Garmin Swim 2 versus Apple watch

RE: Garmin Swim 2 versus Apple watch

Craig — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 15:36:16 GMT

I just got the Apple Watch 6, and I like it. It can track my heart rate, distance, identify how long I rest and which stroke I'm using (at least it could tell the difference between freestyle and breaststroke). I wear mine all the time it isn't charging because it does such a good job of tracking health metrics.

RE: Garmin Swim 2 versus Apple watch

hnatkin — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 13:13:49 GMT

My open water swim buddy has gone through 2 of the Garmin watches - both are about 10% off in distance and completely whack when it comes to average time per 100. He returned the first because of this but the second one isn't any better, so it's likely a problem with the product itself.

RE: Garmin Swim 2 versus Apple watch

04EDN — Thu, 20 May 2021 21:50:54 GMT

"Smart goggles"? oy. I don't need that much tech in my life. thanks for the info!

Laura

RE: Garmin Swim 2 versus Apple watch

Michael Martin — Tue, 18 May 2021 20:06:55 GMT

Patrick, can you turn the heads up display off on the Form goggles when you don't want to see it? I'm wondering with smart goggle is better, Form or the new ones from Finis ?

RE: Garmin Swim 2 versus Apple watch

Patrick W. Brundage — Tue, 18 May 2021 12:54:49 GMT

I can't comment on the Apple Watch, but I quite like the Garmin Swim 2 watch for open water swimming. It's got a low profile so it is not annoying to wear (full disclosure: I don't ever wear a watch except for OW swimming or hiking to measure distance as I find all watches annoying to wear) and seems pretty reasonable when tracking distances (but that's based upon my rough comparison of my "GPS tracks" after a swim with actual distances).

I've worn it in the pool, but don't really see the point as it's easy to total up distances. Also, in the pool, the watch can't track lengths when you're kicking or doing drills.

One warning, if you're trying to pair a Garmin Swim 2 with Form "smart goggles": there's some sort of API-like difference/problem (at least there was last summer) and the Swim 2 cannot pair with Form goggles. I guess the Form folks are targeting triathletes and not swimmers, as I believe the Form goggles synch with most every other running/tri-focused Garmin watch. Having said that, I found the heads-up display in the Form goggles more annoying than helpful, so this did not turn out to be a big issue for me.

Bottom-line on Swim 2: great for tracking your OW swim distance and time.