Back in 2019, Form released their swim goggles with an integrated HUD overlay that showed your performance metrics in real-time. It was received really well, especially since it didn’t put a tiny screen on the corner of your eye, instead overlaying the stats directly onto the lens, so you retained an unobstructed view of the pool. The Form Smart Swim 2 is the second generation of those swim goggles, bringing some key improvements that make it even better.
It retains the same design as the original, stashing all electronics in a waterproof housing that can be placed on the side of either the left or right lens. In this iteration, though, the housing is 15 percent smaller, so it should feel even more like a normal pair of goggles, all while offering more features than the first version.
The Form Smart Swim 2 is equipped with motion sensors to detect and track every stroke, using that data to calculate stroke rate, stroke count, split times, and other vital stats. There’s also a heart rate sensor to record your heart rate with no need for a third-party wearable, although you’ll still need to pair with another device (it supports Garmin sports watches and the Apple Watch) to keep track of distance and average pace. Yeah, we do wish they were able to integrate both of those directly on the goggles’ electronics, too, so we can eliminate the need for a separate fitness tracker entirely.
As with the original, the data is overlaid onto the lens, making it appear like it’s floating in space similar to augmented reality overlays. This allows you full-time access to the information, no matter where you’re looking, with no need to fix your gaze elsewhere as you would if you’re looking at a tiny screen at the corner. All data is automatically synced to the Form app via a Bluetooth connection, with the ability to share you data with other apps, including Strava, TrainingPeaks, and more.
The Form Smart Swim 2 also comes with a subscription-based set of premium features. Our favorite of the bunch is one called SwimStraight, which is, basically, a digital compass that gets overlaid onto the lens. While it’s not much use when doing laps in a pool, it becomes incredibly useful when swimming in open water, since it’s meant to point you in the straightest path towards your destination point. There’s also HeadCoach, a virtual coach that provides instructions on the HUD, along with preprogrammed workouts (over 1,500 and growing), training plans, and a workout builder. Yeah, it’s a bit tough to have to pay monthly for what are, essentially, software features, but it could be worth it if you’re the target demographic.
With the new version, the outfit is hoping for an overall better by providing replaceable silicone eye seals and five interchangeable nose bridges. Other features include a battery life of 14 hours, mirrored lenses to make it viable both indoors and outdoors, anti-fog lens coating, and support for prescription lenses up to -3.
The Form Smart Swim 2 is available now, priced at $249 with two-months of free trial for the premium features. After that, premium costs $8.25 per month.