Hands-on review - Narwal Flow

After a long wait, Narwal's latest flagship robot vacuum and mop is finally available to New Zealanders and Aussies looking to keep their floors spotless. 

The Flow has been receiving high praise from early adopters in the United States over the last couple of months, and after putting it through its paces over the last six weeks or so, it's easy to see why the reception has been so positive.

The Flow is Narwal's first robot vacuum and mop to feature the FlowWash Mopping System. To put it simply, the dual rotary mop pads seen on previous models has been replaced with a track mop which utilises AI to clean itself with 45 degrees water as it operates. 

On top of this, the suction of the vacuum has been increased by almost 50 per cent compared to the excellent Freo Z10 which we reviewed just a couple of months back.

With the Flow, Narwal has managed to improve on elements of its already excellent product lineup and produce a robot vacuum and mop to rival anything else available on the market today.

First impressions and setup

Design-wise, the Flow doesn't stray too far from the look of previous Narwal models, at least in terms of its base station. 

At 430mm x 402mm x 461mm it's not obnoxiously large, especially when you consider that it houses two water tanks – one for clean and one for dirty water – as well as a large dustbag and all the tech to clean the robot. 

Like with the Z10, Narwal has again opted not to include a screen on the base station. This is not a problem at all and keeps the dock looking as clean and refined as possible, with help from its rounded edges.

Unlike previous models we've reviewed, there's no place in the base station to insert a cartridge for the floor solution. This is a welcomed change due to the cost of Narwal's replacement cartridges. Instead, a bottle of floor solution is included with the Flow which you can squirt a small amount of into the clean water tank while you're filling it up.

In terms of its overall size, the Flow doesn't differ too much from its predecessors, however, it looks much sleeker now due to the removal of the top-mounted LiDAR. The LiDAR is now installed at the rear of the robot instead. This makes the Flow shorter (95mm), giving it more freedom to slip underneath your furniture to do its job. 

Once you've removed the protective packaging, plugged the base station in and filled up your water tank up, setting up the Narwal Flow is all done via the app and takes less than 10 minutes. 

Features and performance

Although the app could certainly do with some finetuning to make it more user friendly, mapping your living space is super simple and is done quickly. You can even see the map in real time as it scans your home, and once its finished you can view the result in 2D or 3D and do things like rename or merge rooms to customise your map.

There are four options for cleaning: 'Vacuum and Mop', 'Vacuum then Mop', 'Vacuum' and 'Mop'. You can opt to use Narwal's 'Freo Mind' for each of these modes – a feature which uses the robot's sensors to create more efficient cleaning routes and decide if an area requires extra cleaning – or alternatively, you can choose to customise how deeply your space is cleaned. Alternatively, you can turn this off and manually determine how much suction power the robot uses, how humid the mops are, and how meticulous the coverage should be.

Hands down, the Narwal Flow is the best robot vacuum and mop I've used to date. The new mopping system can apply up to 12N of pressure and can even extend to within 5mm of your walls to clean up any hard-to-reach dirt. Sensors can recognise stains and instruct the robot to reverse and continue cleaning until your floor is clean. For particularly hard-to-move stains, it will even return to the base station to collect more water and then revisit the stain to leave your floor looking pristine again.

Although previous Narwal products have been great at mopping, the move towards a track mopping system has really paid dividends and ensures dirt isn't spread across otherwise clean parts of your flooring during the clean.

I've previously spoken about robot vacuums not doing the job quite as good as manually operated vacuum cleaners. While this is still the case with the Flow, it's by far the best I've used thanks to the improved 22,000 Pa of suction and a feature which allows it to lower the brush cover to create a 'sealed high-pressure airflow zone' which enables it to pick up twice the amount of dust particles as the industry average.

The award-winning DualFlow Tangle-Free System prevents hair and other items from getting tangled in the vacuum system – a feature that is yet to let me down on any Narwal product. This, combined with the dual side brushes that attract dirt from sides and corners, allow the Flow to pick up virtually all dust and debris on your hard floors.

If your living space features any room dividers or balcony lips, the Flow can lift itself across gaps up to 40mm, removing the need for you to pick up the device so it can continue its clean. If you live in a multi-storied home, however, you will still need to take the flow up and down the stairs so it can complete its task. It'll likely take several years before Narwal can master this dilemma!

Dual RGB cameras and AI help the Flow navigate around your space, locating, recognising and avoiding obstacles with 4.8mm precision. There are more than 200 items the Flow can recognise including cables, people and any accidents your pets have left behind. There were some moments where the robot seemed to bump head-on into walls with a bit too much force, but it would simply stop, work out where it was, and continue with its task.

While we're discussing its AI functionality, it's worth mentioning here that any data the Flow processes is done via the local AI chip and is not uploaded to a cloud, giving you peace of mind that your data doesn't get into the wrong hands. 

Any task the Flow performs is quieter than you'd expect and doesn't distract you like some other products. The noise doesn't exceed 60dB, meaning you can still take a work call or talk to your guest while your home gets a good clean. Even when the robot returns to the base once it's cleaned your living space, the process of emptying the on-board dust storage and cleaning and drying the mop happens quickly and quietly.

To make cleaning your home even easier, Narwal is compatible with Alexa, Siri, and Google for smart voice control, and is even compatible with my new Apple Watch.

Verdict

Narwal is a firm believer in using cutting edge technology, including AI, to help us with our 'tedious and repetitive tasks' and give us some much-needed time back. The Flow does just that and is certainly in the conversation when it comes to discussing the best robot vacuum and mop on the market today.

With that being said, it doesn't come cheap – the Flow is available now for $2,499.00 AUD, and that's with an early bird $500 AUD discount. However, if you compare this to a wet and dry stick vacuum from the likes of Dyson, you're paying around a 50 per cent premium for a robot that does the hard work for you.

Given the prices, it's undoubtedly a premium product, but I'd recommend this product to anybody who's in the market for a robot vacuum and mop - particularly if they have pets or young children to look after who naturally make a mess. 

Despite the delays in reaching our shores, the Narwal Flow was worth the wait and it's exciting to see its products go from strength to strength with each release. I can't wait to see what Narwal has up its sleeves over the next few years.