Summary
- Narwal Freo Pro is an effective robot vacuum that uses tangle-free brushes and AI dirt-sensing technology.
- The vacuum app is user-friendly, with smart mapping capabilities and various cleaning modes.
- I was left impressed by the performance of both the vacuum and mopping features at this competitive price point.
The Narwal Freo Pro isn’t the be-all-end-all of smart vacuums, but for its price point, it delivers an effective clean on par with competitors. I struggle to combat pet hair from two cats and a large dog, and this vacuum’s tangle-free brushes and powerful AI dirt-sensing are up to the task.
Narwal Freo Pro
The Narwal Freo Pro is both a robot vacuum and mop, with intelligent features like AI DirtSense (for extra scrubbing and vacuuming), a DualFlow tangle-free system with auto-detangling side brushes and a zero-tangle roller brush to combat dirt and hair. Its intelligent features and easy-to-use app make it a great floor maintenance companion.
- AI DirtSense technology keeps the mop running until floors are clean
- Easy-to-use app
- Terrific cleaning modes and easy home mapping
- Tangle-free brushes
- Good battery life
- Doesn’t come sold with cleaning tablets
- Replacement parts are fairly pricey
- Occasionally got stuck on fluffy rugs
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Price and Availability
The Narwal Freo Pro is the 2025 addition to Narwal’s brand of robot vacuums. Some of Narwal’s other models (the Freo Z Ultra and the Freo X Ultra) retail for a whopping $1,400. The Narwal Freo goes for $899 on Amazon, but is often closer to $700 when on sale. The Freo Pro follows the Freo as a more affordable option, with a suggested retail price of $700.
The Freo Pro should be on sale from March 28, 2025, with a discount of $100. It will be available for purchase on Narwal’s website and Amazon.
A Smart Design That Fits in Most Spaces
Although there isn’t anything revolutionary about the Narwal Freo Pro’s design, its solid, well-built, and compact (just above 4 inches tall), which makes it a pro at cleaning underneath beds and other furniture. Sadly, my couch doesn’t have much of a gap, so the Freo Pro couldn’t clean underneath it. For the price point, it could be slimmer. For example, the Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11s Max (one of our reviewers’ top picks for robot vacuums) is a mere 2.85 inches and the similarly-lauded Roborock Q5 Pro is under 4 inches.
Nonetheless, the Narwal Freo Pro’s build allowed it to clean underneath most of my furniture, which was a win for me.
The robot vacuum is 13.7 inches long and wide, while the base station is 16.3 x 14.5 x 17 inches. The weight of the base station is 18.7 pounds. I placed the base station along a wall, next to an entertainment cabinet, in a spot that didn’t get direct sunlight (per the manual’s instructions).
Assembling the base station was simple, and the vacuum was up and running after removing a piece of foam, attaching the side brushes, and popping on the mop pads.
As for the materials, the Narwal Freo Pro is a solid plastic that doesn’t feel or look cheap. It could handle a beating (though I wouldn’t recommend it), and after about a month of using the vacuum I only noticed a few small scuffs on the bottom of its chassis.
The top of the vacuum features a power button with an LED indicator light, and a removable top lid to access the dust bin.
Assembly from start to finish took less than 10 minutes. Linking it to the app was also fairly simple—I scanned the QR code under the vac’s lid and added the device to the Narwal app (available on Android and iOS), then started mapping my house.
It took about 10 minutes to map my 1,459-square-foot home, with labels for each room, and intelligent mapping of furniture and obstacles. I could then edit this map in the app by creating cleaning zones, renaming rooms, and dedicating “no-go zones.”
Inside the box was the vacuum, base station, user manuals, the AC power cable, a reusable dust bin, and a disposable dust bin.
Smart Mapping and Effective Cleaning
The first initial mapping of my home hit a snag—I’m not sure what interrupted the process, but I had to start again after the first 301 square feet. This didn’t bother me much, and only delayed the process by about six minutes. As I previously stated, the mapping process was lightning-speed, and I was vacuuming the floor less than 20 minutes after setting up the vacuum.
