Narwal Flow 2 Review: Already the best robot vacuum in 2026?

Robot vacuum cleaners with mopping rollers instead of mopping pads are slowly but surely conquering the flagship robot vacuum cleaner segment. The Narwal Flow, launched in 2025, is a prime example of how well this concept works. Our expectations of the Narwhal Flow 2 were all the greater, as it has not only completely overhauled the design and brought it into the modern age. It also has significantly more suction power with 31,000 Pascal and, with Narmind 2.0, even more advanced obstacle detection. In the Narwal Flow 2 Review, you can find out whether the second generation trumps its predecessor once again or whether you can confidently reach for the Narwal Flow 1.

Technical data

Model	Narwal Flow 2
Dimensions and weight	Robot: 363.5 × 351.2 × 95 mm and 5 kg Base: 360 × 450 × 530 mm and 9.86 kg
Suction power	31,000 Pascal
Navigation	LiDAR sensor at the rear
Obstacle detection	TwinAI Dodge obstacle avoidance
Main brush	Floating, tangle-free roller brush, anti-tangle side brush
Wiping function	– Rotating wiping roller – Wiping roller is extendable – Contact pressure of 12 N – Mop can be raised by 12 mm – Hot water cleaning at 60°C
Self-cleaning	– Suction function in base station (dust bag lasts approx. 120 days) – Roller cleaning (max. 100°C) – Hot air drying (max. 60°C)
Rechargeable battery	7,000 mAh
Price	€ 1,099.00 *

Scope of delivery

• Robot vacuum cleaner
• base station
• Mains cable
• Side brush
• Cleaning solution
• Dust bag
• Operating instructions

Narwal Flow 2 Review: Design and workmanship

Narwal has shown considerable courage in the design of the Flow 2. After all, you wouldn’t think that the second and first generations were related if the logo wasn’t emblazoned on the device. I can’t remember seeing so much courage in the design revision of any other robot vacuum cleaner. Narwal has primarily revamped the all-in-one station. The robot itself, on the other hand, should look familiar to those familiar with the first generation of the Narwal Flow (Review | € 849.00 *), at least in terms of shape.

It comes in a classic circular shape, but this time it has a matt black housing. There is a small control unit on the top that can be used to start and stop the robot or send it back to its base. Narwal has also installed the microphones for using Nawa – the company’s own voice assistant – here. The control unit is easy to recognize even in dark surroundings as it has a stylish illuminated ring, which looks great, especially in combination with the black housing. Furthermore, a small maintenance flap provides access to the integrated dust container.

The camera unit with LED for dark areas is located at the front. The LDS unit, which is used for navigation, is located at the rear. Narwal has placed additional sensors on the sides to help the robot find its way around. Once turned upside down, the view remains familiar. Here you will find the thick extendable mopping roller, the conically shaped main brush and a side brush.

Unfortunately, Narwal has dispensed with an extendable design for the side brush and once again relies on the centrifugal forces of the orange brush to unfold it. The build quality of this smart household helper is once again outstanding. It doesn’t crack or creak anywhere. However, I prefer the white design of its predecessor, as in my experience black robot hoovers are more susceptible to visible dirt and micro-scratches.

Narwal has really reinvented itself with the base station. It is now much more angular, which looks much more modern to my taste. The station also looks more upmarket, not least because of the stylish front, which looks like a mixture of brushed aluminum and frosted glass. One particular highlight is the ambient lighting, which is used for self-cleaning, for example.

For this purpose, Narwal has placed chic ambient lighting in the lower area, which is reminiscent of the interior of modern cars. At the top, you have access to the dirt and fresh water tanks. The dust bag and the container for the cleaning solution can be reached underneath both. This reminds me of the concept of the eufy s1 (Review | € 599.94 *) and eufy S2 (Review).

Personally, I find this a little inconvenient, as the water container has to be removed to replace the bag. With the predecessor, you could still access the bag via the flap at the front. However, it is probably a matter of taste what you prefer. What is certain is that the Flow 2 is much more child-friendly this way. I can say from experience that the front flap of the predecessor was gladly removed by my children.

The Narwal Flow 2’s garage is located in the lower area. This is not only where the robot’s battery is charged. The extensive self-cleaning of the mopping roller also takes place here. Overall, the Narwal Flow 2 blends in very well with the living room. This is mainly due to the attractive interplay between the ambient lighting and the Robo, making the system a real eye-catcher without being too bulky or conspicuous.

