If you’re shopping for a new robot mop and vacuum combo, you may come across these two amazing robots; the popular Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, and a new contender, Narwal Freo.
Narwal Freo and Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra are two robot vacuum cleaners that can simultaneously vacuum and mop with great accuracy.
These robots have all the features you would expect from an ideal robot vacuum, roller brushes, powerful suction, long-lasting battery, recharge and resume feature, auto-empty, etc. But how do these features stack up against each other?
Let’s find out with the Narwal Freo vs Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra comparison.
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At a glance
Last update on 2024-09-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The quick answer
These robot mops have many similarities, they can both mop and vacuum but the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is more advanced than the Narwal Freo. The S7 MaxV Ultra far outperforms the Freo in terms of general vacuuming performance, superior navigation and obstacle avoidance, and even better mopping functionality.
This isn’t to say that the Freo is subpar. Actually, it’s far from it. Narwal Freo is an impressive robot, especially when you consider that it’s a very new company. The Freo is a good robot vacuum, but certainly needs some improvements. But till then, Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra takes the lead and is certainly the better option.
Product overviews
Narwal Freo
Narwal Freo is a very attractive self-cleaning mopping robot, it cleans floors with rubber brushes and rotating mopping pads. The Freo is the next evolution and it’s impressive. This robot is powered by a 5,200 mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery that delivers up to 3 hours of cleaning on both hardwood floors and low-pile carpets.
The Freo effectively sweeps up pet hairs and dirt particles using a tangle-free rubber brush, two edge-sweeping brushes and a 3000 Pa for better vacuuming power. It also features the LiDAR technology for obstacle avoidance and better navigation while cleaning.
Freo requires very minimal post-cleaning maintenance, besides the self-empty, and auto-recharge features, it can also auto-empty and refill the water tank, and clean the mop pads after mopping.
- Good cleaning performance
- Impressive docking station
- Great suction force
- Excellent battery life
- Poor navigation
- Poor edge sweeping
- Poor mopping function
Last update on 2024-09-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra
The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is part of Roborock’s epic S-series of vacuum cleaners. The Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is an advanced robot mop and vacuum combo with a fully automatic docking station.
It brilliantly navigates through obstacle-filled floors using LiDAR, an RGB camera, and a structured light sensor. The S7 Ultra MaxV has about 5100 Pa of suction power, enough to remove even the most challenging impurities.
The Empty Wash Fill dock will charge the robot and also automatic daily maintenance including self-emptying, refilling, and auto mop washing and drying.
Other impressive features include the AI Technologies that allow seamless mapping and tracking of an area and the ability to use voice control via connecting to Alexa or Google Assistant support.
- Complete Robot Vacuum and Mop
- Great cleaning performance
- Excellent Navigation and Mapping
- Less Maintenance
- Expensive robot
- Struggled with long hair and pet hair
Last update on 2024-09-11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Side by side comparison
Auto-emptying
The self-emptying feature is seen on most expensive robot vacuum cleaners, and it’s activated after each cleaning session. Both the S7 MaxV and the Freo have this feature, but the Freo went one step further by including a touchscreen on the Clean base, which allows users to access quick access cleaning controls as well as a child lock. This is a feature I’ve never seen before on a robot, and it’s quite impressive.
Smart mapping
Creating virtual maps of your home is another feature that is quite common in robotic vacuum cleaners. Most of these gadgets use LiDAR to scan and map the floors of a home, and you can view and adjust the maps from their apps.
The Narwal Freo and the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra are capable of smart mapping using LiDAR. They also provide a visual layout of the rooms in a home, and you can see a real-time 3D map of your house while the robots clean and vacuum your floors. Also, the maps let you set no-go zones and target cleaning specific rooms.
Flooring identification
Since these two hybrid robots can simultaneously vacuum and clean, it is important that they recognize different floor types. Fortunately, both robots are quite good at distinguishing between carpets and hard flooring.
When the Roborock detects a carpet, it automatically lifts the mop, allowing it to mop carpets and vacuum hard floors in the same cleaning cycle.
Freo, on the other hand, allows you to select a cleaning mode that determines whether or not it should vacuum carpets. But it also lifts the mop when it detects a carpet, therefore it can vacuum carpets and mop floors at the same time.
Battery life
Both devices have a battery life of about 180 minutes, or 3 hours, which equates to a capacity of more than 5000 mAh. A battery of this size should be able to clean an area of about 3000 square feet on a single charge, depending on settings, but they will probably last less than 3 hours if you select the highest power. When the battery runs low, the robots return to their charging station to recharge before proceeding with the cleaning.
Automated maintenance
The convenience of robot vacuum cleaners is improving as a result of more automated maintenance features. These robots have the ability to self-empty their bins, clean and dry mop pads, and empty and refill their water tanks at the base station.
