If you’re looking for a new robot vacuum and mop set, you may have seen these two incredible robots: Narwal T10 and Narwal Freo.
Although Narwal Robotics is relatively a newbie in the market for home robots, its first offering, the Narwal T10, is an exceptional robot vacuum and mop combination that offers a number of capabilities that are unique to it.
Since its launch in 2016, Narwal has released two hybrid robot vac/mop with some impressive novel features.
The T10 and Freo will vacuum and clean your house with only a little assistance from you. But these robot vacuums can do more than just vacuum and mop; they can also wash and dry the mopping pads to keep them clean and odor-free.
These two robots have a lot in common, but they are also very different. Let’s find out how they compare with this Narwal T10 vs Freo review.
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At a glance
Last update on 2024-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The quick answer
The major difference between these two robots is that the T10 is better at mopping, while Freo is better at vacuuming.
Narwal Freo has a center brush roll and two side brushes for edge sweeping, it also has several settings that allow it to simultaneously vacuum and mop. It can vacuum with the mop pads attached, and when it encounters carpets, it automatically lifts the mop pads, and ramps up the suction to sweep the carpets.
The T10, on the other hand, can’t vacuum and mop at the same time. It requires you to manually swap the mopping module (which has the mop pads) with the vacuum module (which has two side brushes). The T10 also doesn’t have a center brush, which means it’s not great at vacuuming, it’s actually better at mopping floors.
Also, Narwal Freo can self-empty its dustbin at the base station, but the T10 cannot. The base station of the T10 is designed for recharging the robot and mopping alone, while the base station of the Freo has a dust bag that collects dirt from the extra large dustbin in the robot.
So, if you want a robot mop, go for the T10, but if you mainly want a robot vacuum with mopping as an extra feature, then the Freo will serve you better.
Product overviews
Narwal T10
The Narwal T10 is a hybrid mop/vacuum cleaning robot with a unique design. It has an efficient mopping system, with an impressive self-cleaning technology built into the base station.
The T10 uses LiDAR technology for obstacle avoidance and better navigation while cleaning, and has a long 3-hour battery life. It has individual mopping and vacuuming modules that are very simple to switch out for one another.
The mopping capability of the Narwal T10 is its most appealing feature. When mopping, the rotating pads move to scrub the floors, and they clean effectively. The dock station washes and dries the mopping pads to keep them neat and dry.
- Excellent mopping performance
- Impressive docking station
- Long-lasting battery.
- Quality build and construction.
- A bit expensive.
- Doesn’t empty its own dust bin
- No support for Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant
Last update on 2024-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Narwal Freo
Narwal Freo is a highly efficient vacuum and mopping robot that cleans floors with rubber brushes, rotating mop heads, and patented DirtSense technology. 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
- No support for Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant
Last update on 2024-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Side by side comparison
Robot design
The Narwal T10 and Freo are well-built robots and feel pretty solid. They are made of high-grade plastic with a shiny white finish. The T10 has an unusual oblong shape, measuring 12.36 inches long, 13.58 inches wide and 4.21 inches tall. While the Freo has the same basic circular shape as most robot vacuums, it’s 4.1 inches tall and 13.7 inches in diameter.
Both the Narwal Freo and T10 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. They are able to clean in straight lines, and do a decent job, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Battery life
The Narwal T10 is powered by a massive battery with superb performance. It runs for 130 minutes at the highest ‘Turbo’ mode, and runs a little over 170 minutes (almost 3 hours) at the lowest ‘Normal’ suction mode. The battery power of the Narwal Freo is slightly ahead of the T10, the Freo runs for 180 minutes (3 hours) on the lowest setting, which is enough to clean an entire house. But will last for about 150 mins on the highest suction mode. Both robots have the recharge and resume feature, therefore they never run out of battery juice.
Mopping function
Narwal T10 was made with mopping in mind. Everything about the design-from the base station to the rotating mop pads-was made for mopping. It’s a hybrid robot that prioritizes mopping and actually does a great job.
The mopping function of the T10 is what gives it an edge over other robot mop/vacuum cleaners, including the Narwal Freo. The T10 mops with 2 mopping pads with lots of twisted fibers on them. When cleaning, these pads rotate 3 times per second, so it actually scrubs the floor, allowing it to clean up all sorts of mess from wooden and tile floors.
If you’re familiar with robot mops, you will know that they often leave the floors wet and sticky after mopping, the T10 doesn’t leave the floors sticky after mopping, it’s better at mopping than many robot mops.
Unlike most other vacuum/mop robots, the T10 doesn’t have a water tank in the robot, which is a surprise. But it periodically returns to the base station to rinse off dirt on the mop pads and continue from where it left off. This ensures that it always mops with clean pads, which leaves the floors cleaner.
The base station has two water tanks for storing clean and dirty water. The clean water tank supplies fresh soapy water to the robot for washing and rinsing the mop pads. T10 doesn’t mop with just water, you can drop a detergent/antibacterial sheet into the clean water tank before the mopping begins, the detergent dissolves really fast and helps with cleaning.