Narwal Flow 2 Review: Setup via Narwal app

Setting up the smart household helper is child’s play – even for newcomers. This is mainly due to the fact that the robot and the base station come fully assembled from the factory. All you have to do is remove the stickers and one or two protective mats and you’re ready to go. To do this, grab the power cable and find a suitable socket near where you plan to use the Flow 2.

As soon as the base is supplied with power, simply place the robot in its garage and take out your smartphone. Download the Narwal app and simply add the robot as a new device. In the test, my smartphone automatically indicated that the Flow 2 was ready to be paired nearby thanks to Bluetooth sharing. Now simply follow the step-by-step instructions and the smart household helper is in the network.

Once everything is set up, the app asks you to start the maiden voyage. Here, the Flow 2 travels around your home without vacuuming or mopping. The mapping process is correspondingly fast. Once the first journey is complete, you can take a look at the floor plan via the app and make any necessary adjustments. In my test, however, there was no need to do this. The result was super detailed.

The app then offers all kinds of setting options for fans of fine-tuning. It would go beyond the scope of this article to list them all. So here are just a few examples of the most important ones:

• Selection of cleaning mode (vacuuming, mopping, vacuuming + mopping, mopping after vacuuming)
• Adjustment of suction power and water flow rate
• Self-cleaning settings (water temperature + hot air temperature)
• Map adjustments (no-go zones, invisible walls, room layout, etc.)
• Schedule/cleaning plan
• Firmware update
• Activate or deactivate FREO mode
• Frequency of mop cleaning
• Adjustments to obstacle detection
• Adjustments to the Nawa voice assistant
• Activate and customize pet mode

Narwal Flow 2 Review: Navigation and obstacle detection

Like its predecessor, the Narwal Flow 2 does without a LiDAR tower. Similar to the Roborock Saros 10R (Review | € 999.00 *) or DJI ROMO P (Review | € 1,069.00 *), the two Narwals also rely on laser distance measurement (LDS), which is not located on top of the housing but on the outside. This has a decisive advantage – at 95 mm, the Narwal Flow 2 is pleasingly flat for a model with a wiping roller, which means it also fits under flat furniture. The good news: despite the absence of the LiDAR tower, there is no need to compromise.

In the test, the navigation worked really well. In my living room, even flagship robots tend to get stuck somewhere. The Flow 2, on the other hand, always found its way home to its base station reliably. And this is not at the expense of speed. Quite the opposite. The smart household helper is pleasantly agile in practice and works through rooms according to a system. As a rule, the perimeter area is cleaned first and then the interior is cleaned.

In FREO mode, however, the Narwhal can sometimes deviate from this concept. And this is not a disadvantage. In fact, the robot returns to heavily soiled areas to clean them satisfactorily. It even goes so far as to independently adjust the suction and mopping intensity. Of course, AI is used for this. This ensures that the Flow 2 learns over time which areas in your home tend to be dirtier than others. When it comes to the Flow 2’s artificial intelligence, we also have to talk about Narmind 2.0.

With this update, the manufacturer has once again improved the obstacle detection of the first generation of the Flow. The Flow is said to be able to detect up to 300 objects. It uses the camera system located on the front. Thanks to the LED, it maintains a good view even in the dark. The images are then evaluated by the AI. And this also works excellently in practice with the Flow 2. I didn’t notice a huge difference compared to the first generation, but that’s by no means a criticism.

After all, the Flow was already able to reliably detect cables and other flat objects. The Flow 2 therefore also joins the ranks of models with reliable obstacle detection. If you want, you can also use the household helper as a walking surveillance camera, for example to check on your pets when you are out of the house. To do this, simply pull out the app to open the feature.

Narwal Flow 2 Review: cleaning performance

When testing the cleaning performance, we differentiate between various disciplines. First, we look at the suction power, then the mopping power and finally the performance of the base station.

Suction power

With its 31,000 Pascal, the Narwal Flow proves to be an excellent fighter against dust and other dirt. In FREO mode, the Flow 2 adapts its suction power individually to the type of dirt. This allows it to make optimum use of its power and, unlike some other powerful robots, does not spread the dirt all over the home. It also works well on carpets for the most part. Here it pays off that the Flow 2 has a floating main brush that it can easily lower. This means that it rests directly on hard floors, but also on carpets, which ensures a strong vacuum.

However, the fact that the roller can only be raised by 12 mm is a problem here. At least if you have a long-pile carpet. After all, the carpet fibers will inevitably get wet. As the main brush has a conical design, you don’t have to worry about tangled hair. These are simply passed on to the end of the brush by the rotation and then sucked up by the suction shaft.

