The Narwal Flow does a superb job of mopping, though its vacuuming is less impressive, and it’s definitely in the pricier category for smart robot vacuum cleaners.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great mopping functionality | Manually adding detergent is a bit of a guessing game |
| Very adept at avoiding cable tangles and not getting stuck | Uses a lot of water keeping the floor clean |
| Good climbing ability for lower ledges | Noisy lifting mechanism |
Score: 4/5
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In this review
Narwal Flow Design
Narwal Flow Performance
Narwal Flow Verdict
Ethical disclaimer: The Narwal Flow used in this review was sent to me by Narwal for the purposes of review, and they have indicated that it doesn’t need to be returned.
I mention this at the start of the review because I strongly believe that ethical disclosure is important. Whether or not a product is due to be returned has no impact at all on my reviews; I call them as I see them because that’s proper journalism, end of story.
Likewise, Narwal has no input into what’s going into this review, and again, that’s as it should be, but far too many “reviewers” omit this information or bury it later in the review. That ain’t my style.
For more on ART’s Ethics position, see here.
Design
In style terms, at least from the outside, the Narwal Flow doesn’t differ a huge amount from prior Narwal models I’ve reviewed such as the Narwal Freo Z Ultra or Narwal Freo X Ultra with a base station that features slightly rounded corners to give it a slightly softer home décor look.
Pop the top of the base station up, and there’s a familiar set of dual water bins; one for dirty water after mopping, and one for fresh water.
Tip: Don’t try to drink the water out of either of these containers. Especially the left one.
One big difference with the Narwal Flow compared to the Freo models is that you won’t find anywhere to put an automatic detergent dispenser bottle, because (at least for this model) it simply doesn’t have one. Narwal does supply a sample bottle of detergent to use with the Narwal Flow in the box, but you’re meant to add it manually as and where needed, one capful at a time. It appears that some other models sold internationally might incorporate automatic detergent dispensing, but it’s not a feature here.
The Narwal Flow robot itself does have a slightly different design, thanks to the fact that it doesn’t feature a rounded top LiDAR unit; instead that’s located at the back of the robot, giving it a considerably lower profile than most of its competitors. It’s just 95mm tall, which means that there’s a whole host of furniture types that it’s able to sneak under, simply because there’s no top turret in the way.
The other big design difference for the Narwal Flow comes via its mopping system. In prior Narwal units I’ve tested, they’ve used dual rotating mop heads to do their cleaning, but the Flow is very mop-centric, with a single rotating mop pad that Narwal claims can deliver up to 12 newtons of mopping pressure.
As my floor lacks a pressure gauge capable of measuring that, I’ve got to take Narwal’s word on that, but the other clever mopping feature here is that the mop pad not only rotates and pushes down to capture dirt, but also extend out to the sides, making it quite capable of near edge cleaning along skirting boards and walls.
Performance
As with prior Narwal robot vacuum cleaners I’ve tested, the Narwal Flow runs through Narwal’s own app for iOS and Android, requiring a login and email address to do so. There are obvious privacy concerns around robot vacuum cleaners that shouldn’t be ignored, and whether this kind of privacy issue concerns you should be considered before purchasing.
Narwal’s claim for the Narwal Flow is that its AI processes are all internally managed, with a CPU capable of up to 10 TOPS of processing power, which is quite a lot to throw at keeping the dust bunnies at bay. Initial setup involves a quick mapping of the surrounding areas, which the Flow managed very well, intelligently laying out “room” zones withint a larger open plan floor area.
Its 3D map is a little less precise, and like many robot vacuums you can opt for a direct camera view if that’s your style. Honestly I’ve always found that particular feature rather gimmicky; something you’ll likely do once to see that it works, but nothing that’s all that functionally useful for most situations.
The Narwal App has a range of set cleaning functions – Vacuum and Mop, Vacuum then Mop, Vacuum, Mop or a customised routine, plus options for scheduling and a strong pitch towards the idea that you should use Narwal’s Freo Mind AI to detect the dirtier floor surfaces in your home, allowing it to roll multiple times over anything that needs more work.
Freo Mind is a bit of a mixed bag in my view; sometimes it’s very intelligent indeed, cleverly picking up areas that need more direct attention, but sometimes it also seems to lead the Narwal Flow to spin around in rather odd circles while it decides on its next step.
Object avoidance was very good indeed. One of my cats seems to take particular pleasure in dropping her toys in the path of most vacuuming robots – I suspect she is indeed trying to kill them by jamming them up – and the Narwal Flow smartly worked its way around them every single time.
