Spring 2021 Triathlete Buyer's Guide: Goggles

Magic5 | $65

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Basics

Using the Magic5 smartphone app, scan your face from all angles and get custom-built goggles in the mail designed specifically to fit you.

Pros

• Unique fit ensures extreme comfort with less pressure
• Very sleek and low-profile in the water
• Lightweight and easy to wear, while also staying in place

Cons

• Price—these goggles do not come cheap
• Smaller field of vision than other goggles on test

Tyr Edge-X | $25

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Basics

Simple, yet sleek, low-profile racing goggles. Competitively priced, well-designed, and perfect for pool swimming. Five different-sized nose bridge options are included.

Pros

• Great for those not wanting to break the bank on a pair of goggles
• Intelligently designed and well made
• Very comfortable with a watertight seal—no leaks or fogging during our testing

Cons

• Decent field of vision, but some might prefer wider for open-water swimming

Roka R1 | $38

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Basics

Roka’s open-water goggles have their patented Rapid Sight technology for a wider field of vision and a lens designed to work in all open-water conditions. A robust and durable pair of goggles that offer good visibility and don’t fog or leak.

Pros

• Great field of vision
• Good for use in pool or open water
• Performance-oriented feel

Cons

• No noticeable differences or benefits over the Tyr Edge-X or Speedo Vanquisher, but more expensive
• Not the most comfortable fit
• Post-swim suction marks

Speedo Vanquisher | $20

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Basics

Super simple but highly functional goggles, with a sleek, low profile, snug eye socket fit, and anti-fog lenses.

Pros

• No-frills pair of goggles that checks all the boxes for comfort, reliability, fit, and performance
• Best value for the price tag
• Can work well for beginners through to elites

Cons

• Good field of vision, but not as wide as others on test

Read the extended review

FORM Smart Swim | $200

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Basics

FORM’s smart goggles are the first goggles to show real-time data, like pace, distance, and stroke rate, on a see-through display inside the lens as you swim. For open water, they can be paired with a compatible smartwatch to give pace and distance analytics.

Pros

• New and impressive level of innovation that could fundamentally change swim training
• Data display easy to adjust and alter in the lens
• Use the FORM app after your swim to analyze every split, distance per stroke, SWOLF, stroke count, and pace

Cons

• Real-time data in the lens might not be for everyone
• Metrics aside, our testers struggled to get a good eye socket fit
• High price tag
• Open-water functions not compatible with many watches yet

Zone3 Volare Streamline | $45

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Basics

A sturdy, well-made pair of goggles that offer a wide field of vision, plus anti-fog, polarized lenses. Comes with three different nose bridges.

Pros

• Good for use in the pool or open water
• Low profile, hydrodynamic fit, while still boasting clear forward and peripheral vision

Cons

• Not the most comfortable fit around the eye socket
• Similar to the Roka R1 goggles, it’s tough to truly see what extras you get for your money