in case the “smart” moniker and spot on Apple store shelves didn’t give it away, the Form 2 goggles aren’t your typical swim goggles.

A brief refresher: Swimming previously had very few (and not-awesome) options for real-time feedback on laps, pace, distance, form, and stroke count. The things we take for granted while biking and running have been basically nonexistent while underwater – until a few years ago, when Form upended the market with a pair of goggles that offer a heads-up display showing all of the data listed above and more, mid-swim. In the pool, this can mean lap counts, stroke count, pace per lap, and average pace, total workout time, preloaded workouts, and even form/technique stats and guidance. Instead of seeing how fast you were swimming or what the time was when you stopped between intervals, a small LCD display projects that info (and cycles through it) inside the goggles in front of one of your eyes. It’s pretty amazing.

Better yet, when paired with a compatible Garmin or Apple smartwatch, you can take the goggles into the open water and get accurate, real-time feedback on distance and pace so you can do quantifiable workouts outside of the previous metrics of simply time or counting your strokes. This makes the open water a substantially better training ground if you don’t have a fixed point like a measured buoy to help with objective intervals outside of the pool.

With the latest release of their goggles, the Form Smart Swim 2 shows off a few hardware upgrades, a structural update, and some software upgrades that also work with their previous version. Read our Form Smart Swim 2 review to see what’s new, what works, and what needs work.

To save space, I’ll quickly list the new features available on Form’s Smart Swim 2 goggles—in order of subjective priority—and then for those who are unfamiliar with Form’s goggles completely, I’ll note the basic features that all of their goggles have, below:

Built-in heart-rate monitor – Located on the device body of the goggles by the wearer’s temple, the Smart Swim 2’s have an optical heart-rate sensor that must contact bare skin and displays the data in real time (also stores it to be seen later).

Smaller “tech pack” – Form claims to have reduced the goggles’ device footprint by 15% making it less visible and more hydrodynamic.

Better fit and comfort – Of course this is largely subjective and varies from person to person, but I can confirm a better fit on my face with the Smart Swim 2’s than the original.

Note: These software updates also apply to the original Smart Swim 1—you do not need to buy the Smart Swim 2 to take advantage of them, but for some (noted), you may need to upgrade to a premium subscription with prices around $15/mo.

SwimStraight – While it does not use GPS technology, and so it can’t follow a preprogrammed “course” nor navigate you to an inputted point, SwimStraight uses a digital compass to provide numerical bearings (and hashes) to keep you on course while sighting less. Premium subscription required.

HeadCoach – Introduced in fall of 2023, this feature allows wearers to get a bevy of real-time feedback on technique and post-swim, analysis and training in the mobile app. Premium subscription required.

Note: These features are available on both the new and old versions of Smart Swim goggles; some features require a premium subscription and are noted.

Real-time feedback – The built-in display shows data overlaid into the goggles lens, while still giving transparency to view surroundings. Data includes: Distance, time, stroke rate, pace, stroke count, distance per stroke, splits, calories burned, and heart rate (needs external device for Swim Smart 1) for pool swimming; distance, time, stroke rate, pace, calories burned, and heart rate (needs external device for Swim Smart 1) for open-water swimming, with compatible Garmin or Apple smartwatch.

Post-swim data – Outputs in-depth swim data to Form’s smartphone app

In-goggle workouts – In-goggle lap-by-lap instructions for preloaded workouts (either custom built via the workout builder or TrainingPeaks or from a large Form training library); premium subscription required

Training plans – Complete swim-focused training plans from a large library of goal-specific choices (including many tri-specific options); premium subscription required

Script – As of fall 2024, Form Smart Swim 2 users can copy-paste text into the Form app or launch a camera from the Form app to scan text – both “script” methods will auto-generate a workout, which will display in the goggles during a swim.

Battery – 12 hours of swim time on a full charge; two hours to fully charge (but almost two hours of swim time with only a 10-minute charge)

Legality – Can be used in all World Triathlon, PTO, and USA Triathlon events, but Form recommends reaching out to the specific race director at an Ironman event to confirm for their events

First, it’s worth noting that the new Smart Swim 2 does everything the old version did, but better—so we won’t dig into every angle of the original Smart Swim, and we’ll instead focus on the newest hardware/structural changes, the software updates (some of which are also available for the old ones), and break down whether or not the Form 2 goggles are worth $250 versus the Form 1 ($180, while supplies last).

That said, the original concept, features, and functions of Form’s goggles are truly amazing and groundbreaking—and that should not be lost in the fog of update reviews. With the new ones, those features either remain the same or are enhanced, as we’ll discuss next.

To start, the SwimStraight feature is by far the most notable feature in the new goggles for triathletes, but of course it’s a software update that the old ones now have also, as well (also it requires a premium subscription). The digital compass may seem like a half-solution compared to a fully-GPS function that follows a course, but in reality a digital compass is by far the best tool for the job. GPS is notoriously spotty in the water and swim courses are notoriously…fluid (pun intended). It would be not only pointless, but also reckless to try to plot a GPS course on a phone or computer and then follow it in the water via GPS—you’d likely end up off course. I’ll talk about the learning curve of the SwimStraight digital compass in the section below, but I found it mostly intuitive and surprisingly accurate and useful when navigating short or long stretches of open water—even more so in strong side currents and murky water.

Also, if you’re someone who uses heart-rate training while swimming (though it’s actually pretty rare, for a number of reasons), the built-in heart-rate sensor is definitely a bonus, as it reduces the number of “things” you’d have on your head while swimming (goodbye Polar Verity Sense). For in-pool wear, the heart-rate sensor performed perfectly when worn under a cap.

