Narwal Flow Review: The Best Robot Mop Yet?

Quick Verdict

The Narwal Flow robot mop is the first mop that I can trust to clean up and lift dry stains as it goes around, pushing them isn’t going to solve the problem for me. The trade-offs are the absence of an automatic soap dispensing system and some issues with the sensor thinking it was seeing a mop, instead of a wet surface, after it’d finished mopping. It is the brand’s flagship model of the robot vacuum/mop combo product that vacuum and mop your floors.

According to the robot vacuum manufacturers, smart homes need smart devices and vacuum robots are designed to save you time, but most of them simply shuffle the work around, and you still have to wipe down a giant mop pad or scrub dried gunk off a base station weekly. I wanted to find out if the Narwal Flow was able to change that game, so I used it as my only floor cleaner for an entire season, even in the face of pet hair, spilled coffee, and all sorts of other things.

How I Tested It

I used the Narwal Flow as my only robot vacuum and mop for about 12 weeks In my approximately 1,400 square foot house with 3 area rugs of different thickness, hardwood, tile floors. One medium shedding dog and the muddy paw print or two from time to time were test conditions. My cleaning routine became somewhat of a pattern, smart AI mode, most days of the week, and once every weekend doing a deep clean by vacuuming then mopping each room, giving it a double pass, to ensure a thorough job.

Specs at a Glance

Pros & Cons

What I liked:

• Effective stain removal and mopping performance, lifts the stain, not pushes it around.
• The dock really does reduce hands-on maintenance.
• Excellent obstacle avoidance around cables, shoes and pet bowls.
• Smart AI cleaning mode is so reliable it can be left on autopilot.

What bugged me:

• No auto soap or detergent dispenser, you’re filling it yourself.
• The dustbins inside have to dedicate space to the internal mopping parts that could have been used for a larger dustbin.
• Some AI confusion in the camera’s sensors on rare occasions due to fog or dirt.
• Expensive, particularly as it’s connected to a plumbing dock.

My Scorecard

How is the Build Quality of Narwal Flow?

The robot itself seems dense and well built, no rattles, and the top panel doesn’t flex when I press my finger down. It’s 3.7 inches tall so it can be put under my sofa and bed frame without any of the scraping noises I was accustomed to with my previous vacuum.

The dock is definitely the star of the show and it’s a bit bigger than a typical auto-empty dock due to its greater functionality of washing the mop, heating the water, and drying down everything between runs. 

The dimensions are approximately 15.8 inches wide, 16.9 inches deep and 18.1 inches tall, which is larger than most people think of when they see “dock” in a spec sheet, bigger than a small bar stool or a large kitchen trash can, to be sure, so measure your corner before you settle on a spot. 

The water tank system is the place where the mop upgrade resides. There are two tanks within the robot to separate clean water and dirty water and because the dock contained larger tanks, I refill the two tanks every week or so when the robot works. 

The first thing I noticed early on is that all that plumbing takes up a lot of space that you could otherwise use for a larger dustbin or bristle-brush compartment. It’s a space sacrifice for the mopping that you’ll get as a return.

Day to day maintenance isn’t quite as heavy as I’d feared. The washing and drying of the mop pad is handled separately at the dock and my hands-on time is primarily wiping down the exterior of the dock every couple of weeks and cleaning the hair in the mop roller from time to time.

Is Setup and Mapping actually easy?

The setup was a bit more than 20 minutes from unboxing to my first mapping run, most of it was simply connecting to Wi-Fi and following the mapping app as it guided me through the process of placing the docks. 

I didn’t have to restart or get stuck in the process with the first pass and mapped my entire main floor. I was able to map my entire main floor in one pass which has not happened with other brands.

Here is a tip for people who are setting it up for the first time: don’t neglect the carpet settings. Once the initial map is complete, turn to the Settings > Manage Map menu and select each rug one by one to complete the map. There are three choices to be made: Clean (treat it as carpet and make it suck), Ignore (treat it as a normal carpeted floor segment), and Avoid (don’t suck it at all). I set my two heavier area rugs to Clean, but my bathroom bath mat, the sort that slides if a robot touches it, is set to Avoid. It’s like saying you want a rug that will be rolled up around a corner.

