The Narwal Flow Robot Vacuum and Mop Makes Me Feel Like I’m *Finally* Living in the Future—and It's $500 Off for Black Friday

Narwal is known for its lineup of high-end and high-powered cleaning appliances, but this two-in-one release, which combines AI functionality with real-deal cleaning ability, is its new flagship product for 2025.

The Narwal Flow connects to an app via Wi-Fi, where you can set scheduled cleaning times, create new maps for different areas of your home and kick it into gear, all while keeping an eye on exactly where, what and how it’s cleaning. You can even connect it to Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Siri to set up voice control.

It both mops and vacuums, automatically adjusting its cleaning mode depending on the floor type and how soiled it is (though you can also control it manually through the app). A tangle-free brush system ensures it sucks up strands without issue, and thanks to dual HD cameras and AI smarts, it cruises through tight spaces, navigates around obstacles and even leaps over short thresholds like a pro. (Regarding the two cameras, the company ensures your privacy is protected by processing all camera data locally on the machine's AI chip and never automatically uploading anything to the cloud.)

Still, the best part might be the fact that it self-cleans and self-empties; whenever it’s done with a cleaning task, it zips right back to its base station to dump debris and wash its mop pad, ensuring that it won’t spread around dirt and germs on its next pass.

Fast Facts

• Base Station Dimensions: 16.9 by 15.6 by 18.2 inches
• Vacuum Weight: 10.8 Pounds
• Suction Power: 22,000 Pa
• Power Source: lithium ion battery
• Battery Life: 200 minutes
• Floor Type: hard floor, carpet, wood, tile

This guy came in a big, pretty heavy box. The docking base is large and weighs about 22 pounds while the vac itself weighs just under 11 pounds. Since the vacuum is packed inside the dock, I did need to heave a bit to get it out of the packaging.

Once that was done, though, setup was relatively easy. The mop, brushroll and dust bin are already installed inside the vacuum—all I had to do was snap in the two anti-tangling side brushes, which are conveniently color-coordinated. Inside the docking station are two tanks: one for clean water, which I needed to fill up, and one for the dirty runoff, which the vac/mop fills up itself between tasks. The base station also comes with a dust bag already installed (which holds up to *120 days’* worth of dirt before it needs to be dumped), and there’s an additional dust bag, along with an extra dust bin and filter, in the box. Narwal also provides a bottle of floor cleaning solution, which you’re supposed to mix into the clean water tank.

In order to get the robot up and running, I needed to download the Narwal Freo app and connect it to my Wi-Fi. That was simple enough, but it did take some time to figure out the app capabilities and how they relate to the vacuum’s operation.

Before its first cleaning task, the vac has to go around and map out your rooms. I was shocked at how well it managed to create a digital, 3D(!) model of each area of my home, and how it was able to differentiate a sofa from a coffee table, as well as accurately place my area rugs. (OK, AI, I see you…)

Now, for the important part: Its actual cleaning capabilities. The Narwal Flow can vacuum and mop in one session, vacuum then mop, or just do one or the other. While you can customize and control its suction power, floor coverage and how many times it goes over one area via the app, I’ve been doing the easy thing and letting the Freo Mind (its built-in AI) take control of the cleaning strategy. It’s supposed to be my personal robot housekeeper, after all.
 
And while the goal, of course, is to sit back and let it do its thing, I did closely observe it for the purposes of this review. So, I can confirm that it revs up when it needs to (like on the high-pile carpet of my upstairs hallway) and doubles back when it senses more debris (like in my crumb-scattered kitchen). It even controls the pressure and humidity level of its mopping depending on the type of floor it’s on in order to prevent any damage.
 
One of the biggest things that has stood out to me is how advanced it is when it comes to navigation and obstacle avoidance. While it occasionally bumps into furniture (painlessly, as it has a spring bumper), it whizzes around table legs and can detect a stray sock or charging cord on the floor and immediately go around it. If you check off that there are stairs in your room, it will sense the ledge and clean right up to it without toppling over. Given that I’ve seen other robot vacuums get stuck, tangled and tossed in those situations, it really is a game-changer—and something that gives me extra peace of mind that I can let it tackle its cleaning tasks without supervision.
 
So far, the only issues I’ve run into have involved taking the vacuum to different areas of my house that are off the main floor map. It’s heavy-ish at over 10 pounds, and I’ve been physically carrying it to different locations straight out of the dock. A few times I've started the task too early and it hadn’t moistened its mop yet, so it was a bit of a hassle having to take it back and forth to the base station. (On that note, the app and docking station itself will let you know when something's wrong and what action to take.) However, I think this will be less of a problem as I get more familiar with its functions.

The first time I put the Narwal Flow to work was a day after I had already mopped my main floor. So the fact that the app said that the area was “heavily soiled” was a little offensive to me. But sure enough, when it went back to its station after completing the session, the water it pumped out into the dirty tank was black—so it clearly knew better than I did.

Having now been using it regularly (including on an automatic schedule that it performs perfectly), I find that it’s been doing a good job of picking up fine layers of dust, strands of hair and bits of food. While there are some blind spots (like on the very close edges of walls and nooks between furniture), overall, it’s left my floors consistently shiny and my rugs free of dust bunnies.

I’m a total clean freak—but a busy one. As much as I actually do enjoy vacuuming and mopping, I just don’t have the time to do it as often as I’d like. And yes, it’ll begin to show (and drive me crazy) when a layer of dust inevitably coats the corners of my carpet, or I start noticing a buildup of crumbs on the kitchen floor. Enter: spiral mode. I need to clean but I have about a dozen other things on my to-do list! But the dirt! But the crumbs!

Ever since I welcomed this bad boy into my routine, though, I’ve felt a sense of calm. Not only are the floors now always clean, but I don’t have to expend nearly as much time or energy (both mental and physical) to get them that way. To that point, I’m also completely sold on the fact that the Narwal Flow requires such infrequent intervention on my part when it comes to dumping the dust bag (I’ve yet to do it) or pouring out the dirty water tank (I’ve done it once so far, and it was completely ick-free). This is the future millennials (read: I) want.

Regularly priced at $1,500 (though it is currently on sale for $500 off), the Narwal Flow robot vacuum and mop is certainly no casual impulse buy. But if you’re looking to make an investment in a robot cleaner that does it all—with impressive intelligence and precision, no less—this AI-powered cleaning machine is well worth it.