Form Smart Swim 2 Pro Review

Introduction

The Form Smart Swim 2 Pro sees the swim-tracking goggles that display your stats on an AR display get an upgrade in one key area: durability.

Like the Form Smart Swim 2, the Pro utilises the same sensors and display technology, and now features Gorilla Glass to provide enhanced protection against scratches, though that could potentially compromise the clarity of the AR display.

The Pro works with or without a subscription and includes the built-in heart rate monitor on the Swim 2, as well as providing access to the latest software features that bring structure and additional analysis to your swim time.

It’ll come as no surprise that the boost in durability comes at an extra cost. So is it going to be worth paying extra for? I’d say that’s certainly up for debate.

Design

• New Gorilla Glass 3
• Requires an anti-fog spray
• Same AR display used on Form Smart Swim 2

The Smart Swim 2 Pro looks nearly identical to the Swim 2 and offers a similar fit as well. Put them side-by-side, and you’ll be hard-pressed to tell the difference. It comes with the same carrying case, adjustable strap, removable seals and optional nose bridges. There’s also the built-in optical heart rate monitor to track your effort levels in the water without needing an additional monitor.

They’re still not as svelte as a regular pair of swimming goggles, but they also don’t feel too bulky or like you’re noticeably carrying that extra connected hardware. Now, instead of simply putting plastic in front of your eyes, Form has added Gorilla Glass 3 to both the inside and outside of the goggle lenses. This is glass we’ve seen used on smartwatches and smartphones to provide stronger protection against scratches and scuffs. 

The Swim 2 and original Smart Swim use plastic instead of glass, and swapping materials results in a slight increase in weight. The Pro jumps to 73.4g from 70g. In reality, that’s not the kind of weight increase that makes a discernible difference during swims.

As a long-term user of the first and second-generation Smart Swims, I have started to notice some scratches, mainly due to the times I haven’t put them back into the case after swimming. If you’re good at remembering to do that, then those goggle lenses should stay in good shape. If you’re a bit more lax with that, then you may just notice a difference here.

I’ve been using the Smart Swim 2 Pro for a few weeks, and the lenses have remained in good shape. I wondered if there would be a difference in clarity or improvement in the experience of viewing the built-in AR display, but it all felt very similar.

What upgrading to glass does, however, is introduce the need to now use an anti-fog spray and concentrate mix on the glass before each swim to ensure that they don’t suffer from fogging (condensation) building up on the goggles. While plastic lenses can experience fogging too, it’s more problematic for glass.

This process should protect goggles from fogging for up to 175 swims, according to Form. It requires spraying onto each lens and then rinsing. When you run out of the concentrate needed, Form says you can use baby shampoo as a substitute, which adds another cost, albeit a small one in the grand scheme of things.

While it’s a relatively quick process to go through, it’s another thing you need to think about pre-swim, and I definitely forgot to do it on a couple of occasions.

Anti-fog spraying and small weight jump aside, these remain the best smart swimming goggles I’ve tested. The fit has been comfortable, the buttons are easily accessible during swims, and the waveguide-based AR display, which shows off metrics and training guidance, remains visible without ever feeling distracting. 

Swim tracking and battery life

• Same sensors as Smart Swim 2
• Still best tracking for pool swims
• Up to 14 hours of battery life

As mentioned, this Pro upgrade is primarily about the added screen protection. Everything else stays the same. There are the same motion sensors to track swims and serve up a lot of the metrics most swimming-friendly smartwatches and sports watches can.

They still don’t include GPS to track outdoor swims, instead offering integration with the Apple Watch and Garmin watches to mirror and display GPS data from those watches on the built-in display.

You still have the built-in optical heart rate monitor to add heart rate tracking data to your swims, and like the Swim 2, it can provide good data for swims, mainly the easy and more moderate intensity ones, as long as the sensor is snug against the temple at all times. Wearing a swim cap to keep that sensor in place certainly helps on that front.

Form includes its SwimStraight mode, which uses magnetometer and compass sensors to help swim in a straight line during open water swims. That’s once you’ve completed the slightly awkward calibration process to get those sensors working correctly. This is a great feature to have, which is already available on the cheaper Smart Swim and Smart Swim 2.

The core swim tracking is as good as it is on Form’s other goggles. This is one of the best swim trackers I’ve tested, and having used it against the likes of the Apple Watch and sports watches from Garmin, Coros and Polar, it can particularly hold its own for pool swim tracking.

You can use the Swim 2 Pro with or without a pretty pricey subscription, which sits at £13/$15 per month or £84/$99 per year. Without the added cost, you can still see your real-time stats and use the pool, open water and swim spa tracking modes. You will also see analysis of your swims in the free Form smartphone app.

If you pay up, you’ll essentially get access to more of the available training features like HeadCoach, which delivers training sessions to the AR display during swims. You’ll also get access to that SwimStraight mode and can also enjoy pull-through training sessions from the popular training app TrainingPeaks. 

If you like the idea of adding structure to your swimming time, these features might just appeal to you. That said, it’s quite a lot of extra money to spend when you’re already spending a lot on these goggles.

Battery life is the same 14 hours promised on the Smart Swim 2, providing enough power to cover a couple of hour-long swims a day for a week if you spend a lot of time in the water. If you’re doing 2-3 swims a week, you’re well covered. That is a few hours down from the original Smart Swim (16 hours), but I still found it more than satisfactory for covering a few sessions a week.

I don’t love the fact that there’s still a proprietary charging cable required to charge them back up, which does at least fully charge in about an hour. The flat cable design makes it easier to spot and locate, especially when it’s nestled among a sea of other USB charging cables, which is a plus.

Should you buy it?

FAQs