The multi floor function worked fine for me, I saved another map for my basement and it automatically alternates between the two depending on where the dock is.

How effective is the Narwal Flow Vacuum?

On hardwood and tile the 22,000 Pa suction removes all crumbs and fine dust with a single sweep, and I didn’t notice the fine grit anymore between cleanings.

On carpet, performance is critically dependent on the right Manage Map carpet settings (see above). After I had my 2 rugs on Clean, the robot auto boosted suction and did a noticeable job by pulling more embedded dirt and pet hair out of the pile.

Pet hair is a major plus, the design of the roller brushes will funnel the hair straight into the dustbin instead of the hair getting wrapped around the brush, as I had to cut the hair out of my last robot every month.

Edge and corner cleaning is excellent, but not perfect. It reaches close to the baseboards, which means that I don’t need to go on my hands and knees to touch up very often, although sometimes tight in corners, I might only get a partial vacuum.

How about human hair? While pet hair is the star of the tests, long hair from humans is actually a tougher challenge for most robot vacuums for one reason. It’s thinner and more prone to wrapping around a brush roll than pet hair. I used a couple of housemate’s hair, short hair (under 3 inches) picked up cleanly with no wrapping. After running every day for a week, I noticed that there was a slight curl of hair that had begun to wrap near one end of the roller, but not enough to interfere with suction. So at the one-week point, I gave the roller a 30 sec hand-flick to clear. Have long haired pets or roommates, expect the same rapid annual review.

Cleaning Performance Scoreboard: The Numbers

I performed repeatable experiments on an area of floor with a measured amount of debris including rice, flour, coffee grounds and pet hair and noted the amount of debris collected in one standard pass.

The general trend I saw is that loose dry material (rice, coffee grounds) is collected almost flawlessly the first time, the fine powder (flour) is not quite as well collected as the first time and corners are still the hardest spot to collect for almost all of the bot vacuums I’ve tested, this one included. On the mopping end, new spills are as clean as vacuuming performance and those that are all dried and baked on require the second mopping to catch up.

Does it really mop, or simply push water around?

The Mopping performance is where the Narwal Flow stands out from the mop-shaped decoration that I’ve owned in the past. It’s not just about wiping up dirty water in a wider and wider circle with the FlowWash track mop because it’s scrubbing the floor as it’s continually rinsing itself with hot water and downward pressure.

I did some experimentation of my own to see how it would work. In one pass, a sticky spilled juice left to dry for an hour, came up completely clean. A stain I left overnight with a little ketchup was dried on and required 2 passes and when I was finished, the stain was gone, and there was no shadow or stain on the floor. Corners are mopped well, but still sometimes require a manual mop in very tight corners from a round-bodied robot.

I never experienced the “just moved the dirt” from one room to another feeling with this one like I did with the other mop robots I used to use, which made me lose faith in them. It typically took about 20 to 30 minutes to get a pass with dry floors, which meant that pets and bare feet were not getting wet for long periods of time.

On dark floors, I was paying extra attention to the streaking that is so apparent on darker wood and it remained to a minimum. After the first pass or two on a totally new section of floor I noticed some faint streaking but it all but vanished after a couple of mop pad cycles to break in.

I was impressed with the FlowWash system more than hardwood, since there is no dragging film of dirt on the pad to leave that film of dirt all over the shiny tile like the manual mop. After all three months in my kitchen, my tile is still streak-free and shiny!

Can it completely replace the manual mopping? In my day-to-day life, yes – since set-up, not a floor I’ve had my hands on since I set up. The only exception to that is if the spill is actually sticky like syrup, in which case I still pick up a paper towel with it and let the Robot pick it up next time.

How much water does Narwal Flow use?

One of those numbers no one mentions is the number of gallons of water used. I did the test, and a full clean water tank lasted about 4 to 5 full home mopping runs before I had to refill it, and the dirty water tank had to be emptied at the same time. If you are spot cleaning a single room or 2 rooms in the house and not whole home runs then you can extend that to two weeks or more between refills. If you can afford the installation, the dock connected to plumbing eliminates this chore.

