Robot vacuums have reached a strange point. The flagships now pack more computing power, more sensors, and more nozzles than some small cars, and the price tags have followed accordingly. With pioneers such as Roomba and Neato having given way, newcomers have pushed the technology forward by leaps and bounds.
The Flow 2 sits firmly at that premium end, pitched as Narwal's 2026 flagship with a Vision Language Model, a heated track mop, and a dock that does everything short of making you a cup of tea. After properly living with it for a few weeks, I can tell you it mostly earns its keep.
Join us after the break for more.
Design and dock
The redesign is the first thing you notice. Narwal has leaned into a cleaner, more minimal look than previous generations, and the dock in particular feels less like an industrial kit sitting in your hallway.
The robot itself is 95mm tall, which is slim by modern flagship standards. It is not, however, slim enough for every piece of furniture; it can only cover about half the area under the couch. That is because the couch has a section in the middle with lower ground clearance.
If you have low-clearance furniture, measure first. But that's something that applies to any smart vacuum you are considering.
Navigation and obstacle avoidance
This is where the Flow 2 genuinely impressed me. Dual 1080p cameras pair with TwinAI and a Vision Language Model to recognize objects rather than just avoid them. That doesn't mean that tidying up beforehand isn't still advisable, but if there is an errant sock, slipper, or pet lying on the floor, you can be sure that the Flow 2 won't try to clean them.
Thresholds that tripped up earlier generations are no longer an issue. Cables, socks, and the occasional stray shoe all got classified and routed around rather than hoovered up.
Pet owners will be particularly concerned about avoidance, but have no fear with the Flow 2. A robot that understands the difference between a dog toy and the dog is the peace of mind that previous generations never quite managed.
Basically, the days of hearing your Roomba robot vacuum bumping into every single piece of furniture are long gone.
Vacuuming performance
With 30,000Pa of suction on paper, the Flow 2 should be a beast. In practice, it is very strong, but not infallible.
On hardwood and tile, daily household mess vanished in a single pass. Carpets handled well, too, with CarpetFocus mode giving rugs a proper going-over rather than the token skim you sometimes get. I'll be honest, when it comes to carpets, I tend to have the vacuum cover it as if it's laminate or tiled flooring, in that I choose to have it mop the carpet too. In my experience, it helps keep the carpet cleaner, but your mileage may vary.
| Feature | Narwal Flow 2 |
|---|---|
| Suction | 30,000Pa |
| Mop system | FlowWash track mop, 100+ RPM, 12N downward pressure |
| Mop water temp | Up to 140°F cleaning, 176°F auto-wash |
| Navigation | TwinAI with VLM, dual 1080p cameras, laser, RGB, infrared |
| Dust bag | 2.5L, up to 120 days |
| Robot height | 95mm |
| Battery | 7,000mAh |
| Onboard water tank | 130ml |
| Voice assistants | NarGPT, Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant |
| App | Narwal app with Freo Mind 4.0 |
| Special modes | Baby Care, Pet Care, AI Floor Tag |
| MSRP (US) | $1,499.99 |
Edges and corners
The slight weak spot. Narwal has done a lot with the side brushes and the EdgeReach mop extension, but corners still end up slightly under-cleaned compared to the middle of a room.
You notice it most in kitchens with square edges and along skirting boards. The robot gets close, just not close enough, and a quick manual pass every so often remains part of the workflow. At this price point, you want the robot to do everything. The Flow 2 is in the almost bracket.
Mopping and the FlowWash system
The mopping is the headline feature, and it delivers. The track-style roller spins at over 100 RPM, rinses itself continuously through 16 nozzles, and uses hot water up to 140°F while it works.
The difference against traditional spinning pads is immediately obvious. You do not get that smear of dirty water being pushed around the floor, because the mop is scraped and rinsed in real time into a sealed waste tank.
Running vacuuming and mopping together in one cycle is another quiet win. No more waiting for a dry pass before a wet pass, which shaves meaningful time off a whole-house clean. That said, I prefer to set it to vacuum and the mop separately.
Overall, I'd rate the mopping ability as a step above the vacuuming performance. This is no slight on the suction, but rather a sign that Narwal really stepped up its mopping game, thanks to the heated 140° water and excellent downward pressure. I'd go as far as to say it was the current mopping champion in the robot vacuum wars.
Battery life
Battery life is one of the Flow 2's more underrated wins. Cleaning our 2-bedroom flat was easily manageable without the need to recharge.
For larger homes, the return-to-dock-and-resume behavior works well, with the unit heading out to complete the task once it's sufficiently charged. The 7,000mAh cell has plenty of headroom for most homes, though if you have a mansion, you may want to get one for the 1st floor as well.
App, voice, and video control
The Freo Mind 4.0 app is genuinely useful rather than just present. Room-by-room customization is the feature I used most, letting you set different suction levels, mop intensities, and run orders per room.
Voice control through NarGPT works, as do Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. The video call function, which lets you check in on the house through the robot's cameras, is either a brilliant use of the hardware or faintly creepy, depending on your disposition. Personally, I'm not a fan of enabling live streaming, but that's just me.
Baby Care Mode, Pet Care Mode, and the AI Floor Tag system are scenario presets that adjust behavior and cleaning patterns based on context. They are more than marketing fluff.
Setting up the Flow 2 is ridiculously simple, making it accessible to everyone – not just techy folks.
The dock
The all-in-one base handles self-emptying into a 2.5L dust bag, hot-water mop washing up to 176°F, and warm-air drying afterward. Narwal quotes up to 120 days between dust bag changes, which feels realistic in normal use.
You are going to pay for this dock in physical space. It is a little larger and taller than our Freo Z10 Ultra, so you will want to plan a home for it rather than tuck it into a corner and hope it fits.
Verdict
The Flow 2 is a properly impressive robot vacuum and mop that gets the hard things right. The mopping is genuinely very good, the AI navigation is excellent, and the battery doesn't die. The AI navigation and obstacle avoidance are brilliant, giving you the ability to set and forget with confidence, which is what robot vacuums are all about, really.
The caveats need airtime before you spend the money. Corners and edges could be better, very fine material sometimes needs multiple passes, and the 95mm height will block it from some lower cabinets. But that's pretty much part and parcel of owning a robot vacuum cleaner.
For anyone with a willingness to do the occasional corner tidy-up, this is one of the best combo robots you can buy right now. At $1,599 RRP, it's not exactly cheap, but thankfully Narwal does offer occasional discounts, so it's worth keeping an eye on.