In terms of pool-specific updates, one of our testers loved the head coach metrics (premium subscription only) that gave feedback on head pitch, peak head roll, time-to-neutral, set pacing, and interval pacing—as well as (excellent) video tutorials on how to improve each.

Testers also loved the variety of workout options available in the goggles. The swim workout library provided by Form is surprisingly robust, and if you’re the type of swimmer who typically gets in the pool for time or for distance, the workout library can help provide structure and variety. Within the app, there are different types of workouts for different purposes, and each can be customized for distance. There are also detailed instructions and in-app videos to demonstrate any drills in the workout, which is something many swim workouts lack. After reviewing the instructions and video, you can select a workout, and the interval will display in your goggles – no more trying to remember how many repeats you’ve done or which part of the set you’re on.

If you’re coached, the Form app integrates with TrainingPeaks to upload your swim workouts. There is also a new feature called “Script,” which allows the user to type or copy-paste workout instructions. This text is then converted to a workout format that is uploaded to the goggle. We tested this feature with various workouts from Triathlete‘s Weekend Swim Workout archives, and the app converted all workout instructions into guided swim sessions without issue. These workouts can then be saved in the Form app for future reference, though the goggles themselves can only hold five workouts at once. Adding a new workout to the lineup will require replacing one workout and re-syncing the app and the goggles.

Again, here we’re only going to talk about the new aspects of the Smart Swim 2, as really cost was probably the only big downside to the original Smart Swim goggles (which is still a downside here).

It’s worth noting that the $250 price tag is admittedly a tall ask when most goggles are <$50 and sometimes need to be replaced (or can get lost) from time to time. If it was $250 for unlimited goggle body replacements—if they were to lose their anti-fog coating, get scratched, etc.—and you could get some kind of insurance (who hasn’t lost a pair of goggles in T1??), that would be a different story. So just be careful with these.

In terms of new features, while our testers had no issues with the built-in heart-rate monitor, there were some mixed results in very cold open water. This is likely a function of the optical monitor, and not a defect inherent to the Form goggles, but it did eventually work consistently after a few minutes of warming up. Good news overall, but worth noting for those racing and jumping straight into cold water—you might get some mixed feedback to start.

Elsewhere our testers liked the lower profile, but warned that diving in from above the waterline is still a risky move and comfort isn’t quite at the level of regular goggles (but that the data is worth the difference).

In terms of some of the software updates—all of which, it should be noted, require a premium subscription that will add at least $100 extra per year to the price tag—the digital compass did have a bit of a learning curve. First, the wearer needs to understand that with any kind of compass, you need to recalibrate your bearing, so sighting is still necessary—if nothing else than to set and check your direction. Second, because of the nature of the way we swim, the digital compass “rolls” very often and only displays a steady, readable bearing when your head isn’t moving very much and your face is down. Otherwise the numbers and hash marks do move quite a bit and can take some getting used to.

It’s also important to note that though the HeadCoach feature purports to improve the user’s swimming technique, it’s really quite limited in its ability to do just that. The HeadCoach looks at five specific elements: head pitch (angle of the head while swimming), peak head roll (how much you roll to breathe), time-to-neutral (how long it takes to return your head to the water after a breath), interval pacing (pacing consistency in intervals), and set pacing (pacing consistency across intervals in a set). Though the advice on head pitch and roll is indeed useful for improving technique, the remaining metrics are accompanied by vague recommendations for technique changes and drills that may or may not address the user’s specific technique limiter – fine for experienced swimmers who want to make small tweaks to improve, but for new swimmers or those who have never been coached, the cost of the goggles and add-ons might be better spent on a one-time swim analysis and/or technique instruction.

The biggest limitation of Form’s smart goggles, however, lies in its compatability with GPS-enabling smartwatches. The list of watches the goggles will pair with is limited to Apple watches and high-end Garmin smartwatches; it does not include any lower-end watches close to $200 (though the Garmin Forerunner 165, at $250, is theoretically slated to work very soon). This is more of a problem with the hardware on smartwatches, not the goggles themselves but it does mean that you’ll need the Smart Swim 2 ($250), probably a premium subscription ($100/yr or more), and then a Garmin or Apple smartwatch in the $250+ range to fully take advantage of the great data and feedback that the goggles offer in the open water. For some who won’t use them in the open water, or who only want more basic features in a HUD goggle, $250 is high, but not outrageous, but building a full FORM open-water system from scratch is still a costly venture.

Form’s goggles—either the Smart Swim 1 or Smart Swim 2—are literally game-changing when it comes to real-time (and post-workout) swimming data. Nothing else does what it does, and it does these things very very well. There’s an argument to be made that this is an essential piece of equipment, like a bike power meter, especially if you train alone, without the assistance of a coach. Being able to work on pacing in real time, know where you are mid-interval, and actually quantify your open-water training is pretty amazing, but adding in the technique angle opens a whole new world of improvement possibilities.

With all of that in mind, the update to Form’s small line of HUD goggles is pretty minor at this writing. A slightly smaller form factor, the addition of a heart-rate monitor, and a subjectively better fit might be worth the extra $50 to some (mostly if you want to swim with heart rate and don’t want to buy an additional sensor, though this isn’t many people). The updated hardware could give Form’s engineers more space for significant software updates that actually won’t work on the Smart Swim 1 (like all of the current new updates). If that’s the case, and a new software update unlocks some amazing new feature that’s only available on the Smart Swim 2, then maybe it’ll become a more enticing choice.

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