Plenty of smartwatches can track pool workouts, but few wearables are specifically built for swimming. Speedo is hoping to expand swimmers’ wearable options with a new removable module for its Vanquisher goggles called Speedo iQ. The smart module can not only track all four competition strokes (freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke) but also offer insights into other ways your form, turns, and breathing can improve.
Speedo iQ is a compact triangular module that is small enough to fit in the corner of a pair of Vanquisher goggles and can be easily popped out once an old pair wears out. The smart module includes “swim-specific sensors” that track things like head movement, pace, distance, stroke, breath, and turn data, and sync that information with a smartphone app for analysis. Speedo says the app can help swimmers review their performance, spot patterns in their training, and even receive “technique insights” that could help them swim faster. That’s the kind of in-depth data that might be more valuable for a professional athlete than someone who swims for fun at the YMCA.
In comparison to other swimming-focused wearables like Form, which attempts to add a heads-up display to the experience of swimming laps, Speedo iQ is restrained. Form offers goggles at a range of prices from $149 to $259, so Speedo iQ’s $189 starting price (which includes a pair of goggles) isn’t the cheapest option available, but it is subscription-free and officially approved for World Aquatics competitions. Assuming you keep using iQ, the fact it can be moved to a new pair of goggles could also save you money down the road.
Ultimately, how useful a pair of smart goggles is to you depends on how seriously you plan on taking swimming—you can track your pace, distance, and even strokes with a smartwatch as ubiquitous as an Apple Watch. What Speedo iQ gets you is those tracking features and more, all in goggles you’re going to have to wear anyway.