The Roborock S7 MaxV is as near to totally automated as you can get because it is built to look after itself. It only needs a little help from us to function. Self-emptying, self-cleaning, self-washing, and self-refilling are just a few of the features that the Roborock S7 MaxV is equipped with. And there is just one dock to handle all these—the Empty wash fill dock.
Here’s a breakdown of how it works;
- Self-emptying: the auto-dustbin base automatically empties the bin when it’s full, up to seven weeks of not worrying about emptying the dustbin.
- Self washing: a unique washing system washes the mop during and after cleaning
- Self-refilling: it automatically refills the water tank during cleanup for a mopping range of up to 300 sqm (3230 sq ft).
- Self-cleaning: self-cleaning design cleans itself too for an even easier maintenance
Similarly, the Narwal Freo has a docking station that performs the same functions. It has a 4L clean water tank in the dock station for supplying clean water to the water tank in the robot, and another 4L tank that collects the dirty water from the robot after each mopping session.
The dock stations of these two robots can handle:
- Charging the robot’s battery
- Emptying the dustbin
- Filling and emptying the water tank
- Washing and drying the mop pads
The tanks will still need to be filled and emptied on a regular basis. In addition, the dust bag should be replaced whenever it becomes full, and the robot and station will need to be cleaned on a regular basis.
Key differences
Size and look
They both have the same basic circular shape of most robot vacuums, and approximately the same size, but have different colors.
The Roborock S7 has the basic round shape of most botvacs with a shiny black finish. It’s about 3.8 inches tall and 13.8 inches in diameter, so it’s small enough to clean under most furniture. While the Freo is slightly taller at 4.1 inches and 13.7 inches in diameter, with a shiny white finish.
Finding its way around common objects around the home is a very important skill for robot vacuum cleaners. How well a robotic vacuum cleaner moves around the floors determines, to a large extent, how efficiently it cleans.
MaxV Ultra and Freo use LiDAR technology to “see” the set-up in a home. They can identify furniture and avoid it, and they can also clean the floors while avoiding most of the obstacles in their path. But there is some difference.
The Freo is still stuck with basic features, while the Roborock S7 MaxV has a number of features that allow it to clean the floor intelligently. Beside the LiDAR system, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra also has an RGB camera and a light for nighttime navigation.
When the robot detects an object, it will note it on the map within the app, so you can see what it is. It can also take pictures of the items it finds on your floors, but you will have to enable this feature if you want it.
The S7 MaxV generally has very impressive navigation, the combination of LiDAR navigation and ReactiveAI 2.0 really takes the mapping and obstacle avoidance to a whole new level. A level that’s far beyond what the Narwal Freo can do.
Suction power
Narwal Freo has a suction rating of 3000 Pa, which is high for a robot vacuum. But the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra certainly has a more impressive suction rating; 5100 Pa. And since more suction equals more dirt pick-up and better cleaning power, especially on carpets, the S7 MaxV Ultra is obviously ahead in this category. It’s the better robot if you have a home with carpeted flooring or have pets who shed a lot.
Mopping function
Similar to the cleaning performance, these two robots are also good at mopping. Narwal Freo has 2 spinning mop pads rotating in opposite directions for better cleaning efficiency. But the S7 has the sonic mopping, which uses sound to agitate the mopping pad to vibrate more than 3000 times per minute. So it doesn’t just dray the damp cloth across the floors, but actually scrubs the floors. And they are very efficient. The spinning mop pads of the Freo are good, the sonic mopping of the MaxV Ultra is better.
FAQs
Do these robots map multiple floor levels?
Only the Roborock can create maps for multi-level homes, and it can save up to 4 maps. But the Freo can save only one map.
Can they vacuum carpets without getting stuck?
Yes, they can. Narwal can only vacuum low-pile carpets, but not deep-pile carpets. Roborock can vacuum low to medium-pile carpets. I don’t think there are any robot vacuum cleaners yet that effectively vacuum deep-pile carpets. Most robot vacuums are only able to handle low to medium-pile carpets.
Do they clean edges?
Yes, they are both capable of cleaning edges, and the Roborock does a better job than the Freo. Despite that the Freo has 2 side brushes, while the Roborock has just one.
How much clearance do they need to clean under furniture?
It’s recommended that they have a clearance of at least 5.1 inches, this is because it’s important to have some space between the top of the robot and bottom of the furniture as this prevents them from easily getting stuck.
Will they alert you when the clean water tank is empty and the dirty water tank is full?
Yes, they will. Both the Narwal Freo and S7 MaxV Ultra will notify you on the app when the clean water tank needs a refill and the dirty water tank needs to be emptied. For the S7 MaxV Ultra, the dock light also turns red as a sign that the tanks should be checked.
Final thoughts
Although the Freo has many great features, it still has to get better at cleaning and navigation. In all honesty, the navigation and obstacle avoidance could have been a lot better for this robot. The Freo will be a much better robot if the navigation is improved. Also, the mopping and cleaning are pretty average. But I think they’ll become better and deliver a far better product next time.
After the comparison, we have a winner, and it’s the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra.