FORM SMART SWIM 2

£ 229 + app subscription ★★★★★

We last reviewed the unique Form Smart Goggles in 2020, when the Smart Swim 1 was making waves (no pun intended) in the world of swimming with their unique floating digital screen. Housed in one lens, it links to an app on your phone to then be able to guide you through one of hundreds of swim sessions while you’re actually swimming, while also giving you real-time feedback on your chosen metrics, such as strokes per length, time per length and more.

Now it’s 2024, though, and while you can still buy version 1 of these goggles online (£159 at time of print, plus app subscription) version 2 is raising the game with two new features that we doubt any triathlete investing here will want to be without: an in-built heart rate sensor and – coming soon at time of print – a compass function, which enables you to sight much easier in open water.

First up though, the goggles themselves have seen a refresh and what a welcome refresh it is, too. While I have used the Smart Swim 1 for a couple of years now, I always found the gaskets around the lenses a little hard and uncomfortable, especially over longer sessions. Here, though, the eye seals have been upgraded and as well as a choice of nose bridges (as with the 1) you also get a strap extender for added versatility. The tech pack size has also been reduced by 15%, making it a little sleeker. On the face and what a difference – we would happily swim for hours in these and you can also flip them, which means you can use them with the screen in either the right or left lens.

Now, onto the tech. First is the heart rate sensor, which sits on the temple (on either side, depending how you wear them). It does take a bit of fiddling to position it directly onto skin with my thick hair and swim cap, but once in place it quickly picked up my heart rate and the added metrics gave another boost of motivation to my training (and obsessive stat analysis in the app!). I can see a read-across for open water here, too. If you tend to get nervous in a swim, keeping an eye on your heart rate and the exertion through the triathlon swim can only be a useful tool to save energy. More on this function on p70.

The other big change is the inclusion of a compass, which allows you to swim in a straight line without sighting too regularly. Basically, you look at a point you want to swim to (a buoy, for example), note the degrees on the compass and then so long as you keep the marker in that spot you’ll head in the right direction. More on this in next month’s mag, though, along with our tips for making sure you’re swimming in as straight a line as possible to start with!

These goggles also keep the ‘Head Coach’ function, which analyses your head pitch and roll to give feedback on technique. formswim.com formswim.com