How Good Is Obstacle Avoidance?

The standard test gauntlet, such as leaving a phone cord in the hall, shoes in front of you and a dog’s water bowl and furniture legs, were all identified and navigated around by the dual-camera and AI navigation. Low furniture or thresholds up to about 1.6 inches were not stuck on, important if raised thresholds between rooms like me.

The only fair criticism I could make is that on a couple of humid mornings or after I’d wiped down the front sensor array and it picked up a few drops of water, the robot did a little hesitation when trying to move, pausing, backing up and rerouting around objects (which weren’t there). So, if you think your unit is “confused” more often than normal, you should first see if the sensors are wet or dusty, before coming to the conclusion that something is wrong.

Is the Dock Actually Low-Maintenance?

The dock auto empties the dustbin, clean dries mop with hot water and hot air and (Optional) refills and dries the water for the mop automatically via the plumbing connected version so no lugging tanks to the sink manually. I have to clean the water tank and I am draining the dirty water tank about once a week, it only takes about 2 minutes.

It is easy to hear but not disruptive noise from the dock when in self cleaning cycle, similar to a dishwasher in another room. I don’t run the cycle overnight beside my bedroom but if I’m working on another area of the house there is no problem.

Cleaning of the dock itself is necessary and minimal, just the outer surfaces and water tank openings should be wiped down approximately every 2 weeks to keep the dock fresh.

Does it take up an unpleasant odor after weeks of use? One of my main concerns, when I saw it, was having a damp mop pad in a closed dock that does not sound like it will smell good. It would be impossible to keep it moist enough to develop an odor with every mop run because it is all dried by the hot air drying cycle. 

The only smell I ever noticed is if I didn’t get rid of the used water tank after, around 5 days or more, but this is easily avoided by practising the weekly schedule below.

Maintenance Timeline: What You’ll Actually Touch

How Fast Does It Actually Clean?

The times I gave to house guests who asked me that question, while watching it in action, room by room, on a “standard smart-mode” pass:

That’s a whole house number that goes up the nearer I get to running the whole house vacuum and the whole house mop instead of just the smart pass, which I do 2 passes of, because I run the whole house vacuum.

How is the battery life?

The battery life is about 190 minutes per charge for Narwal and that is about the same I’ve experienced for full home runs. On a regular smart pass I’ll be around 55 to 60 minutes on my main floor and on an average day am not in need of a mid pass clean. The one time I ran it long enough to need a top up, I had no problems returning to dock and resuming cleaning.

This does change depending on mode as it uses more power during suction and also as mopping is also activated:

What’s the App Like to Actually Use?

Most of the day to day decisions take place in the Narwal app and it’s more capable than it appears at first sight. The scheduling is very simple, you simply set the time slot that you want the music to play every day within a certain room or floor, this schedule will be followed.

I use room by room cleaning for fast cleaners around the kitchen area, as this way you are able to make a choice as opposed to cleaning the house on a regular basis.

The app’s standout features include its AI-driven features, including the smart cleaning mode and dirt detection. I’m being honest, I have followed some of the guides I found online for some of the recommended custom settings and didn’t feel much different from leaving the settings unchanged from the default Smart AI mode. I use it every day and only vacuum then mop once a week for a really deep, power mopping.

The voice assistant and smart home integration were flawless with the assistant I use, you can simply issue a command and start/stop a clean without opening the app.

These include the map editor, room boundaries, the toggle for the Smart AI mode, the weekly schedule view, room selection screen, and the maintenance reminders panel.

Can you use a third-party cleaning solution? I used a generic hardwood floor cleaner for a couple of weeks and so did Narwal’s solution. Mechanical performance is ok and the solution doesn’t clog or cause dock problems, but as the solution is distributed in robot mops, it is best to use a thinner, less scented solution, as thicker and highly scented solutions will cause the solution to clog the tank or dock after some time.

How loud is it?

