Speedo Vanquisher Swim Goggle – Version 2.0 Plus Review

The Speedo Vanquisher Swim Goggle is one of the most recommended pair of swimming goggles on the Internet. So I wanted to know if it lives up to its reputation and got myself a pair and tested it for a few weeks. Let’s find out how it went…

Original Speedo Vanquisher versus Vanquisher 2.0 Plus

First of all, the Vanquisher that I tested is the version 2.0 Plus. As I understand it, the main difference with the original version is that it allows for more peripheral vision. But more about this later.

Packaging

The swim goggles came in a rectangular carton box, which by the way is made of 100% recycled material. Thumbs up for Speedo.

The box includes the following items:

• The goggles themselves.
• Three alternate nose pieces of different sizes.
• A protective black fishnet bag.
• Safety instructions and goggle adjustment instructions (not shown).

Overall Design

The Speedo Vanquisher swim goggle has a design not unlike that of Swedish swim goggles fitted with additional silicone gaskets for increased comfort. So you have two eye cups padded with gaskets, a removable nose piece and a double head strap. To sum up, the swimming goggles are intended to be adjustable, while also providing good comfort and little drag.

Eye Cups

The eye cups are made of polycarbonate and can be either clear, colored or tinted, depending on the model you choose. I got the clear ones which give you good vision indoors. As I understand it, the tinted ones are very dark and only suited for outdoor usage.

The front surface of the eye cups is flat. There is an additional rounded bevel to the sides that allows for peripheral vision. This it seems is where the Speedo Vanquisher Swim Goggle 2.0 Plus differs from the original one, which lacked those bevels.

TopSync

Even though I like the clear vision the eye cups provide, they have one big drawback in comparison to the ones of my beloved Speedo Futura Ice Plus: they fog up more quickly, which for me always happens between six and ten pool lengths. They exhibited this behavior from day one, so I don’t think it’s caused by a incorrect usage.

Gaskets

The gaskets are made of separate pieces of silicone glued to the eye cups. While the gaskets are comfortable, I found that they are less watertight than the ones of the Futura Ice Plus. Consequently I had to tighten the head strap a little bit more to compensate.

Nose Bridge

As explained earlier, the nose bridge is actually made of a separate nose piece that attaches to the eye cups. The Speedo Vanquisher swim goggle comes with three alternate nose pieces of varying size.

This lets you chose the nose piece that best suits your nose type, so this is definitely an advantage for this swim goggle. Please note however that pulling the nose piece apart from the eye cups requires brute force, and the first few times you wonder if you won’t break something in the process.

Putting the nose piece back in place is difficult too. It gets easier once you have changed the nose piece a few times. Anyway, once you’ve selected the nose piece that suits you best, you won’t need to deal with removing it anymore.

Head Strap

The double head strap is made of silicone with an adjustment clip located at the back of the head.

The head strap attaches to each eye cup via a small eyelet.

I guess that the adjustment clip is intended to allow for adjustments while the goggles are worn, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I wasn’t able to do this, so always I had to take the swimming goggles off before adjusting the head strap.

To adjust the strap, you simply pull each end of the strap away from the adjustment clip, either away from the goggles to tighten the strap or toward the goggles to loosen the strap. To be honest it sounds more complicated than it really is.

The double head strap also needs some time to get used to as it is a little bit more cumbersome to fit than a single strap.

Pros

Let’s now review what I like about the Speedo Vanquisher swim goggle v 2.0 Plus:

• The eye cups provide good vision to the front and to the sides, especially if you choose the version with clear eye cups.
• As it has a low profile, it doesn’t slip off during dives or fast turns.
• Once you’ve found the right nose piece and strap settings, it is comfortable to wear.

Cons

However, as already mentioned, the Vanquisher has also a few shortcomings:

• The eye cups fog up quickly.
• Changing the nose piece is a horrible experience, at least in the beginning where you are really afraid of breaking things.
• The gaskets could be more watertight.

Conclusion

For the time being, I think I’ll stick with the Vanquisher some more as it provides acceptable performance for my swimming needs. But it still needs to be seen if it can replace the Speedo Futura Ice Plus which seem to fit my head type best.