The only thing to complain about here is the side brush – albeit at a high level. This is not extendable in the classic sense. Instead, Narwal relies on the centrifugal forces of a partial element that can be extended by the robot with a swing like a kind of folding knife. In my experience, classically extendable side brushes deliver better results. This is particularly evident with the Flow 2 on carpets. Here, the side brush is too weak to pick up dirt from the corner of the carpet.

Mopping performance

In terms of mopping performance, the Narwal Flow 2 is beyond reproach. The fairly wide mopping roller ensures excellent results. Even with stubborn stains. In the test, I had the Flow 2 clean a dried-up jam stain and it passed this challenge with flying colors. This is not least due to the option of using cleaning solution.

On top of this, the Flow 2 works with 60° hot water during the mopping process if required. The water is dispensed via a total of 16 nozzles so that the roller is evenly moistened. The use of hot water boosts the cleaning performance immensely. Thanks to its extendable design, the Flow 2 also cleans quite well along furniture edges and skirting boards. If the side sensor detects an edge, this roller is automatically extended. As with its predecessor, however, a few millimetres remain uncleaned in the second generation.

Models with rotating mops simply have the edge here. However, where they have to admit defeat without a chance is when it comes to cleaning liquids on the floor. Here, a Flow 2 literally mops up the floor with them. This is due to the combination of wringing out the mopping roller and directing the dirty water into the internal dirty water tank. In this way, the liquids are literally sucked up.

This wringing out generally ensures that excellent results are achieved when mopping. As the roller is constantly cleaning itself, dirt is not spread around, but simply sucked up like when working with a vacuum cleaner. Ingenious! Accordingly, I can only rave about the mopping performance. Only the cleaning of edges and corners suffers from the familiar problem.

Base station

The base station has a lot to offer. It doesn’t just charge the 7,000 mAh battery of the smart household helper. It also vacuums the internal dust container and forwards it to the dust bag inside. It also ensures that the mopping roller remains clean. This is made possible by the self-cleaning function inside the station. Here, the roller is cleaned during cleaning (every 15 m², 20 m² or 30 m²) so that it can get back to work freshly cleaned. A thorough cleaning takes place at the latest at the end of the cleaning cycle after the dust container has been vacuumed.

Here, the roller is cleaned with hot water at up to 100°C, which reliably kills all bacteria and other types of dirt. This is followed by hot air drying with up to 60°C hot air. Afterwards, the roller looks like new and is as fluffy as on the first day. Nevertheless, there is nothing to stop you from rinsing the cover in the washing machine from time to time. Apart from these main functions, the station fills the Flow 2’s internal water tank and automatically adds some cleaning solution. It also empties the internal dirty water tank.

The dirty water then ends up in the integrated dirty water tank, which you can easily empty regularly. Conversely, you fill up the fresh water tank with fresh water. If you don’t want to do this, you can also buy the Narwal Flow 2 as a model for a fixed water connection (€ 1,299.00 *). Here you connect it to the fresh water and waste water connections and only have to worry about the dust bag. This has a capacity of 2.5 liters and, according to Narwal, only needs to be replaced approximately every 120 days.

Narwal Flow 2 Review: Test results

Discipline	Test result
Vacuuming hard floor	97/100 points
Vacuuming short pile carpet	96/100 points
Vacuuming carpet (medium pile)	92/100 points
Corner cleaning	Good
Mopping Sticky	Very good
Mopping liquids	Very good
Obstacle detection	Very good
Edge wiping performance	Good

Conclusion

The Narwal Flow 2 impressively demonstrates how powerful the concept of the mopping roller can be in modern robot hoovers. With 31,000 Pascal suction power, reliable navigation and the usual strong obstacle detection by Narmind 2.0, it delivers a strong overall performance in everyday use. However, its greatest strength remains its mopping performance. Thanks to the rotating mop roller, warm water and continuous self-cleaning, the Flow 2 reliably removes even stubborn stains and is clearly superior to classic mop systems, especially when it comes to liquids.

The whole thing is supported by a comprehensive base station that largely automates cleaning and maintenance. Minor weaknesses can be seen in the non-extendable side brush, the limited carpet clearance of the roller and the somewhat awkward access to the dust bag in the station. Overall, however, the Narwal Flow 2 delivers an impressive overall package, which is characterized above all by a really great price-performance ratio. This makes it undoubtedly one of the most interesting premium robot hoovers on the market at the moment and could even be the best robot hoover of 2026.