FORM Goggles Review: UNSPONSORED

[@FORMswim]

Thanks for the honest review! We love to hear both the good and the bad - it's the only way we can get better.

[@ktech4246]

Hi Form Swim I got a pair of the goggles today, love seeing my interval times and distance in realtime but having issues with accurate stroke counts. Its about 2-3 off per 25 m interval and some laps of my 1km session today it was about 15 strokes above. I am swimming freestyle, breath on the right though have my apple watch on the left hand. As my focus is long distance swimming, I swim similar to what is taught by Total Immersion/Ocean Walker ie big emphasis hip rotating and gliding on side of hips. Any idea why?

[@PureNRG2]

FORM goggles have been a real game changer for my swimming. Not only do they provide real time data that motivates me while swimming, they also provide feedback about my progress toward improving technique through the FORM and HeadCoach scores. Along with my Garmin watch and headset for running and cycling, FORM goggles are my best piece of kit to keep me on track with my triathlon training progress. Pricey yes, but I can’t imagine swim training without them now.

[@IronmanHacks]

Pretty much my sentiments.

[@seanhylton4372]

I have FORM goggles. Been using them for a few years now. As a long term user of FORM, my biggest issue is the due to the sensitivity of the accelerometer, the first length is always listed as 2-3 seconds faster than it actually is. Not a big deal with a continuous swim or long intervals, but a session with lots of short intervals will appear to be a much faster session than it actually is. Context is everything and as long as you are aware of this quirk it doesn’t have to be a deal breaker. In general it is MUCH MORE ACCURATE than Garmin. I recall value them as a tool in the toolbox. A very effective tool that always gives a carrot to chase!

[@WillParry-hl1qt]

Hey - Will from FORM here. Great video sharing all on our FORM goggles - and we can vouch, this was unsponsored as this just came across my radar now! :D I can share a little more about this first length measurement. The goggles start recording as soon as movement is detected. The motion detector bar fills up when you start and then the start time is retroactively applied to when movement first started to be detected. Because of this, we recommend you keep as still as possible with your head upright before starting a length so that no movement before starting is confused for swimming. Aside from that, your first length of an interval is almost always going to be faster than the others. Many are surprised to see this when they first start using the goggles since they haven't seen detailed data about this before. Thanks for the support, and great to hear you enjoy FORM goggles and trust our data accuracy!

[@IronmanHacks]

Thanks, Will, really appreciate it. I will be testing the new ones soon.

[@arlenevaldepenas7941]

@@IronmanHacks hello! Have you tested the form 2 goggles? Would you recommend to upgrade? Thanks for your honest and clear review 👍

[@IronmanHacks]

I have not. I have heard others say it's not worth the extra cost considering you can pair your Gamin with the FORM 1s and see the HR. BUT they are having some great sales now (3 Dec 2024) and it may be worth it, especially when they give you 2 years of subscription in it. tinyurl.com/2afm9x8e

[@sch79]

Thank you for the review. I have had mine for a year. But I have somewhat contrary experience. The stock plans are ok, but you really need a coach to know what drills to do. You need to do drills correct your faults but goggles don't replace video coaching. The headcoach is not as great as made out as. The screen is hard to match while your rotating. The Form score is not that useful since strongly tied to pace, and the pace is not well corelated to training zones. The Training Peaks sync is good but not perfect. For example, drills and other notes from the coach workouts on TP don't make it across and require manual edits. The Zones do not seem to adjust for pools of different sizes. I swim in both 25m and 25yd pools and the goal pace does not adjust. Problems: 1. Fogs up, and won't last. Goggles for me last 6 months before anti-fog is gone, but that is problem with the price of Form. 2. The fit is ok, but sometimes leaks for me. 3. The new swim straight is a cool idea, but since you head is moving while swimming is actually less useful than pictured.

[@IronmanHacks]

Valid points, and yes, quite contrary. I don't have any fogging issues (also a year). Fit is more of a personal thing, so harder to judge. And your last point about Swim Straight isn't how I've experienced it: Your head is moving but the bearing will not really move, and I have not had such issues. It's massively useful!

[@Jaco8328]

your goggles look a lot clearer than mine. Mine fogged up after about 6 months use. I personally think the subscription is too expensive for what you receive. Dont get me wrong I like them but there is room for improvement.

[@IronmanHacks]

I’ve had mine about six months. I have been really careful about not touching the insides of the lenses not even to dry them. Maybe that has helped but I’m not sure? $15 a month is quite a bit honestly just for the plans. Especially when you compare it to something like Zwift which is only a little bit more.