There are several sensors (LiDAR and otherwise) on the Narwal Freo Pro. The front sensors include a 3D structured light for speedy obstacle avoidance (at the millimeter level), ToF sensors on the sides that help optimize edge cleaning and detect obstacles on the sides of the vacuum, and a 360-degree LDS laser radar scanner for speedy, accurate mapping. The map, though done quickly, was an accurate layout of my home (except for it inexplicably sectioning the hallway into three rooms).
I found these sensors so accurate that the robot would quickly change course if I was standing in its way, or if it encountered my big dog lying on the floor. It would safely vacuum around my dog, without actually pushing against him or trying to vacuum him (a big plus for pet parents)!
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the matter—how well it actually cleaned. I used the Narwal Freo Pro for over a month before writing this review, and I can tell you my floors have been better for it. Although I wish its profile was slightly slimmer, the Freo Pro makes up for this in its suction power and AI DirtSense technology.
The Freo Pro hits up to 8,500Pa suction power (which Narwal claims is the “highest suction power in its price range”), picking up “over 99% of particles.” The Freo Pro did effortlessly suck up hair, dirt, dust, debris, food, and whatever else the dog dragged in (literally), and left little in its wake. It did fairly well with curves and corners, but there were some instances where it left behind some debris on the floor in tight corners (which is nothing new with robot vacs).
I was pleasantly surprised that the vacuum wasn’t too loud (55dB minimum), but I also wouldn’t want it running while sleeping because when it kicks into high gear it’s distracting enough to want to hit pause while watching TV. It also makes quite a bit of noise when undergoing self-cleaning routines on the base station.
AI DirtSense Technology Makes Your Floors Even Cleaner
Not all robot vacuums can sense how dirty your floors are (lower-budget options may lack this feature). The Narwal Freo Pro, can. Its AI features really helped. What Narwal dubs its AI DirtSense is specifically for floor mopping, but the vacuum also intelligently detects when floors haven’t been vacuumed in a while, and ups the suction power when floors are dirtier. At this point in the game, though, automatic suction adjustment should be a no-brainer, and a feature included on most mid-range options.
What I most appreciated was AI DirtSense, which detects how dirty your floor is and decides whether an area needs re-mopping. For instance, my kitchen tile is often the dirtiest spot in the house due to cooking fails and my dog dripping water everywhere after drinking. In this area, it frequently mopped and re-mopped areas until the floor was sparkling clean. The mop pads rotated at a speed of 180RPM and delivered 12N of pressure, successfully banishing dirt, stains, and spills.
This dirt detection also concerned the mop pads themselves—when the Narwal Freo Pro was on the base station and ready to self-clean, it would wash them more frequently if the mop pads were super dirty, then automatically dry them with fans and heaters (at 104-degrees Fahrenheit to keep them free of bacteria and mold).
My only qualm with mopping was that Narwal doesn’t include the Freo Pro’s proprietary cleaning tablets in the box. I couldn’t get any since they were not sent to me (and still weren’t for sale as of publication), so I can’t speak to their effectiveness on floors. I only used clean water, which still worked well.
According to the brand, they intentionally leave the tablets out because consumers may worry about whether their chemicals are harmful to children or pets, despite products being “inspected and certified.” When they’re available for purchase, you can buy them separately, but the brand also stated that clean water can also provide an exceptional mopping performance (which I can affirm).
Tangle-Free Brushes That Don’t Clog With Hair
One of the stand-out features of the Narwal Freo Pro is its brushes, which the brand claims don’t clog or tangle with long, human hair and unruly pet hair.
Its brushes work in tandem. First, if hair gets tangled around one of the side brushes, it reverses and adjusts the angle to minimize the tangle, which loosens the hair. Once it’s loosened, the hair moves toward the roller brush, which pulls it into the vacuum.