I didn’t rely on any casual comparisons, I used a sound meter app from a distance of approximately 6 feet, which is the distance from my couch to the floor it is cleaning, and I measured each mode:

Quiet mode is similar to a running refrigerator, Standard mode is similar to a normal conversation, and Max Power mode is similar to a dishwasher on its wash cycle. Quiet is actually useful if you are near a baby that’s sleeping or a light sleeper, Max Power is the one that I set when I am away from home.

What Does It Actually Cost to Own Long-Term?

In addition to the initial cost, there are some costs that can’t be ignored with long-term use, dust bags cost a few dollars for each and I use one every few weeks with a pet at home, the mopping pads and filters are not expensive but with regular use should be replaced every couple of months; and the cleaning solution is another recurring cost since I don’t have any sort of auto-dosing system to prolong the solution. There is very little use of electricity. Total cost would be around $150 to $200 per year out of the money, plus the initial cost of the equipment.

What I Loved

The star of this show is the mopping performance, the first robot mop that has convinced me to quit mopping by hand. The dock is a real maintenance saver and the smart AI mode can be trusted to work without supervision the vast majority of the day.

What Needs Improvement

I would like to see an auto detergent dispenser in a future revision. It seems odd that this is not included on an automated dispenser. The internal space vs. the hardware for mopping results in a smaller dustbin than some competitors. Sometimes causes me to check the app again during the cleaning, but humid conditions cause sensor confusion, which is very rare.

How Does It Compare to the Competition?

In the brief side-by-side comparison I have made, I think Roborock’s CurvX is a bit better at avoiding obstacles though the mopping of the Flow was still more complete on dried stains.

Narwal Flow vs Dreame X-series: Dreame’s flagship models boast greater suction numbers, but the Flow’s self-cleaning mop system is more refined in day-to-day use.

Whereas, Eufy’s Omni line is typically cheaper, the Flow’s navigation and mopping consistency make it worth the price differential for regular moppers.

If you have the funds, Narwal Flow’s core automation and mopping features beat its previous Freo Z.

Who should buy the Narwal Flow?

Any pet owner, any hard floored room that needs a good mop and any budget that can cover a flagship. If you are trying to get rid of mopping the floor altogether, then this is designed for you.

Who Should Skip It?

You won’t reap the benefits of the mopping system that you are paying for, if your home is carpeted. People looking for a completely hands-free soap dispenser or those who are more of a budget shopper may want to think again.

Common problems after three months:

Most reviews are confined to the honeymoon phase and this is what actually occurred during the 365-day period of daily use:

• The still most common annoyance, sensor confusion after mopping, in humid weather. It did clear up after the camera housing dried up or after I wiped the housing with some quick wipes.
• It took me 2 months to set up my schedules but one of them was reset to default when I received a firmware update. Resets in 2 minutes but if you are notified of an update check your schedules.
• A small amount of hair that rolls up on a long haired household, a 30 minute clear once a month is not a problem.
• No significant mechanical issues: no stuck wheels, failed dock docking, error codes that call for support.

Things I Wish I Knew Before Buying

• Measure the space on your dock. It’s bigger than the marketing pictures show and it has to be within easy reach of an outlet and preferably close to where you refill water.
• Try to choose a carpet on your first day. The one most common setup error that I’ve seen other new owners make is to skip the Manage Map > Carpet step.
• Don’t think of detergent as an accessory for the dispenser, think of it as a cost, it’s not going to do the calculations.
• Try not to complicate the app settings. Smart AI mode takes care of virtually everything: the majority of the optimal settings tips you can find online are not really relevant to the problem.
• A pass of deep cleaning every week is important. Smart mode is ideal for regular cleaning, but a separate run in vacuum and mop mode once a week will clean up anything missed by the daily vacuum and mop.

Final Verdict

I have been using the Narwal Flow every day for 3 months, and I consider it to be a permanent addition to my cleaning routine. Yes, it’s not perfect still missing auto-soaping dispenser is a minor annoyance as is sometimes having to troubleshoot sensors but all this makes it one of the few robot vacuum mop combinations that I would consider purchasing at full price for the genuine ability to do a decent job of mopping, and the actual saving of time when you’re vacuuming.