Of course, it’s smarter to pick up objects from the floor if you can before starting a run, because that way the entire floor gets cleaned, but this is one of the very rare robots I’ve tested that hasn’t come a cropper thanks to obstacles in my testing. It does sometimes take its sweet time to work its way out of problematic zones if it gets into them, rolling around, checking its LiDAR and even sometimes raising its wheels to see if that will work – but it always seemed to sort out a way to get itself out of trouble in the end.
On the vacuuming front, the Narwal Flow claims a pressure of up to 22,000 Pa when sucking up dirt, while also being capable of raising itself up to 40mm to bump itself over small ledges or obstacles. I have a raised floor section in one part of my home that often befuddles robot vacuum cleaners; while it’s been a while since I’ve tested one that couldn’t eventually make its way up onto it, many of them do tend to bump and grind up in noisy fashion.
That’s definitely not the Narwal Flow’s style, as it mostly-intelligently raises itself up before ascending. It works well, though the noise is noticeable as the motors crank up to lift the robot body. Even if it’s only doing a basic maintenance clean with lower general cleaning pressure, you’ll likely hear the squeak of it going up over a ledge when this happens. It’s not a killer problem or deafening, but it is noticeable.
In terms of vacuuming performance, the Narwal Flow did a decent job across hard floors and low carpets. I do have some thicker plush rugs that are a bigger challenge for most robots, and here the Narwal Flow was no better or worse than most premium vacuum cleaners. As always, my advice with this category is that it’s only worth considering if you’re keen on running the robot every day, because “maintenance” style cleans are a better bet for a clean home than thinking that you can set it off just the once a week and hope for the best.
The Narwal Flow’s best feature by far is is mopping head. I had some reservations about how well it might perform, because the classic mop head of so many older robot vacuums was for a flat mop head that did little but drag mess around.
The Narwal Flow, on the other hand, does a very good job of cleaning across most hard floor surfaces. My one and only mopping problem came from one tiled section that has rather thick and deep grout sections; there the Narwal Flow’s mop head didn’t always pick up every last bit of moisture even on multiple passes. For smaller tiled areas this wasn’t an issue.
The Narwal Flow uses heated water for mopping, which does mean that it takes a while to get going when starting a mopping job. It’s also rather thirsty, and while that’s somewhat a function of it working well to keep floors clean, it can lead to needing replace the clean water a little more frequently than I’d like. On a daily mop cycle, I found myself clearing out the clean water tank around every 3-4 days on average.
If you’re doing a mixed mode mop and vacuum, it’ll lift the mop head up a maximum of 12mm to try to avoid moistening your carpets. This was managed well in my testing, though clearly if you’ve got very thick rugs it’d be a smarter move to do split vacuum and mop cycles.
As noted above, the Narwal Flow doesn’t incorporate automatic detergent dispensing, which means that you’ve got to play a bit of a guessing game as to when to top it up. If you’re running the Narwal Flow dry every time, you could just drop a capful in there, but if you’re checking more frequently (as I tended to, because, again, it’s a thirsty creature) then you’ll have some detergent in the existing water when topping up that will bubble up when you add fresh water.
I guess it’s a balancing act between not using too much and having manual control; your tastes in this matter may of course vary, but unless you want to just do a pure warm water mop – which is totally feasible – then you’ll need to factor in the cost of detergent and having to replace it on a regular basis yourself.
In terms of battery life, Narwal rates the Narwal Flow as being good for up to 190 minutes of run time from its 6400mAh battery pack. That’s a very long cleaning cycle indeed and not one that I’ve hit myself while using it. It’s not particularly fast when recharging, but for most homes that’s not likely to be an issue unless you absolutely must run the robot multiple times per day.
Narwal Flow: Alex’s Verdict
At its $2,999 RRP ($2,499 at launch, apparently) the Narwal Flow is an expensive proposition, sitting as it does in the premium robot vacuum space. Like any other premium robot vacuum purchase, this is a luxury option, because while it’s saving you the labour of cleaning your house yourself, it does come with that hefty purchase price.
If that’s not an issue to you and you’re after a premium robot vacuum cleaner with a specific focus on quality mopping, the Narwal Flow does genuinely set a new benchmark for quality cleaning.
For the longest time mopping was one of those features that robot vacuums claimed to do, but they all pretty much did it badly unless you just wanted your floor lightly wiped. The Narwal Flow does a much better job of mopping than that, and as long as you run it every day, you’ll find it a smart and pleasant robot vacuum cleaner to use.
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Narwal Flow: Pricing and availability
The Narwal Flow retails in Australia for $2999
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