FORM Smart Swim 2 LT Review: Pool Pacing and OWS Navigation at $149

The FORM Smart Swim 2 LT costs $149 and strips the FORM lineup down to the core: live performance metrics while you swim, a tool to help you swim straight, stroke technique improvement metrics, and subscription access to workouts you can see as you swim. No onboard GPS. No heart rate sensor. No expensive glass. Just stuff to make you a better, faster swimmer.

What’s not to like? I’ll tell you.

The FORM Lineup

FORM has been the original and best smart swim goggles since the Gen 1 product in 2019. It started with the core of a display and basic metrics. Next, its successor, Smart Swim 2, added an integrated optical heart rate sensor in the temple. The subsequent PRO version swapped the plastic lenses with Corning Gorilla Glass and includes an anti-fog kit. The range was getting better, but also more expensive each time. The LT reverses that in a very smart move, bringing core competencies for a reasonable price.

• Swim 2 LT $149
• Swim 2 $199 – adds HR sensor
• Swim 2 Pro $259 – adds Gorilla glass

All three models share the same core

• AR waveguide display – a fancy name for the in-goggle display
• SwimStraight navigation – a live compass bearing
• Stroke metrics, including metrics from external HR and GPS sensors (not included)
• Headcoach 5 head technique metrics for every stroke style, displayed in the goggle and in the app (subscription)
• Access to the FORM Swim System plan and structured workouts (subscription)

The case for the LT is mostly the cost. Smart goggles that cost $199 or $259, and might leak, break, or be lost at a triathlon transition, represent a meaningful financial risk. At $149, that risk is easier to accept, particularly for a swimmer new to swim training or returning after a break.

Pool

The most immediately practical function is the simplest: current length time in your field of vision. It removes the pace clock and keeps your head in the water and on task. HeadCoach structured sets (workouts, sessions) appear as clear in-goggle prompts, for example, “100m Free @ 2:00”, and are intuitive to follow without stopping to check your phone or poolside, paper-based set.

As a triathlete, I can just about spell breaststroke, but that’s it. Stroke detection nailed detecting my freestyle and recorded the drills I manually added. The accelerometer triggers the turn at the end of each lane and must be relatively straightforward to get right – it does. At most, it misrecorded one length each session.

Head roll and pitch metrics are potentially useful for tracking improvement over a training block, but I found them less useful than I expected for real-time drill correction; there seemed to be a lag. The reduction in peripheral vision is the most noticeable limitation in a shared lane; swimmers passing close on either side appear different from normal, and I found it a little disconcerting. I became more worried about other people than concentrating on pulling.

Open Water

Testing covered the Shepperton Lake (a familiar and very popular venue with large buoys), Oak Ash Lake (an unfamiliar layout with small, low buoys), and the Hampton 36m outdoor pool.

SwimStraight performed unexpectedly better for me in the familiar venue.

At Shepperton, I have the route and turn angles drilled into my arms and brain. Knowing where to sight for, setting off, and only then confirming the heading helped me trust the compass to hold direction between sightings. In the unfamiliar winter lake, with far less confidence in buoy positions, I still had to sight relatively frequently, and various multicoloured swim hats made me think twice about whether or not one was a buoy.

The overall practical effect was still positive. One performance example was when a swimmer passed me at a faster but similar speed, yet I beat them to every buoy because I held my direction better (or their speed was very erratic). Coming into the turn, it was quite insightful how much time the other person must be losing.

The sighting reminder alert in open-water mode was a sensible reminder that you can’t rely on the goggles for direction 100%!

I had the brightness set to maximum, which seemed fine to me, either peering into the murky depths or the brightly lit tiles of the outdoor pool. Fit held well during 40-60-minute sessions, with a good water seal each time. I did tweak the nose bridge piece width for fit, but a comfier fit was a leakier fit, so I chose the no-leaks option with very mild discomfort on the nose side of my right eye socket. I need to check on long-term seal durability under repeated use; it’s obviously going to deteriorate at some point, and I assume (but don’t know) that replacement seals are available.

FORM states that paired Garmin and Apple Watch devices provide GPS-powered pace, distance and heart rate in open water during the swim. In previous-generation goggle testing, these metrics did work, though I need to report back on that for this particular model.

Sea swimming – not tested. No plans.

Racing

I’ve not used the LT in a race. I might give that a go later in the summer at an age group tri qualifier at Eton Dorney.

Here are my non-race-tested opinions.

The goggle profile and reduced peripheral vision make mass race starts riskier, with slightly less awareness of what others around you are about to do. For swimmers in the pack, the risk while swimming is also a material one. If, like me, your cunning plan is to start at the back and stay there (or, conversely, be right out front), then the risk of increased contact with others isn’t relevant, and the sight-time-saving benefits will kick in.

Thus, for an Ironman with staggered or small-group starts, the case for the Smart Swim 2 with HR-based pacing becomes stronger. For shorter races, I reckon front- or back-of-the-pack swimmers benefit to some degree.

Comparison Within the FORM Range

LT ($149) versus Smart Swim 2 ($199): the difference is $50 and one feature, the integrated HR sensor. If you do not train in heart rate zones, the LT is the correct choice. If you do, $50 is a modest premium for a meaningful capability. If you change your mind, you can buy a Polar Verity SENSE HR puck for a little over $50, but the integrated HR sensor works better in practical terms than in terms of accuracy.

LT versus Smart Swim 2 PRO ($259): the PRO adds Gorilla Glass lenses and an anti-fog kit. The glass matters only if you accumulate lens scratches through heavy use or careless storage. If you generally look after your kit like me, the plastic lens will be fine. The $110 premium over the LT is hard to justify, if money is no object…go for it.

Assessment of FORM Scoring Metrics

FORM’s app is well-designed and looks good and clear.

Headcoach Metrics

These are the scores the app gave me for my head coach metrics, along with my assessment of their score. There is a 0-100% score for each level, with 5 being the best.

• Head Pitch: measures the angle your head is tilted up or down while your face is in the water. Optimal is 30-37 degrees. Level 5 at 84%. Probably correct.
• Peak Head Roll: measures the maximum angle your head rolls to the side to take a breath. Level 5 at 97%. I don’t believe this. My right-side breathing is far from perfect, and I look slightly back, but the metric only measures the degree of turn, not whether I look back. The metric misses something and feels wrong.
• Time-to-Neutral: measures the time it takes to return your head to neutral after a breath. Level 4 at 65%. Probably fair. IDK.
• Interval Pacing: how consistently you hold pace length to length within an interval. Level 4 at 70%. Probably fair at my current level. I would expect this to improve with volume, as I think I’m normally a consistent pacer.
• Set Pacing: how well you hold the target pace across multiple intervals within a set. Level 4 at 66%. Probably fair. Same as the previous point.

General comment: the value is in improvement over time. Head position is certainly important, but other aspects of form are probably more important and cannot be captured by a head-based sensor.

Potential Improvements

The product is good. What I would like to see improved is this

1. Configurable averaging of the heading metric to make it move more smoothly
2. Higher resolution, colour display, e.g. microLED panels
3. Smaller, redesigned lens with improved peripheral vision,

The first must be easy. The other two represent a completely redesigned product.

Alternatives

There is currently no mainstream direct competitor offering the same AR in-goggle display experience.

The closest alternative to stroke-technique analysis is the Swim Smooth GURU, a subscription app compatible with Garmin and Apple Watches. Its Stroke Insights feature covers many aspects of technique —rather than just head position—such as hand entry angle, pull-through position, and body rotation, which FORM’s temple-mounted accelerometer cannot measure. I tested it several years ago, and it was excellent at the time – it’s improved since! However, its use is only for post-swim and trend analysis tracking. FORM adds the in-swim component.

A Garmin Swim 2 or a Forerunner 970-equivalent wrist unit covers lap counting, pace, and stroke rate at a lower price, but requires stopping at the wall to read the data. Fine between sets, but the watch is only a logger while you are swimming unless you set up alerts.

The core value of FORM goggles lies specifically in the live display; if in-swim data is not a priority, a wrist watch is the more cost-effective option.

Verdict

The FORM Smart Swim 2 LT is the right buy for two swimmers:

• The pool swimmer who wants structured pacing data without stopping at the wall, and
• The open-water swimmer who veers and wants a practical tool to go straighter.

If you will get value from training or racing by HR, get the Swim 2 model, though you can add HR to the LT version later.

For someone returning to regular training or self-coaching without club support, it delivers real value to a performance swimmer at a price that makes the financial risk of a forced replacement due to loss, damage, or wear and tear reasonable.

Reduced peripheral vision is worth taking seriously if you race in packs in open water – I wouldn’t do it if that were me. But I’m at the back and make my time up later!

SwimStraight works best for me on a familiar course – fine-tuning my performance by swimming straighter and sighting less. In unfamiliar waters, it is a general aid as well as a performance one, and it does not replace sighting practice. For a competent sighter on a known route, it reduces how often they need to sight, which compounds over any distance and is worth having at this price. The heading display could benefit from a smoother, averaged algorithm.

It’s a good product and great value, I like it.

FAQ

Q: Does the FORM Smart Swim 2 LT work with Garmin watches?

A: Yes. Paired Garmin and Apple Watch devices provide GPS-powered pace and distance in open water during the swim. Stroke metrics and length counting work independently in the pool without any watch pairing.

Q: Can I add heart rate monitoring to the LT later?

A: A Polar Verity Sense can be clipped to the goggle strap, as worked on earlier FORM models. It is workable but occupies the single BLE channel, which blocks simultaneous Garmin GPS pairing.

Q: Is the FORM Smart Swim 2 LT legal in triathlon races?

A: Yes. FORM goggles have been approved for race use by World Triathlon, USA Triathlon, British Triathlon, and PTO supertri since October 2023.

Last Updated on 31 May 2026 by the5krunner