Best Speedo Swim Goggles: Futura Ice Plus Review

There are a lot of different kinds of Speedo swim goggles on the market. Yet, over the years, I’ve often come back to one particular model, which is the Futura Ice Plus.

The Futura Ice Plus from Speedo

In this article I’ll cover the design, strengths and weaknesses of this swimming goggle and explain why it still is one of my favorites.

Overall Design

The Futura Ice Plus Speedo swim goggles are made up of four different pieces:

1. A flexible frame made of silicone which includes nose bridge, lens holders and gaskets.
2. The lenses.
3. The strap.
4. The side clips that keep the strap in place.

Lenses

The lenses are flat and made of polycarbonate. They are fused with the frame which avoids leakage. They come come in different colors and tints.

The lenses are flat

The lenses do protect from ultra violets, so they can be used for outdoor and open water swimming. Obviously the dark tinted ones are better in bright sunlight.

They also have an anti-fog coating, so you don’t need to stop too often to wipe them.

TopSync

Nose Bridge

The nose bridge is integrated in the frame so it can’t be adjusted. However it is flexible and wide enough so that it should accommodate most noses.

The nose bridge is flexible

Gaskets

The gaskets are integrated into the frame and made of soft silicone. They fit the eye sockets well without hurting and don’t leak.

The gaskets are comfortable

When you push the goggles against the eye sockets, the goggles stick even without fastening the strap, which shows that they are air- and watertight.

Strap and Side Clips

The strap wraps around a side clip at each side of the goggles. Those clips keep the strap in place. The strap is made of silicone and splits behind the head.

The single strap splits at the back

To adjust the strap, you need to take the goggles off, pull the slide clip off the goggles towards you, and then pull at one of the ends of the strap to adjust the length. Once the right length has been achieved, you pull at both ends of the strap so that the clip is pulled back into place. This means that you can’t adjust the strap while wearing the goggles which may or may not be an issue.

One of the side clips

Colors

The Futura Ice Plus Speedo Swim Goggles come in several combinations of colors. The pairs that I own have blue and black lenses, transparent frames and transparent or blue straps.

Pros

Let’s now review why the Futura Ice Plus are my favorite Speedo swim goggles.

1. First of all, they stick well and don’t leak.
2. The nose bridge is high enough and flexible so that it fits yet doesn’t hurt against the nose.
3. The gaskets are both comfortable and flexible enough.
4. They are reasonably priced.

Cons

Now the Futura Ice Plus Speedo swim goggles also have their shortcomings which I personally don’t mind but they could be an issue for somebody else.

1. The look is only average. Not ugly but also nothing to write home about.
2. You can’t adjust the strap while wearing the goggles.
3. Even though the goggles aren’t bulky, they are big enough that the water pressure can make them slip off when you dive, take a quick turn or push off the wall with force.

Update

A thing to be aware of is that in the past I used the regular Futura Ice Plus which was a good fit. However Speedo seems to have changed the model lately so that it doesn’t fit me anymore. That’s why I switched to the Futura Ice Plus Junior which fits me well again. So it can be interesting to try out the goggles at the store before buying.