Speedo takes on FORM with its first smart swim goggles

Speedo has taken its popular Vanquisher 3.0 swimming goggles and added a tracker. The result is Speedo iQ, which records how you swim and sends the details to an app afterwards, without putting a display in front of your eye.

The complete system costs $189 in the US and is available in six colours, including mirrored and standard versions. There is no subscription to pay, either.

Speedo is focusing on technique

According to the official Speedo iQ product page, the system tracks pace, distance, strokes, breathing and turns. It can also examine head position, breathing angle, distance per stroke, turn time and carry angle across freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

Once the swim is finished, the Speedo iQ app lets you replay the session, compare performances and follow your progress over time. It also turns the recorded data into recommendations and suggests drills aimed at the parts of your technique that need more work.

The module records everything independently, so there is no need to keep a phone beside the pool. It can also be removed and fitted to another compatible pair of Vanquisher goggles. So worn or damaged goggles can be replaced without throwing away the electronics.

Speedo says its smart googles have been approved by World Aquatics. They can be worn during official competitions as well as normal training. So that’s something to keep in mind if you are serious about your swimming pursuits.

The missing display is a big choice

What’s interesting here is that the company has taken a very different approach from FORM and FINIS. There is no heads-up display showing your pace, lap count or other information as you swim, with all the analysis saved until afterwards. Plus, you can turn a pair of dumb goggles into smart goggles.

In our FORM Smart Swim 2 review, the real-time display was one of the strongest features. It shows heart rate, split time, stroke rate, distance and workout instructions directly in your line of sight, although the goggles cost $249 and some of the more advanced coaching tools require a subscription.

The FINIS Smart Goggle offers a similar approach to Form. It also puts live performance information in front of the swimmer while keeping the overall design close to a normal pair of goggles.

Speedo is instead betting that some swimmers would rather have an uncluttered view and dig into more detailed technique data once they leave the water. That makes their goggles less useful for adjusting pace halfway through a session, but potentially more interesting for swimmers who want to understand how they move through the water. Speedo IQ also bring one of swimming’s biggest brands into a category that has remained fairly small.