Narwal - Freo Mate
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Mar 17, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
5
1
"I've never once had the roller clog with hair. ... It's got a tapered roller and apparently this is successful in keeping hair from getting tangled."
"Narwal is very good with pet hair"
"Narwals are great and their antitag brush is amazing for dog hair."
8
2
"Of my robots, the Narwal maintains the cleanest base station and mop pads. ... That's their trademark (because using lots of water to wash works!) and I suspect the Flow will continue that trend."
"the Narwal will have the best smart cleaning mode and mopping ... Z50 is going to be a much better mopping robot than the ecovacs and eufy robots with a roller mop"
"the narwal can sense if the area isnt clean yet and go back and clean it ... if it goes back to finish and leaves a cleaner surface than a single pass during a typical mop session from a different vac, the end result is the narwal will leave the area cleaner."
6
0
"The time saved alone from not sweeping daily is huge for me, totally worth it."
"2 young kids and a dog and haven't used my simtick vacuum on the main floor since January. I have a Narwal, not a Roomba, but it 100% has replaced the stick vacuum."
"With the plumbing kit it just sits in the laundry, drives itself out, cleans the house, then returns to the base station to clean its own mop pads, empty the vacuum bin and recharge. Then it does it all again the next day."
3
3
"The Narwal sensors have "pet detection" so it will stop when it sees my dog in its path."
"He mostly ignores the Freo Z Ultra, but when they do come close to each other, it pauses just like any other obstacle."
"Narwal is normally #1 in the industry with Object Avoidance."
1
0
"And the quietness is a bonus."
Disliked most:
0
2
"tanks need to be refilled more often."
"I suspect, like the Freo Z, the Flow will use a ton of water to keep the track-style mop clean and require refilling after every 1 or 2 uses."
1
1
"the narwal models are great for mopping, but are very water inefficient compared to other models with an onboard water tank."
AllYallAintNothin 0.0I bought an inexpensive one a few years back that just randomly bounces around vacuuming until the battery gets low enough for it to return to the dock. I liked it for keeping up with small debris and crumbs but it wasn’t the best. Ended up upgrading to the Narwhal Freo and I love it. It runs every night and gets a lot of the dust, dirt, and crumbs up. I basically don’t need to sweep daily anymore. It doesn’t replace a deep clean and the mop feature on it isn’t great, but the time saved is the real seller for me.
PM_ME_UR_WEASELz 0.0We just got the Narwhal Freo that vacuums and mops and can do either independently or at the same time. I only have 2 cats inside and we do not have carpet but we do live on a ranch and I am in and out frequently from the horses and dirt in general so our floors get dirty fast. I am in love with this little robot. I call her Mrs.Doubtfire. When I send her to vacuum I leave the rugs down and have not had a problem. If she's doing a mop run I pick up the rugs. The time saved alone from not sweeping daily is huge for me, totally worth it.
abhishek358 0.0I got one from Narval last month for around 20k, happy with the experience as of now
amandainpdx 0.0Narwal Is the only robot that even attempts to clean the baseboard but the only thing the frio z or x does is run a muff along it. It doesn't actually clean. It's a duster. And the frio x and z have some other problems. Notably they are water hogs and you have to refill the water all the time. After every single run.
Anxious_8121 0.0I just ordered a narwal. Expensive af, but I had accumulated enough Amazon reward points to pay for it. Anyway it’s supposed to be incredible at avoiding objects, and many of the newer ones are great as well. I have a Roomba that I’m replacing bc it’ll just run over socks and toys, etc.
Background_Ad9279 0.0Its a mostly fine robot but not a fan of their mapping software. Much better mapping and software options. Don't care how sophisticated a robot is if their software sucks.
The basic and simple and frustrating issues with the Narwal software have been there now for well over a year. Problems that other redditors have posted over that time clearly show that timeline. Issues like mapping open concept spaces and having easy to use and manipulate split and merge lines have been solved years ago by other companies like Roborock and by Dreame. There is no excuse that Narwal - who has most definately been made aware of these issues long ago - has either chosen to ignore fixing 'merge/split' options (and more) or the current team is incapable of doing so. Agree. One day it may be fixed. One dayBut why should I wait when other companies have solved this issue a long time ago? Based on their current history of software development, I'm not holding my breath. If you're satisfied with their substandard software (and excellent robot build) that's fine. As a homeowner with a large open concept layout their mapping software is crap and pretty much renders using their robot useless unless I want to compromise how I use a Narwal. Something that is not an issue with Roborock or Dreame or Mova (and probably others also). So if a home has basically traditiona wall spaces.Sure. Narwal is great. If the layout is open concept. Then....Narwal no.
bat_boys 0.0Highly recommend de Narwal brand that also mops. I love mine. I do a quick “pick up stuff from the floor and put it higher” round and then press start and voila.
bionicfeetgrl 0.0Sure about that? I have a Narwal. It vacuums and mops. You can choose the floor type both for mopping and vacuuming and pick if you want a damp or wet mop. It’s WELL worth the money in my opinion
CleaningBotAddict 0.0My Ecovacs X11 seems to map better than my Narwal, Dreame, and Roborock.
ClickIll6896 0.0I’ve tried a bunch of robots. I think the Eufy e25/e28 are the best bang for your buck. They will go on for cheap on Black Friday. They rival models double their price. They are very strong at mopping, great obstacle avoidance and have fixed their water tank which left drops before. I don’t care what all the reviewers say online, the roller mop style is far superior to spinning pads. Eufy for some reason do not get great scores on vacuum wars but I stopped going to him for advice as he rates on ridiculous criteria. Eufy will get your floors as clean as mopping yourself. If you want, wait for the S2 Pro to come out in the new year, but it will cost likely twice as much as the e25. Keep in mind the e28 is super useful for the spot cleaner, but is much louder at emptying due to the design. Good luck Edit: I’ve used narwal and ecovacs and have been sorely disappointed. Good on paper but not in real life testing. They get stuck a lot and never make it back home