Flow Robot Vacuum & Mop

Norwall flow with the auto refill and drainage system. Best mop and vacuum system on the market hands down.

The compact version of the flow is an excellent mopping machine, outperforming competitors, and it is a good vacuum. A downside is its high water usage as a good mop should; it often returns to empty dirty water and refill with fresh. If you opt for the non-plumbed version, you'll need to replace the water frequently so there’s more babysitting of this robot if you have a big home with lots of hard floors. The plumbed version is great when functioning properly, but initial pump priming is required, which can lead to flooding. There is no help from Narwal on how to best prime the pump nor is there any instructions; at first, I just thought I had a defective unit. After some effort and a lot of water cleanup, I got mine primed finally, and now it works well. This pump priming issue is a manufacturing oversight that needs to be addressed.

Narwal flow with the automatic refill and drainage system. There is absolutely no equal on the market.

I really enjoyed using my Narwal Flow for mopping; it did a fantastic job! However, I ran into trouble with the vacuuming feature when it came to my high-pile carpets. It seemed like the vacuum just couldn’t handle the thickness, often sinking in and dragging the mop along. This extra drag made it get stuck quite a bit on the carpet. If you have low-pile carpets, I think this vacuum would work wonderfully for you. Unfortunately, I had to send mine back because, at that price, I expected it to perform well on both carpets and hard floors.

Great, please add some first impressions when it has ran. I currently have the flow and thinking of buying the roller.

Nevermind just saw the picture of your wheels. Look at this post: different wheels: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dreame_Tech/s/CqmY0S4aAH Another question, my narwal flow obstacle avoidance I don't think is really good, my Mova V50 ultra bumps less to obstacles. Do you notice the same? I even set the setting to Safety instead of Smart in the flow app.

Honestly yes, my only gripe about it is no Detergent tank

I wish I could get the compact one, I go through water A LOT so this would be a dream. I just don’t get why they don’t add the detergent tank in the regular one. It make zero sense

I really appreciate you doing this. Your observations thus far have been very illuminating, as it seems like there are Narwal and Dreame factions, with each side minimizing the good of the other. There seem to be more Dreame/Mova people who discredit the Narwal design, but that may be bias on my part because I really like my Flow thus far. Just a Dad still irritates me every time he glows about Aqua 10 Track doing something that the Flow did as well or better. Your App statement is good to know. I thought the Narwal app was good, though there are things that could be better labeled (down pressure adjustments) and functionality upgrades (mid-job dustbin option). I don't have experience with the Dreame UI, but that seems a usual knock against Narwal -- Dreame's app is much better. The mapping is also enlightening. One of my biggest reasons for considering the Aqua 10 Pro Track this summer (when we still thought it was coming to the States), was the LIDAR tower vs the Flows rear mount. It doesn't sound like the stowable tower buys you much in mapping improvement, and it forces Dreame to have a smaller onboard dustbin. I very much want to hear your experience with the mopping. Does greater down pressure give you a better clean over a track mop that has a larger surface contact area? And does the fact that the Flow uses warm water vs Dreame's cold water impact the pick up? Does Dreame's fluffing wheel seem to work? That does sound like a good design. Finally, along with the Flow's quiet operation, I'm very happy with the clean out. A lot of people find the built-in internal dirty water tank a hindrance for the Flow, but it is a strength. Only time will tell if Narwal's design keeps that tank clean over prolonged use, but if it does, that is a great advantage over manually cleaning the tank on the Dreame. How successful is Dreame in emptying that tank after use? Is cleaning the landing dock easier or harder than cleaning the Flow's? Like me, it sounds like you clean multiple times a week. If there is sewage water always in that dirty tank, I have to think the smell probability over time goes up. But if there isn't much sewage left after the unit goes through full clean, that shouldn't matter for smell.

Are you a reviewer? I really thought your Flow Vs Aqua 10 Roller was one of the better reviews I've read. You know, like you I was torn between the Flow and the Aqua 10 when it was thought the Pro Track was getting released in the States. Im glad i made the right choice with the Flow. I've wondered how you could also get a Aqua 10 and Z60 after you had a Flow. Now you've also got an X11. Either your house is a mansion or you like testing bots. If i had the bank roll, id do it too. If you are a reviewer, that's good. You do good work if the Flow/Aqua review represents how you work.

Has there been any indication when Dreame will come out with specs on their Ultra Roller? As more info continues to come out, the more confidence I have with my Narwal Flow purchase. I don't think it will be the perfect machine, but the overall collective reviews have it as a generational leap forward in mopping, and more than serviceable in vacuuming. My house is mostly hard floor, so it seems great. I just wish it had more field of view on the laser and they didn't screw their possible customers on the autofill base. The only thing that could give me pause is the Ultra Roller, but I've still seen nothing about it which lends me to believe they announced it on 8/6 only because the Flow was coming out the next day. Rush to market is never a good engineering strategy. Lack of information confirms that rush. The Pro Track could have been an attention contender which was the easy button, but Dreame decided either that was too expensive or too complex for the American market. Either reason is poor.

You are right. I've been waiting since January for the Flow. I'm not happy with how Narwal did this rollout with their autofill, but the robot still looks like it is meeting most of the hype, though nothing is definite without more real world use. The Pro Track could have swayed me, but you're right the roller version, whatever it looks like, probably won't be as effective as the track version.

No, it is obviously the better option for the Flow. Because of the cleaning cycle of the mop at the base station, the Flow uses a lot of water. It looks like the cleaning cycle is very effective at keeping the mop track clean, which is great. But, if you have the standard station like me, you'll have to fill up and empty the tanks often. Your version is much more seamless. The problem is Narwal knows it, so they are charging a lot more for your version during the pre-order period, and you don't get the benefit of the extended warranty or accessory grant. You are getting the better version because you can do multiple cleanings without intervening at all with the unit.

You are right that a person should wait if they are in no rush. I don't have a desperate need to upgrade my 6-year-old Roombas, but there has been considerable testing over the last several months by Betas with testimonials. The YouTube videos released in the last several weeks are mostly biased to some degree, but at least some do show the limitations. Jamie Andrews is very quantitative, and he's had the unit for 3 months. He showed navigation, suction, and corner side broom performances that were less than perfect, but overall, he said it was a solid performer, with mopping being top tier. I was most impressed with the base station cleaning. Someone elsewhere posted a terrific review of the internal dirt tank from a Chinese tester, who had run their version for many months and then took the robot apart to inspect the tank visually, and it looked new. Even if the Dreame Aqua 10 Pro Track was coming in September, I'm certain Narwal is the right machine for me. Moreover, the longer Dreame remains radio silent on the Aqua 10 Roller, the more evident it becomes that they are not ready to release it, and there are flaws in the Pro Track that prevented them from bringing it to the US.

I ordered the Flow with the Standard Base Station. I had intended to buy the Auto Fill Station, but their pre-order pricing strategy makes no sense to me. It's an extra $400, with no extended warranty and no accessory pack gift. Vacuum Chef yesterday released a video of his Flow experience, and the lack of obstacle avoidance on carpet was concerning. I was considering buying the Aqua 10 Pro Track instead of the Flow, as I figured it would be announced at the 8/6 event. I'd still consider moving from the Flow, as I'm not entirely satisfied with Narwal's rollout strategy and have some reservations about their obstacle avoidance capabilities. But there is very little information about the Aqua 10 Ultra Roller. Has anyone seen any videos or read any reviews beyond just that general Digitch article or that Tom's Guide blurb? Has this even been out in China yet? I'd like to know more about it before 9/1.

I do view that channel too. I'm anxious to see more detailed info on the Aqua line available for 9/1. It's been almost a week since the announcement, and there has been no release of any substantial information to inform a buying decision. Given Narwal's strong pre-order incentive for the standard base station package, it is hard to forego taking advantage of that, given the absence of information from Dreame. I assume there will be more information/videos/specs released before 9/1.

That is true, the spec doesn't tell you everything . If it has the same general structure of the Pro Track, you can make assumptions on performance. But, if there are structural differences, like the absence of a heating coil on board of the Ultra Roller, that is a significant deviation from the somewhat real-world tested Pro Track. I think many people on this feed are similar to me -- I want a machine that is cutting edge in cleaning, but I want to make sure to be as informed as possible before making a very large cash outlay. An uninformed decision can cost money, but so can analysis paralysis. Narwal provided a substantial incentive to adopt the standard base station Flow. If Dreame wants to influence buying decisions, they must provide information that prompts the buyer to consider alternatives. Just announcing something cool will be available on 9/1 does nothing for me. By that date my Flow will have done multiple cleanings on my marble and wood floors.

I am keeping my Flow order. Hopefully I'll have it by this time next week. I expect the navigation to be less efficient than a 360 tower, but that will just mean it takes longer to do a job. The upside far outweighs that issue of longer time commitment per cleaning. I put a lot of stock in Jamie Andrew reviews, and the Flow's LIDAR design was highlighted as a con. But, for the price right now, Narwal seems to give superior mopping with thorough system cleaning at the end of jobs. The obstacle avoidance and AI cleaning seem to continue to be at the top of the industry. Vacuum performance seems to be above average, though it may take multiple passes to capture everything in some circumstances. Whenever the Pro Track comes out, it will be more expensive with less capable AI and a requirement to clean the onboard dirty tank manually. The base station will need to be cleaned periodically, just like the Flow, though unlike the Flow you can't remove the landing dock so cleaning the Dreame dock will be harder. If I have to do more manual maintaintance on the Pro Track, it doesnt matter to me it navigates more efficiently. I'm not in a huge rush to buy something, but even if the Pro Track was coming out tomorrow, I'd stay Flow.

Vacuum Nerds tested at normal suction Narwal Flow is 55 db. Super Powerful setting is 65 dbs. Vacuum Wars should be releasing their video review any day now. It's currently rated at #2 on that site, so you can see objective results already. That site had an issue with a base station water reading in two successive units, but I haven't seen that anywhere else. I haven't heard that the Chinese version, which has been out for much of this year, is experiencing the same issue, so it appears to be an anomaly. There have been some issues reported with hard-plumbed base stations; some may be due to installation errors, while hardware failures may cause others. I've run mine multiple times a week for 4 weeks, with no issues. I'm mostly hardwood and marble tile, and this unit has been terrific for me. Many times I run it at 2 a.m. downstairs and it does not wake me, my wife or my dogs.

I don't know about the 10R; never ran it. I'll say my Flow does great on hard floors, doesn't jam with heavy debris and is simple to clean. Roborock seems to be the industry leader, but i have no complaints on my Narwal and I think it is a great value for the price.

I have 1700 sqft mostly marble and hardwood on my main floor. I've had my Narwal Flow since the end of August doing multiple cleanings weekly. I have 2 dogs and multiple rugs. I have the basic base station so I do have to fill and empty the tanks. The Flow looks like it has the biggest clean and dirty tanks (5L each) of the flagship track/roller units out right now, so though it uses a fair bit of water, the tanks are big so I dont need to deal with them every time I clean. The dirty tank on the bot is self cleaning, so I never have to wash it out. The landing pad in the base station is easy to pull out and clean (I do it every other week). It seems to be the quietest out right now with one of the longest lasting batteries. I usually clean in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping upstairs. The con i think is the app is not as adjustable as say Dreame, Mova or Roborock. With hard surfaces, I'd recommend doing a track or roller bot. Some say those type of bots are harder to clean and more complex. My Flow is easy.

I agree with u/FarConcern2308 that if you have the right bot you dont have to clean often. I have a Narwal Flow, and I clean the base once a month after running it 3 times a week on 1500 sqft of mostly marble and wood with two dogs. The Flow is unique in that you dont have to clean the onboard trash tank - that is cleaned automatically with an installed spinning motor with a backlash process. The landing dock in the base is also fully removable so you dont have to reach in to clean the dock at all. I think one of the biggest pluses of the Flow is the cleaning requirements, or lack there of.

I would buy a Narwal Flow or Mova Z60 through Amazon right now. They have an extended return policy in effect so you would have longer than 30 days to try something out to see if it works for your situation. I have the Flow and love it (using it since August). People are also very complimentary of the Z60. There has been some people liking the Ecovacs X11, but the mapping sounds slow and the app may not be as good. I'd stay away from the Dreame Aqua 10 Roller as there have been design flaws, though some say they are fixed now. The reason I recommend those bots is because they use track or roller mops. For hard surfaces, it just seems to be a better system, though some may argue that the spinner mops are better because they are simpler. The cleaning results with the track or roller mops are just more thorough. The Flow would be the quietest with a long battery life and a very minimal base cleaning requirement. The Mova has more down pressure with their roller, so cleaning in creavases would be better. The Flow has a track mop so the cleaning dwell time is longer since there is more of the mop surface area cleaning at any one time. What ever you decide, go through Amazon right now to take advantage of the extended return window.

Roller mops, and similar but not the same track mops, actually clean themselves as they work and collect the dirty water in an onboard tank. They are much more efficient at cleaning then because they collect much more dirt over spinning pads. Once a pad is saturated by dirt, it just moves the remaining dirt on the floor around, until it goes back to its base to clean the pads. No dirt is actually contained in the bot, so a spinning pad bot has to spend a lot more time cleaning because it has to go back to its base more often to clean itself. The key to roller mops, or track mops, is how easy it is to clean the dirty water tank on the bot itself after it is done cleaning.. All bots except the Flow require that dirty, usually smelly tank to be manually cleaned after use. The Flow cleans itself by using a string motor and a back ush system. The Aqua 10 Roller when released had a leaking problem with its base design for some of its units. It also was designed with an undersized debris tank chute, so it clogged often. Some say those issues are fixed. What's not fixed is its short battery life and its loud operating noise. Mova is a sister company to Dreame, and its design seems to be much better. For my money though, I think the Flow is better. It's quieter, has longer battery life, is easier to clean and has a track mop which has more surface area scrubbing at all time. You could always try both the Flow and Z60 from Amazon since there is the extended return window. See which one works best for you

Here's my Flow catching my boy Finny in the act. https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/s/2cIhcdZeMS But honestly, I think all bots have trouble depending on the floor background where the poop lies. In this instance, the contrast of the poop was great enough against my wood floor. Same thing happened on a brownish carpet, maybe it wouldn't have seen it. I wouldn't trust any bot on finding poop 100% of the time. The tech isn't there yet. If your access statement is about black carpet, that has been fixed by FW updates. Here's the work around I had originally, which i dont have to do now. https://www.reddit.com/r/NARWAL/s/Sa5GhDlfGw

You should consider the Narwal Flow. One of the quietest on the market, with a track not roller mop . It has one of the longest battery charge lives, and its the only one that doesn't require the onboard dirty water tank to be manually cleaned. I've had it for three months, mostly used on my 1500 sqft downstairs with majority wood and marble. I run it 3 times a week at 4 am with a wife and 2 dogs. No one wakes up and the floors are immaculate. Grout in my marble section is shallow/medium deapth. And, buy through Amazon just in case you don't like it. Extended return window. Finally, Matter has been delayed. It was supposed to be active this month, but Narwal has pushed it into 2026.

My issue was a black rug issue. I have a 4X6 rug in my entry way that is deep black and white. The bot would stop on that carpet because it registered it as a cliff. I found a work around that allowed the bot to not stop on that rug and still clean it, but it was initially frustrating. There have been FW updates that have fixed that problem for my type of situation. However, I've heard others still have a problem with black carpet. The issue isn't with the fall sensors, it is the dual RGB cameras, or more specifically, the computer logic apply to the camera data. If you have black carpet, you certainly want to make sure your Flow works on it during the return period.

Narwal Flow extends its track mop and is the only bot that self cleeans its onboard dirty tank (140 ml). I've run it for 4 months and no smell and no manuel tank cleaning.

Flow easiest to maintain and quietest. X11 best vac. Z60 best downpressure for deep groves. I have the Flow for 4 months and happy with the performance. Would buy again over any competative bots.

It's 95 mm tall so it gets under all of my cabinets and couches. When the bot reaches a 90-degree corner, it reverses the side broom, which then, through a centrifugal design, extends its reach to the full corner. It works very well, and it's simpler than a motorized extension. The mopping has been terrific for me. That said, you are so close to actually seeing the S2 at CES, and probably available to order soon after, I would just wait to see how it looks. Regardless, maintenance will be easier with the Flow because you don't have to clean the onboard dirty tank ever. The S2 is a manual clean for that onboard tank.

I came from Roombas that only used VSLAM and bumpers. The tech is so much greater now. I think that is a Narwal. I have the Narwl Flow and it does the same type of navigation, which is fantastic. I really like the Narwal design. But, I've watched enough reviews to know many of the really good bots out right now have this level of navigation. It's fascinating how advanced they're getting

So I have a dog that hates the stand-up vacuum we have, but is totally indifferent to my Flow. I think your cat would not be bothered after an acquaintance period. Mine has caught my boy pooping in my dining room before. Very embarrassing for him, but like I'm sure everyone else would say, don't trust the bot's ability to find poop/vomit all the time. Regardless of the bot, the tech is not foolproof yet. My Flow is the best self-cleaner you can get right now. You never have to clean the onboard dirty tank, which is unique to the Flow. All other track/rollers require that tank to be cleaned manually. Now the loading tray in the dock does require cleaning. I do it once a month, and I clean 3x week. I've had my Flow for 5 months. Obstacle avoidance is good, bordering on great. I won't say it will never lightly bump a chair leg, but it doesn't do it often. And I think that's the big Flow 2 upgrade. The very good obstacle avoidance should be even better with the Flow 2. Auto-dosing is not available on the Flow basic dock. It is standard on the plumbed version of the Flow. It is also standard on the Flow 2 basic dock. There is a chorus of people who think not having auto-dosing detergent on the Flow basic dock was a mistake, but honestly, it takes a second to squirt soap into the clean-water tank when you're filling it. You're already filling up the tank, so that extra second is a pretty silly hill to die on. It dries the bag, so anything wet collected by the vacuum doesn't mold inside. Depending on the level of debris in your house, the bag can last several months before you replace it.

I used to run iRobot. Really no comparison; the Flow is light years ahead in cleaning and navigation. The corner reach design works perfectly for me. Some prefer the mechanical arm reach, but the Flow gets everything out of my corners with a much simpler design. I dont worry that the design will break over time because it is only a reversible motor

Oh, wait you were talking about soap. They will say only use theirs, but I'm going to use other cheaper stuff when I run out. You just have to make sure it is low foam. I think the stuff for Shark is cheaper, and that's what I'll use probably

It is constantly ignored, but the Narwal Flow is exactly the same clean requirement as a spinner, only has all the benefits of a track/mop as far as cleaning. What people say is there is much more cleaning/maintenance on the track/rollers, usually because the onbaord dirty water tank needs regular cleaning. The Flow is self cleaning that tank. Five months in with the Flow and never manually cleaned that tank and it has never smelled once. It also doesn't have a fluffer, which needs regular cleaning. You do need to clean the landing tray, but that's the same with a spinner. The Flow gives you a track/roller clean with a spinner maintenance. Edit - the scrapper needs cleaning monthly in my 1500 sqft, 3 time a week cleaning schedule. Takes 30 seconds. The Flow 2 is an upgrade, so you may want to wait for that in April, but I don't know that it's a substantial upgrade. The real upgrade is the obstacle avoidance that no one has seen. The obstacle avoidance on my Flow 1 is great, so even if you went Flow 1 you'd be impressed.

I'd be cautious putting too much stock in really bad reviews on these channels. There are a lot of people that have had a great experience with Z60 and the Flow. It seems the people that have had a frustrating experience have an oversized voice compared to the many that like their units. The Aqua 10 had design flaws, so the higher number of bad reviews is more justified. I can't speak from experience on the Z60, but I can tell you I love my Flow. I've had it for 5 months and it has been great. Bot with the least amount of cleaning required as the onboard tank is self clean. Never had any smell the entire time I've had it. Extremely quiet with a very good battery life. I would buy it again if I needed a second bot. Z60 is louder with a shorter battery and you have to manually clean the onboard tank. But, it has more available downpressure so if you have textured floors like molded LVP it may clean the groves better. It also has a retractable LIDAR tower, so the mapping is probably faster than the Flow's rear mount LIDAR. Honestly, odds are you'd be happy with either. My personal opinion, the Flow is the way to go.

I get that. It seems there are many reviews of Dreame, Mova, and Narwal that are horror stories about their service experiences. All my interactions with Narwal have been very good. My only major example of a service interaction is when, after 6 weeks, my Flow started making sporadic squeaks on my marble and wood floors. I emailed Narwal CS the issue and they had me do some videos with the rear omnidirectional wheel removed and that seemed to fix it. So they sent me a new wheel, which took 5 days. However, the wheel didn't fix the sound, so they had me video the bot running without the track mop or mop frame installed. That seemed to fix the issue, so they said it was the frame that was extending down slightly over the hard surfaces. They sent me a new frame in 5 days. Fixed the issue and has not returned. If, for some reason, you would need a replacement bot during warranty, I do believe they will send you a refurbished bot, but it should be spotless and run like new. My experience with Narwal has not been anything but good. I don't know about the Dreame/Mova service.

How does Roborock 10r do multilevel homes? I thought that also required you to move the base station to utilize the full second floor map? I do 1500 sq ft on my main floor and 1200 on my second floor with the same single Narwal Flow. I move the base to do it so I can get all rooms I want. I agree, if you don't move the base it is very limited, but i think that is because the onboard tanks don't accommodate large areas of cleaning without emptying the dirty tank and filling up the clean tank. Do other guys do it differently?

I've never owned a Roborock, so i can't give you a comparison. But I've owned my Flow for months and it has been terrific. I run it at 4 am 3 times a week and my floors have never been cleaner. 2 dogs and have never clogged.

I have 1500 sq ft downstairs, where I clean multiple times a week (at least some of the rooms, and the entire place once a week). My kitchen, dining room, and office are smooth, sealed hardwood. My front entryway and foyer are black marble, with shallow grout lines. My downstairs bath/shower has textured LVP imitation wood planks with deeper grout lines. My Flow has no problem cleaning any of it. The Mova Z60 may do better on really deep, cavernous flooring, as you indicated below. It has slightly more down pressure available (it's a heavier bot). But if you have low to medium-textured LVP, the Flow should clean it all.

I would still think the Flow would get that. My bathroom with textured LVP has crevases that pose no problem in cleaning. It's a really good time to buy a bot through Amazon with their extended return window, just in case it doesn't work for you. If you get a Z60, you'd get more down pressure, but it requires more manual cleaning of the bot more frequently, is louder and the battery life per charge is smaller.

That is true of all the roller mops out now. They require manual cleaning of the dirty water collection tank on the bot. That is not true for the track mop design of the Flow. The dirty tank on the Flow is cleaned automatically by the base station after a cleaning job is complete. The tank has a molded-in stirring motor, and it uses high-pressure water/air to backflush its system multiple times during the cleaning process. The stirring motor cavitates the water as it is being pumped in and out of that tank, allowing anything that might have been stuck on the sides of the tank to be dispelled. I've been running my bot for 3 months, and there has been no smell. From what I've read and watched, the Flow's entire design to clean the bot -- track mop, scrapper bar, trash and fresh water tanks, is the industry's best. Not once has a foul odor come from my bot, and when I've done a manual cleaning of my system (omnidirectional rear wheel, scrapper bar, track mop housing), there really isn't much to clean. The base station's dirty water tank can smell if you don't clean it regularly or you don't have a method to counteract the smell, but that's true for spinning mops too. I use a denture tab in the tank and it keeps it odorless until I clean it out on the weekend. As far as corners, you are correct, a roller or track mop is not able to mop it. The geometry makes it impossible. Spinning mops are better in that respect. It's a trade-off between cleaner corners and a cleaner floor, absent the corners.

Honestly it's a pretty easy recommendation for your needs: [Narwal Flow ](https://amzn.to/3WgEytd). It handles pet hair great, some of the best mopping available right now (track style, excellent for tile) , no issues with carpet/rug vacuuming (as long as the rugs aren't pure/jet black), and handles thresholds. Very smart, great naviation and obstacle avoidance and very very good battery life. AND, its very quiet. I'm not sure there's another worth mentioning for your use case but the [MOVA Z60](https://amzn.to/46Z6ech) is a comparable flagship but for what you're needing it for I think the Flow would be a better option.