The roller brush has a conical shape and strategically aligned bristles that don’t tangle at all. The design simply sucks up hair using the principles of aerodynamics.
The photos of the brushes were after a month of use, and I never once had to empty hair from any of the brushes. There were no gross clogs of hair at any point, and I have two cats, a large dog with long hair, and my own hair to contend with.
The one thing I did notice is that the roller brush sucks up small rugs. I had some shaggy bath rugs out and had to dig them out of the brush after the app alerted me there was a clog. Unfortunately, that’s most likely the nature of the beast for most smart vacs, and a common limitation. I also got clog notifications from a plastic bag and cat toys accidentally left on the floors.
Base Station, Self-Cleaning Features, and Battery Life
The Freo Pro’s all-in-one base station is not just a charger, but a total management system for the vacuum. Inside the base station are two durable plastic tanks for clean water (blue) and dirty water (clear).
It’s also a totally self-cleaning system. The base station even cleans itself (not the exterior, of course). It automatically washes the mops and dries them, has an easy-to-clean detachable base (where the robot sits), and an automatic dust bag sanitizing process after vacuuming, as well as a dust bag drying cycle after mopping.
I want to note that the disposable dust bag, however, is supposed to last up to 7 weeks. I found myself manually emptying the bag of debris and hair after two weeks, due to the sheer volume of pet hair in my home. You can manually empty them (though the brand doesn’t say so), but it’s a bit gross reaching in to remove everything. I preferred to use the reusable dust bin included in the box. And when looking at replacement accessories on Narwal’s website, they’re a bit steep (so something to keep in mind).
As for battery life, the Freo Pro could easily clean and mop my entire house without running out of power. A full vacuum cycle took about two and a half hours for the whole house, and it lasted for just over three hours vacuuming and mopping most of the house, so its battery life benchmark of about three hours was accurate.
Using the Narwal App
I don’t have a lot to say about the Narwal app, except for that it’s sleek, well-organized, and easy to navigate. I could easily select specific rooms to clean if I didn’t want to vacuum and mop my entire house. The app also gave me the cleaning options—vacuum, vacuum then mop (for deep cleans), vacuum and mop (for maintenance cleans), and mop.
It included an option to toggle on “Family with Pets,” to increase the frequency of dust bin maintenance and cleaning. I could also view my map in a 3D version, edit the map, select which flooring was in which room, recall the Freo Ultra back to the base station, and view my cleaning stats.
The only weird app problem I encountered was when I scheduled a cleaning routine for 1 pm (13:00 time in the app). For some reason, the cleaning started every morning at 11 am (11:00 time in the app), and I could find no way to edit the time zone or resolve this issue other than by scheduling the cleaning two hours ahead for 15:00. When I did this, the vacuuming started at my desired time of 1 pm.
The app also allowed me to see where the robot was currently cleaning, check on its progress, and pause or end a cleaning task.
The app is intuitive, and shouldn’t give users much trouble with navigating, setting actions, or map editing. Most things, however, are tucked away in categories, so expect to tap the screen a few times.
Should You Buy the Narwal Freo Pro Robot Vacuum?
I absolutely loved the Narwal Freo Pro for its hair-banishing power (pet owners, this one is for you)! Although it isn’t a totally perfect smart vacuum and mop combo, it easily competes with others available in its price range, and does a (mostly) excellent job cleaning both hard floors and carpeting.
It does have limitations, as most robot vacs do, in that it occasionally leaves behind some debris and crumbs in tight corners and crevices. And it can be quite loud, but its intelligent cleaning features make up for that, and I’d recommend it specifically to people who have a lot of hair dropping on their floors.
Narwal Freo Pro
The Narwal Freo Pro is both a robot vacuum and mop, with intelligent features like AI DirtSense (for extra scrubbing and vacuuming), a DualFlow tangle-free system with auto-detangling side brushes and a zero-tangle roller brush to combat dirt and hair. Its intelligent features and easy-to-use app make it a great floor maintenance companion.
