Narwal's Freo Z Ultra Is a Great Mop, but a Water Hog
-
The Good
- AI object recognition works well to help robot navigate cables
- Singular roller design translates to less clogging
- The mop is more effective than on most robots
- Narwal is the only company that puts baseboard sweepers on its robots
The Bad- You have to refill and empty the water tanks after every run, or sometimes during a run
- The robot has half the Pa (suction power) of other premium vacuums
- The tower design makes it too easy for kids and pets to accidentally activate the robot
Table of Contents
About ten years ago, iRobot introduced the world to robot mops, with a model that had a tiny onboard water tank. Narwal, however is directly responsible for the robot mops we know now. In 2020, the company introduced the first robot mop that would go back to a tower, empty out dirty water and refill it from a tank, making it more autonomous. The most recent model using this innovation, the Freo Z Ultra, is one of the best mops I’ve tested, in terms of stain removal. It’s also a fine vacuum. However, robots have to be autonomous, or what’s the point? The Freo Z, like the Freo X before it, has a fatal flaw. You have to change its water tank so frequently that you might as well just mop yourself.
A truly unique tower with improved tubing
It’s a shame that the Freo Z has this flaw, because from a design aspect, it might be the nicest looking tower I’ve seen. Narwal has opted for a futuristic look here, with sloping angles and soft edges. Where the Roborock Curv is a little too bubbly looking, and Dreame towers are a bit angular for my liking, Narwal has found the perfect middle ground. The gunmetal grey (or white) tower is made of molded plastic and stands two feet tall, but requires a deeper footprint than most towers, at nineteen inches. The Freo tower design has a few features I really like, including suction tubes for wet and dry debris that have fewer kinks and curves. While most robots don’t have this issue at first, over time, buildup in the tubes can cause problems, and the straighter the tube, the less likely debris is to get caught up in it. The Freo's design should help eliminate that. Also, I love a tower that has a slot for onboard cleaning solution. Upside: you don’t have to manually add cleaning solution to every tank of water. Downside: you have to buy Narwal’s own cleaning fluid, which comes in a specific one use canister (although it has lasted me across dozens of cleans), and is kind of expensive ($18 on sale at time of writing, but $30 normally).
An irresistible button for pets and kids
I do have one issue with the tower, which is the very boop-able button on top of it, which activates the robot to go on a cleaning run. It is large, visible, and is going to attract every toddler and child within reach. If the childless amongst you think you’re immune, think again. My doberman accidentally bopped it with her nose once, and was so delighted by the robot emerging to engage with her and announce it would clean, that I eventually had to stack books on the tower to stop her from bopping it multiple times a day. She is bereft.
The Narwal app suffers from too many hidden features
When I tried connecting it, the Freo Z took a few attempts to pair to its companion app, but all told, I was up and running in under ten minutes. The problem is that the Narwal app deviates a lot from the expectations set by competitors. I had previously noted that the Dreame X50 Ultra was burying feature controls in its app, with many sub panels and tabs, but Narwal has truly taken that to the extreme, with every icon leading to another screen full of different commands and settings. The problem with a messy user interface like this is that the most helpful features, like remote control steering and maintenance records, get buried alongside functions you might never use. For instance, until I attempted (and failed) to see every control I had, I didn’t know there was a maintenance mode you can engage to lay down a specific accessory fluid (also sold separately by Narwal) that will seal your floors to keep them cleaner. On the plus side, some of these extra touches are nice—Narwal also offers an in-depth reports of your robots' usage, which far exceeds any other robot app I’ve used.
Decent vacuuming, but a sweet side brush
Clunky app aside, the important thing is how the robot does at cleaning floors. As a vacuum, I thought the Freo Z was competent, but not great. From small to large particles, you'd expect your robot to nab them all, because a manual vacuum would. Most robots struggle with large particles, though—so far only a few stronger Roborock models have tackled them in my testing. But most vacuums at least handle dust and medium-sized particles without complaint. The issue is that, on a number of occasions, the Narwal would leave a noticable amount of even medium and micro sized particles on the floor. While you can adjust the path the robot takes, this didn't significantly improve the situation. Adding multiple passes over the same area (a common feature in robovacs) did solve it, but I haven't had to give many other robots the same courtesy.
On carpet, the Freo Z did a respectable job, leaving nice vacuum tracks behind as it vacuumed, but there were still issues. The robot got hung up beneath my bed, getting stuck repeatedly, despite having room to move and no obstacles nearby. And as opposed to when it ran on hard floors, the robot also struggled with smaller objects like price tags on my carpet, leaving them behind after running right over them.