This is my review of the [Narwal Flow](https://amzn.to/4pShxu5) and [Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller](https://amzn.to/48X1HrY) *Last updated: 10/6/25 -- Updates throughout* *tld;dr -* ***Dreame Aqua10*** *has slightly better navigation and raw scrubbing power with the roller mop, vacuum easily clogs with dog hair and very poor battery life.* ***Narwal Flow*** *has a better vacuuming and mopping system, very efficient with water usage, quiet, great battery life and more refined. Narwal App runs much smoother, Dreame App has more granular settings.* ***Verdit: I prefer the Flow's package over the Aqua10. The Flow provides an all-around better, more refined experience with slightly less floor scrubbing power but still excellent mopping.*** # Intro I’ve had the Narwal Flow for a couple of weeks now, and I’m currently testing out the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller. My plan is to see if the Dreame might be a good fit for a second space, rather than just picking up another Narwal Flow. So far, the Flow has been working really well and has been a huge upgrade from the Eufy X10 Pro Omni I was using before. My main focus on this test will be how it handles dog hair and mopping as these are the two main things I use my vacuum for. If anyone has questions or would like direct comparisons between the two, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer. I’m not a reviewer, I’m not sponsored, and I don’t have a bias toward either brand—just sharing my own experience. [Narwal Flow \(left\), Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller \(right\)](https://preview.redd.it/x5zb3yewrpqf1.png?width=1473&format=png&auto=webp&s=578c5107047457f7e76b921ce96694fcbc6f7df3) # Initial thoughts Both docks share an excellent build quality. The Dreame leans toward a sharper, more angular design for both the robot and dock, while the Narwal favors smooth, rounded edges that give it a sleeker look. The LIDAR tower on the Dreame raises and lowers with a louder motor than I expected—nothing problematic, just worth noting. The Dreame’s water tanks appear smaller at first glance, though their different shape makes a direct comparison less straightforward—I’ll need to confirm actual capacity later. At the moment, the Dreame is charging and updating firmware on both the dock and robot before starting its first mapping run. One noticeable difference is in the voice guidance. The Dreame’s prompts sound more natural, as though recorded by a native English speaker, while the Flow’s voice has the cadence of someone speaking English as a second language or perhaps AI translated. Both are understandable, but the Dreame’s voice is more natural. # Build Quality At first I was going to give this a tie but the more I use the Aqua10 the more little clunks, rattles and vibrations I hear from its operation. For example when it stops, it stops with a thud not smoothly. When turning, I'm not sure if its the wheels skipping or what but it makes a vibrating sound. The Aqua10's vacuum sound is very high pitched compared to the Flow which is more pleasant to have running in the same room. It seems like Narwal put a lot of effort into refining the experience of being around the vacuum. ***Verdict***:  **Narwal** for build quality. It's more refined and more pleasant to be around while its running. The Aqua10's fit, finish and materials are good. The dock is well made. But the sounds it makes while operating doesn't scream quality, it just screams. (okay a bit dramatic but here's a [video ](https://i.imgur.com/dVItzO5.mp4)of the difference). # Mapping/Map Editing [Mapping on the Dreame went smoothly](https://i.imgur.com/nxiz5kz.png), and it was able to identify all the rooms without issue. It did make some different choices [compared to the Flow](https://i.imgur.com/mJJa8q7.png) when defining walls. For example, the Flow mapped around a side table—recognizing it couldn’t pass under but still showing floor space behind it—while the Dreame treated that same table as a solid wall. Not a problem, just a difference in how each robot interprets obstacles. Merging and dividing rooms worked fine, with slightly different controls than the Narwal app. I didn’t find either approach better or worse, and both were easy to use. I am still searching for some of the map settings the Narwal app offers—those options may exist in the Dreame app, but the layout is different so I’m still exploring. I’m also trying to locate the equivalent of the Flow’s “meticulous” clean setting, which vacuums in tighter lines. It may be the “deep cleaning” option in the Dreame app, but I haven’t confirmed that yet. One issue I can confirm with the Narwal Flow is that it doesn't like Black rugs, it thinks they are the void of space and can get stuck on them thinking its floating. I was able to work around this by changing out my small dog water bowl rug to another but if you have large black areas rugs against a light colored flooring you might have trouble here. There have been firmware updates since I got rid of the black rug so I can't confirm/deny if its still an issue. Additional note, the Aqua10 also doesn't like black carpets so thats a wash between the two. The mapping drawback on the Narwal is that after you split a room, you can't use the split line to split it further, you have to split only full rooms. Not sure for the choice there but it does affect some