The Narwal Flow 2 robot vacuum learns your home — and cleans it better every time

Improving on the initial Flow from 2025, the Flow 2 introduces a new design philosophy for Narwal while remaining an extremely capable floor-cleaning bot. And thanks to new AI-powered Adaptive Obstacle Avoidance and Adaptive Smart Cleaning features, the Narwal Flow 2 ($1099.99 at Narwal) will clean smarter every time you run it, learning as it goes.

What’s new with the Narwal Flow 2?

The first time I saw the Narwal Flow 2, I was a little surprised. This isn’t the first Narwal bot that’s not a white bubble of a base station with a deep cave for the bot itself, but the black casing and shallow cave certainly give it a new feel. It’s mostly just cosmetic, of course, as you still get a capable multi-function base station, and the bot itself is a familiar build.

Under the hood, the Narwal Flow 2 offers some powerful improvements. For instance, 30,000Pa of suction pressure is a big increase over previous Narwal bots. Combined with 12N of mopping force, auto-detergent delivery, and heated water, the Flow 2 is designed to deliver flagship-grade cleaning, whether vacuuming or mopping.

Floor transition management is improved with the Flow 2 as well. Accurate floor type detection is the first step, while automatic mop height and overall bot ride height adjustments on the fly enable instant floor type cleaning methods.

What’s really new here is the next-gen AI technology. The NarMind Pro Autonomous System is powered by dual-1080P cameras with 136-degree field of view. Combined with a collection of laser, RGB, and infrared sensors, the Flow 2 can interpret spatial information in real time.

Internal AI processing offers some object recognition for advanced, immediate decision-making. For unknown objects, it’s optional to send those images for further analysis by Narwal’s larger AI model, which helps your experience and improves the knowledge base for all.

I’m happy to report that the new base station design has not hampered its functionality. The ramp and garage for the bot are easy for it to manage, and it does a great job of storing, charging, emptying, filling, and cleaning the Flow 2. The top-mounted water canisters are easy to access, and the internal dry debris storage bag collects months’ worth of dirt from my floor.

What’s it like using the Narwal Flow 2?

Up front, the Narwal Flow 2 is super easy to use. It is easy to set up, and then a few minutes in the app gets you all set up so that you can map your space and control your desired cleaning settings.

Once mapped, you can fine-tune the cleaning area and then set automated cleaning schedules. Schedules can be done on a per-room basis, if desired, and you can set the exact cleaning settings you desire, such as a light vacuum of room 1, then a two-pass thorough mopping of room 2, whatever you want. At this stage, the Narwal Flow 2 becomes a hands-off experience. Speaking for myself, I only put my hands on the bot when the base station needs water or when the bot requires attention for navigational concerns.

The Flow 2 is excellent at navigation and object detection. It scoots around the house with both precision and efficient purpose. The AI software knows to adjust cleaning patterns to accommodate obstacles in your space and to target dirt and grime from different angles for an optimal clean.

I’ve been running this bot every day for over three weeks now; only once did I need to help it out. It found a small piece of paper that it was able to get into the brush area, but it was too large to get into the vacuum canister, so it rattled in the brushes. No harm done, it didn’t even affect the quality of the clean; it just made some noise.

My floors continue to look and feel perfectly shiny with the Flow 2 running. That goes for the tiles in the kitchen and the hardwoods in the rest of the house. The bot also accurately detects my rugs, so it’s not mopping them by accident, and it also doesn’t get caught up and push them across the room.

Cleaning is the name of the game here. This Narwal flagship bot continues a long history of one-upping its predecessors. While the Narwal Flow remains a fantastic floor-mopping tool, the Flow 2 does a better job of reaching the edges and into corners. Auto-fill detergent was an odd omission in the Flow, so I’m happy to see it in the Flow 2. With the increased maximum suction pressure and the improved reach, the Flow 2 is keeping my floors spotless.

The new multi-function base station with the Flow 2 has a pleasant aesthetic. There is now a more substantial ramp for the bot to get into its home, and it is less inclined to warp than the thin plastic of older designs. Moving the vacuum bag underneath the water canisters is no problem at all, but it is, objectively, more effort to get to. What concerns me is that the typical Narwal bubble-style base station has a tub beneath the top lid with a drain hole. This area houses the water canisters and cleanly manages leaks. I’ve never had a leak up there with any of the Narwal bots I’ve tested, but the Flow 2 base station would allow water to seep out in all directions, and to flood the vacuum dry storage bag if the canisters were to leak.

The water heating systems and self-cleaning provided by the base station are working exceptionally well. The mop pads on the Flow 2 still look brand new, and there’s no mess in the base station to clean. After several weeks, the dry storage bag is nowhere near full.

Controlling the bot is handled with the Narwal app. The app offers a rich set of controls and settings, allowing you to edit maps, set schedules, enable AI operations, and more. It’s particularly useful for processing the firmware updates that keep everything running smoothly.

The Narwal Flow 2 is best when it has been set up with and is operated by the Narwal app, but once it has been configured, the device remembers your preferences. If you remove the app after setup, the bot will continue to run properly on the provided schedule, and you can press buttons on the hardware to trigger a cleaning using your saved default cleaning routine.

Narwal Flow 2 review verdict: Should you buy it?

I would be happy to recommend the Narwal Flow 2 to anyone looking to pick up their first ultra-high-end robot vacuum that is highly-capable at mopping floors. The overall cleaning performance of the Flow 2 is superb. It’s extremely convenient, very efficient, accurately identifies floor types so each is cleaned appropriately, and intelligently avoids obstacles in your space.

Personally, the Narwal Flow 2 requires thoughtful consideration for me, as I suspect it will for any owner of a recent mid-to-high-end Narwal bot. I have the luxury of directly comparing the Flow 2 to the original Narwal Flow ($1099.99 at Narwal) that I’ve been using as my main robot vacuum cleaner for a while now. There’s no doubt that the overall clean from the Flow 2 is superior, but it’s not so much better that I’d call it a “must upgrade” situation. The Flow 2 is a little more convenient to use and navigates a little better, which is great, but Narwal has been knocking it out of the park overall, so it’s tough to choose between the range of machines.

The Flow 2 is fantastic, no question about that, but I might choose the original Flow or the Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra ($999.99 at Amazon) for the price.

Around the market, the Anker eufy S2 ($1349.99 at Anker) is a compelling alternative for cleaning performance, price, and convenience. I think the Flow 2 navigates better, and the S2 offers higher carpet cleaning suction power, but they’re a similar value purchase.

The Roborock Saros 20 ($1599.99 at Amazon) is another powerful competitor. It’s slimmer and navigates as well, if not better, than the Flow 2. If you want a high-end vac that’s closer to the $1,000 mark, the Eureka J15 Max Ultra ($1049 at Amazon) offers much of the same cleaning capabilities but will save you a few dollars.

The Flow 2 marks a big shift toward AI-driven navigation for Narwal bots. With powerful suction pressure, nearly-perfect hair anti-tangle capabilities, and highly capable mops, the Flow 2 offers efficiency and reliability I’m happy to have in my house. And while it’s definitely on the expensive side, luckily, we’re already seeing some early deals on the initial $1,599 launch price.