But one thing that I absolutely have to make note of is that Narwal has a feature no other company does on its robots: a baseboard sweeper. Your robot surfs right at baseboard level, while most competing robots ignore the baseboards altogether. Narwal does this by taking a fluffy pad and mounting it sideways on the bot, so that it will sweep up against your baseboard. This is not going to get built in grime off, but if the baseboards are relatively clean already, they'll sweep dust and hair up, which helps the baseboards maintain their cleanliness. It's a very neat trick, and I hope Narwal doesn't drop it.
Exceptional mopping, with one big drawback
As a mop first, mediocre vacuuming—the Narwal actually only has half the suction power of most competing flagships—isn't the be all, end all. Where the Narwal truly shines is mopping. The Freo Z has two spinning mop pads, but unlike most robots, these are triangular, not round, which theoretically helps fewer stains get passed over. In my testing, it worked like a dream. The Freo Z did an excellent job on stains including simple water dribbles, larger puddles, and dried mud. Let's get into specifics.
The floor around my pet's water bowl was clean every day, and even after I had a very unfortunate orange juice disaster while testing, the Narwal only took two passes to get it spotless (one to get the juice and a second to get the residue), with no stickiness left behind. I have a very small kitchen with deep toe kicks, too, and after cooking, the floor is often messy. The Narwal made a pass every night and was able to get most of the floor clean, missing only some deep corners. But the real test was the mud my dog tracks onto my white tile every single winter. The Freo Z took no prisoners here, just going back and forth over the floor. Within three passes, it had always cleaned up all the mud, leaving white tile behind. That's exceptional performance for the category, since dried stains are often trickier. As far as mopping performance goes, I couldn't be happier
The drawback for this exceptional mopping? There has not been a single time the Narwal has gone out on a mop expedition and returned without me needing to empty the dirty water and refill the clean water. Remember, my house is quite small, so this does not portend well for large spaces. Changing the water on these robots is part of the deal, but having to do so multiple times a day is not. Narwal should make an R&D version available (Refill and discharge), like Switchbot, where you tie the tank into your plumbing and the tank fills and empties itself. If the Freo Z had one, I'd recommend it. As it is, it's tough to do so. This robot is a good mopper, but is hands-on enough that you might just want to go manual.
What was most disappointing was that I tested the Narwal Freo X Ultra just a few months ago, a less expensive version of the Z, and it had the exact same problem. I'd have expected better from a higher priced model.
How I tested the Freo Z
The Freo Z spent three weeks in each of two zones in my home. One is primarily carpeted, and the other is a mix of tile, hardwoods and rugs. My dog and I were built for testing robovacs, since we collectively bring in muddy pawprints and wood chips through the doggie door, and drop a lot on the floor while cooking (I'll let you sort out which of us is responsible for which). My home is built like a railroad apartment, where dust and dog hair collects in hallways and door thresholds, and there is tons of furniture to work around. I rarely have to produce testing conditions: simply using the robots as intended over a few weeks will test every single condition possible, from simple water spills to dried, caked on mud. I run each robovac through a programmed routine every single day, and then use zones or rooms to tackle specific spills or areas that need extra help. Throughout this process, I'm able to see if the robots get hung up on furniture, if they're able to handle large and small debris, how often they need a recharge or refill, how effective the rollers are at dealing with pet hair and long human hair, if debris will get stuck in them, and if the robots learn and get better over time.
While many testers create obstacle courses to test robots or will throw a bunch of cheerios on the floor, after talking with engineers at a number of robot companies, I don't think it's the most effective way to get a real sense of how a robot will perform. Routinely using the same robot in realistic conditions, where it is expected to handle multiple conditions and variables at the same time, and where it can apply learned AI over time, is a much more realistic predictor of success. That said, the conditions generally do not change much over the seasons, so almost all robots I test are put through the same variables.
No matter how good a robot is at mopping or vacuuming, its primary job is to be a robot. To have autonomy and do the job without a lot of human intervention. The Narwal Freo Z doesn't hit the mark. Having to incessantly refill and dump the water tank was a significant pain in my butt, and towards the end of my time with the device, I found myself letting the robot go a day or two without running because I was simply too annoyed to refill it. Perhaps, at a lower price point, it would be a trade off you would be willing to make. But at a listed price of $1,499, there are simply too many other premium robots for the same price that will give you a much better value. The Roborock MaxV Ultra is $1,099, comparatively, and does a better job vacuuming. And though I'd say the Narwal mop is better, the MaxV Ultra is very good, and gets further on a tank of water. A number of the robots announced at this year's CES are also still making their way to market, so I'd wait to see how robots like the Roborock Saros Z70 review when they're available for sale.
Amanda Blum is a freelancer who writes about smart home technology, gardening, and food preservation.