[@ktech4246]

Thanks again for you review, after watching this I end buying the goggles and got them today mainly for stroke count. However I am a bit disapointed with the stroke count. Not get very accurate results sometimes it over counts by 3, in some examples it overcounted by 15 strokes over 25m interval. I am doing TI/Adam Ocean Walker freestyle so lots of pendulum swings not sure if this impacting it. I also have my iwatch on opposite hand of breathing but the distance tracking was pretty accurate. Wander if Finis goggles are better at this?

[@IronmanHacks]

It could be that with total immersion it is throwing it off. But I’ve never had a problem with it. If stroke count is all you want any watch can do that, but these are so much more than that. What is it exactly that you’re looking for?

[@ktech4246]

@@IronmanHacks thanks I am pretty gutted, I was more looking for the realtime feedback of my strokes so I can adjust my technique get the maximum efficiency. I love the timing of each interval and seeing my distance as looking at my watch kills my rhythm. But pretty its shame on the stroke count.

[@IronmanHacks]

@@ktech4246 I really have not experienced this inaccuracy. Can you try it with a more conventional stroke or is that just not how you swim? I wonder if you can reply to the pinned FORM post because they replied to this video you can ask them.

[@ktech4246]

@@IronmanHacks good idea i will post there. Thanks again

[@lgdneuro9586]

@@ktech4246 If you only care for Stroke rate just get a Finis Tempo Trainer. I use it even while using the googles. It IS the best tool to increase stroke rate. Yes a bit on the expensive side for what it offers but gets the job done. They are in the finis store at 60$ I found some for 25$ in ebay and bought 4 of them. they are so durable that i though they would get damaged quick, still on the first one and working like day 1.

[@briannawara9]

Do you have to charge after every swim? Assume 45 minutes of swimming.....

[@IronmanHacks]

Nope, not even close. The battery lasts 16 hours they say, so many swims! Love this.

[@graemewoodward]

One negative that you didn't mention, but I think is fairly obvious to anyone who has tried them - the field of view is really restrictive. This isn't too much of an issue if you have a lane to yourself, but if you are swimming with others around you, it becomes a real impediment to avoiding confusion and risks of coliding into others. It can be quite disconcerting swimming with such restricted peripheral vision (side to side and forward)

[@IronmanHacks]

Hmm. I don’t really feel that way compared to other goggles…It may depend on what you’re used to.

[@milanpintar]

Can i run with them?

[@IronmanHacks]

That’s a great idea. Then not only will you not need a Garmin you won’t need sunglasses, either.

[@milanpintar]

@@IronmanHacks and you would look super cool too

[@katesmiles4208]

Love the tech ❤

[@IronmanHacks]

Same!! 😃

[@kegoangoango]

One negative that ive found is that it doesn’t automatically sync completed workouts to Garmin Connect.

[@IronmanHacks]

That’s a really good point which I didn’t think about. Especially for people who use Garmin for everything and want everything there.

[@WillParry-hl1qt]

@@IronmanHacks Hey - Will from FORM here. Great video sharing all on our FORM goggles - and we can vouch, this was unsponsored as this just came across my radar now! :D I just wanted to share more about this Garmin Connect issue. Unfortunately, FORM swims are not able to sync automatically to Garmin Connect due to a limitation on Garmin's side. That said, the current connection with Garmin will import Garmin swims to the FORM app and will allow you to connect your compatible smartwatch for open water swimming with GPS. As a workaround for exporting your FORM swims, you can export them as FIT or CSV files for import into another platform, although I recognize that this is less convenient than having them automatically sync across.

[@WillParry-hl1qt]

@@IronmanHacks Unfortunately, FORM swims are not able to sync automatically to Garmin Connect due to a limitation on Garmin's side. The connection with Garmin will import Garmin swims to the FORM app and will allow you to connect your compatible smartwatch for open water swimming with GPS. As a workaround for exporting your FORM swims, you can export them as FIT or CSV files for import into another platform, although I recognize that this is less convenient than having them automatically sync across."

[@IronmanHacks]

This is a really cool feature. I didn’t even think of this. Maybe my next video will be on how to sync FORM workouts into Garmin connect.

[@kegoangoango]

@@IronmanHacks on the computer it’s not too difficult, but try it on an iPad. I have not been successful getting a completed workout to Connect from Form. The sad thing is Garmin wants people feeding workouts and publicly has most of the information available. Form originally told me Garmin wouldn’t let them sync from them. After I challenged them about that answer with links to webpages, they said them “meant” that workouts wouldnt sync. I told them I already knew that. This is a pretty easy. If they synced to Connect, workouts would automatically sync to Training Peaks and Strava