Narwal Flow 2 review: Crossing the threshold

While the subdued premium look is the most eye-catching element of the Narwal Flow 2, the underside of the robovac is host to its most intriguing inclusion. Rather than use the scrubbing pads seen on other premium robovacs, the Flow 2 uses a rolling track mop. This is refreshed in real time during usage, with the hot water helping the scrub through tougher stains. 

In practice, this feature worked exactly as you’d hope it would. Where my kitchen floor was littered with a few longstanding stains that my previous robovac struggled to slay, the Narwal Flow 2 put an end to them without too much trouble.

That being said, it is worth noting that these results require a little bit of extra maintenance from you in terms of remembering to refill the clean water tank and empty the dirty one. Still, compared to my previous Narwal robovac, I was delighted to find that the Narwal Flow 2 managed to get the job done without requiring a refill or two mid-job.

In line with other premium robot vacuum cleaners, the Flow 2 comes with smart carpet detection. That's more a nice-to-have than something outright new, but it's not the only way in which this robovac applies a bit of situational awareness to the work it does.

By default, Narwal Flow 2 will rely on its sensors to determine the best combination of precision, power and cleaning cycles to apply. If you're using it on wooden floors, it'll only apply less downward pressure. Meanwhile, tile floors get the full nine yards. In higher humidities, it'll even opt for a less wet mop while sunny and warmer weather will allow it to take better advantage of a faster evaporation environment.

These myriad little optimisations provide additional benefits you get without any extra work or input on your part. 

You can set the Flow 2 to vacuum before mopping or do both at the same time. If you opt for the latter, it'll get the job done faster. Opting for the former will take longer but may yield better results. 

Both the dustbin, wastewater, cleaning liquid and freshwater are stored inside the Narwal Flow 2’s charging dock. These are fairly easy to swap in and out as needed. You simply flip up the lid and pull on the relevant handle. According to Narwal, the dustbin will need to be cycled every 120 or so days. The water tanks will need to be refilled and emptied a lot sooner by comparison. However, in any case, these elements add up to a fairly hands-off experience.

With over 31,000 Pa of suction, it’s little shock that the Narwal Flow 2 was able to handle most small and medium debris without issue. What's more, the extra oomph doesn’t come at the ordinary cost of a louder noise levels. When active, the Flow 2 produces just 56.5dB of sound. That’s quieter than the level of ambient noise you might expect to find in an office or restaurant. Though not quite silent, it's a decent improvement on the noise levels produced by other robovacs.

While the Narwal Flow 2 wasn’t quite slim enough to slide underneath my couch, your mileage may vary. The robovac has a profile of just 9.5cm so It can slip underneath most furniture when vacuuming. The other big level up that this particular model offered was the ability to cross 4cm thresholds. In my case, this meant an entire extra room was able to be cleaned – so it was a massively useful addition. 

For the most part, the Narwal Flow 2 worked fast, was quieter than I expected and could cover around 80m2 of floor space in just shy of 90 minutes. 

Dustbin management aside, the Narwal Flow 2 mostly delivers on its promises when it comes to offering a hands-off cleaning experience. You plug it in, charge it up, install the app and let it rip. Its first run around my apartment took slightly longer due to the mapping involved, but there were zero issues with the setup, network or app involved. 

Unlike some other robovacs, you can also command and control it using Alexa, Siri, or Google Home. This functionality largely works like you’d expect, but as someone who’d prefer to have as few active microphones in my home as possible I turned it off as soon as possible.

Thanks to the Narwal app, ignoring this functionality doesn't feel like much of a sacrifice. The interface is divided into three tabs. The first of these handles scheduling on a week-by-week basis. The second allows for more instant control of the hardware and its cleaning routine settings. The third allows you to rewind through time and check the stats of previous cleans.

Compared to the previous Narwal robovac, the quality of the maps produced by the Narwal Flow 2 were a significant step up in quality. In the past I’ve often been let down when it comes to object detection but this robovac erred in the opposite direction. It’s map included more detail, and then in action it was much better at utilising that extra information to avoid mishaps. 

Where I'd usually have to do a light cleanup before turning my usual robovac on, I quickly found myself confident enough that the Narwal Flow 2 wouldn't leave any additional mess in its wake.

In Australia, the Narwal Flow 2 is priced at $2,999. That’s a fairly steep price-tag, though not an exceptionally high asking price for a premium robovac that includes as many bells and whistles as this one does.

The Narwal Flow 2 is a high end robovac that has the bells and whistles to match the price tag. It’s quieter, but more powerful than much of its competition, is supported by an excellent app and delivers quality results when it comes to both vacuuming and mopping. It’s expensive enough that it may be a hard sell regardless but those who can afford are unlikely to be disappointed.