Once the robot has finished a mopping job, it returns to the base station and the mop pads are washed, rinsed and dried with hot air. This prevents bacteria growth and bad smell. Narwal was very thorough when designing the T10, they thought of everything that will make their robot very effective. It’s not the only cleaning robot to do this, but it’s still impressive.
The mopping function of the Narwal Freo is modeled after that of the T10. It’s able to do everything the T10 can do.
Automatic maintenance
The automatic maintenance feature is where the Narwal robots really shine, especially the Freo. For the Freo, the base station can recharge the robot, empty its dustbin, wash, rinse and dry the mop pads.
Inside the base station is a 4L clean water tank that supplies clean soapy water to the mop pads for wet mopping, and another 4L tank that collects the dirty water after each mopping session.
The dock stations of these two robots can handle:
- Charging the robot’s battery
- Emptying the dustbin
- 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. You can also get the Freo accessories pack to help with maintenance.
The base station for the T10 and Freo are almost identical, except that the Freo’s bast station has a dust bag and can auto-empty the robot vacuum. While the T10 doesn’t have the auto-empty feature, the dustbin in the robot will have to be manually emptied. A little inconvenient.
App control
The Narwal T10 and Freo both come with a smartphone companion app, just like most smart devices. Connecting these robots to the Narwal app is pretty straightforward, and once connected, you can access a lot of features for customizing the setting of the robot. You can choose between the cleaning modes, set no-go zones, specify rooms to clean, etc.
The Narwal robots can only save one map on the Freo app. From the app, you can schedule the Freo to clean on certain days, but the T10 unfortunately doesn’t have an option for scheduled cleaning.
You can use the robot without the app, but with limited functionalities. You will only be able to select a cleaning mode, or start and stop a cleaning cycle, by using the LCD touchscreen on the robot’s base station.
Key differences
Suction force
Narwal T10 has a suction rating of 1800 Pa, which is high for a robot vacuum. But the Narwal Freo certainly has a more impressive suction rating; 3000 Pa. More suction equals more dirt pick-up and better cleaning power due to its high pressure and suction, especially on carpets, so the Freo is better for vacuuming and giving you flawless floors and low-pile carpets.
Brush rolls
It’s already established that the Narwal Freo is capable and better at vacuuming with the highest suction power. It also has a center soft brush roll which helps with sweeping and picking up debris. The T10 lacks a center roller brush and will sweep with only 2 side brushes, as a result, it doesn’t effectively pick up dirt particles, and doesn’t work well on carpets. The Freo, on the other hand, does a good vacuuming job on both hard floors and low-pile carpets.
Vacuuming function
The vacuum module of the T10 comes equipped with twin side brushes that sweep up dirt and direct them to be sucked into the 0.4-liter capacity dustbin. But the absence of a center brush roll greatly reduces the performance of the robot as a vacuum cleaner, especially on carpets.
In contrast, the Freo has a rubber brush roll, side brushes, a large capacity dustbin, a washable HEPA filter and five different cleaning modes. It has a vacuum only mode, and a smart swing feature for cleaning corners. These features all work together to ensure the robot picks up a large percentage of the debris it encounters. Of course, it doesn’t remove 100% of the debris, but it does a very good job.
Self-emptying
The base station for the T10 doesn’t have a self-emptying feature, so you’ll have to pull the robot out manually to empty the dustbin. But the Freo automatically empties its dustbin into the large dust bag in the base station.
FAQs
Can the Narwal robots connect to Alexa?
Unfortunately, Narwal T10 and Freo are not compatible with Alexa or other voice assistants.
Do they suck up the water or leave the floor wet?
Narwal robots do absorb water, and they won’t leave your floor sopping wet. In fact, you can adjust the humidity of the mopping pads and frequency of use.
Can the Narwal robots work without the internet?
Yes, they can work without the internet, but this will limit the functions you can access. With the Freo mode, they can mop and vacuum without the internet. But you will need the internet to customize cleaning settings like set no-go zones, manage your map, view historical data, monitor the robots, etc.
Can they vacuum carpets and rugs without getting stuck?
Yes, they can. But Narwal T10 is not good for carpets since it doesn’t have a roller brush. Only the Freo can vacuum carpet, and it’s made to vacuum only low-pile carpets. It has a carpet infrared sensor that recognizes and properly vacuums carpets and cliff sensors to prevent falling down from heights or a flight of stairs, if you set it to clean carpets.
How do I tell Narwal Freo not to clean in a specific place?
If you do not want the robot to vacuum/mop a specific area, you will need to create a no-go zone on the app. You can create a no-go zone for both mopping and vacuuming.
Final thoughts
Although the T10 has many great features, it still has to get better at vacuuming, or just stick to mopping. As a mopping robot, the Narwal T10 is great, but it really doesn’t perform well as a vacuum cleaner.
The Freo is a much better robot vacuum and can also mop floors. It can vacuum and mop at the same time, as it automatically lifts the mop pads when it detects a carpet. Also, you won’t need to swap vacuum modules with mop modules every time you want it to clean.
The Freo is obviously more advanced than the T10 and takes the crown.