users. It didnt bother me in how I have my rooms setup but worth nothing. ***Verdict***: No clear winner here, both have features the other does and doesn't have. Both provided a useable map that was easy to edit, divide and merge rooms. I am more used to the Narwal's app at this point so I still need to explore the Dreame one further. I like that the Narwal app updates the robot position quicker and more smoothly compared to the Dream but I liked that the Dreame provides options for bin emptying frequency even if it got clogged with a lot of hair. In general, the Narwal app is again more refined and runs smoother. The Dreame app has a lot of jitters and delays. # Vacuuming My initial impressions here aren’t great for the Aqua10. The Aqua10 [clogged](https://i.imgur.com/Sk5EI1D.png) [with](https://i.imgur.com/c9vyN7i.jpeg) [dog hair](https://i.imgur.com/89kw8ME.png) even with the high-frequency emptying setting [enabled](https://i.imgur.com/wo7ZoRa.png)—which was one of my main reasons for wanting this robot in the first place. [This](https://i.imgur.com/vzuXLzz.png) is the typical amount of dog hair on the floor before vacuuming. Not excessive but it was enough to clog the Dreame on a full house clean. Subsequent runs have been fine now but I would have hoped the frequent emptying would have caught this. **UPDATE**: Clogged again the following day. It really doesn't like dog hair. For reference, I have 1 German Shepherd and 1 Beagle. It looks like the clog happened pretty early because I found [crumbs](https://i.imgur.com/o5tZwq7.png) scattered throughout the house. The Narwal Flow ran into a similar situation on its first run but that was after multiple days of not being vacuumed and the Flow's case the dustbin simply filled up during a full house clean, the chute into the dustbin did clog like the Aqua10. The key difference that I can find is that the Aqua10’s opening into the dustbin is [noticeably smaller](https://i.imgur.com/01xsZxF.mp4), which makes it more prone to clogging. What’s disappointing is that the Flow doesn’t even offer mid-clean emptying, while the Aqua10 does—so in theory, this issue should have been avoided with that feature enabled. It’s also worth noting that I had the Aqua10 set to the **standard vacuuming mode**, not the deeper clean setting, which could have filled up even more. At first I was having an issue with Aqua10's edge cleaning but I was able to achieve tighter edge cleaning that matches the Narwal Flow with by changing the Auto-lifting LDS setting to Extreme coverage with Collison-Avoidance turned OFF. This allowed it to clean under the cabinets, the dishwasher and the edges of furniture as expected. With these settings turned On or set to Balanced, the Aqua10 avoided bumping into walls and furniture but has worse edge cleaning. ***Vacuuming Verdict***: **Narwal Flow** for a few reasons. First is sound: the Flow has a more [pleasant vacuuming and navigation tone](https://i.imgur.com/dVItzO5.mp4), staying noticeably less high-pitched than the Aqua10 across all suction levels. It also avoids the random clunks and vibrations the Aqua10 makes when stopping, turning or working out a path. In addition, the Flow vacuums much faster. In a small test room, the Flow finished in about 5 minutes compared to 8 minutes for the Aqua10. It uses far less battery batter than the Aqua10, by a large degree and has not clogged once. **UPDATE**: I am now calling vacuuming clearly for the Flow. There are two main reasons here. The first, is that the Aqua10 has now [clogged for the second ](https://i.imgur.com/WkfQ8fz.png)time with dog hair after being run multiple times a day over the last few days. In the weeks of running the Flow, it has never clogged. The second, is that the dust filter on the Aqua10 clogs up incredibly fast. I've had to clean the filter in the Flow once since I've had it, with the Aqua10 it's been every other day. The Flow's prefilter screen and dust bin drying really does help with this and a feature that's the Aqua10 would benefit from. # Mopping The weather and my dogs gave me a perfect natural [test area](https://i.imgur.com/kLuF5sM.jpeg) with a fresh patch of dried paw prints across the floor. To make the comparison fair, I set up each robot to mop side by side. **Aqua10 Update:** My initial mopping test was more interesting than expected. I thought this would be a clear win for the Flow, but the results required more testing. I wasn't able to get my initial test side by side like I wanted --one advantage with the Dreame app is that it shows where obstacles were detected on previous runs, making it easy to set up a spot-cleaning zone right where I wanted. The Narwal app, by contrast, smooths out the room map and only shows borders, so I wasn’t able to place the zone as precisely. For the test, I [ran the Aqua10](https://i.imgur.com/vSeNBRg.jpeg) on [medium moisture](https://i.imgur.com/9L5KaNS.jpeg) **with high pressure**. The [Narwal ran](https://i.imgur.com/zxIngoV.jpeg) in [Freo mode](https://i.imgur.com/UhSCWCi.mp4) **with the floor type set to Tile** (for what I assume is the highest pressure). The [Narwal left behind](https://i.imgur.com/dTwZDDz.jpeg) [dried mud](https://i.imgur.com/H1qG0Ay.jpeg), dirt, and sand embedded in the faux wood grain after a single pass, while the Aqua10 removed that debris in one pass. To confirm, I let the Aqua10 mop the section the Narwal had already attempted, and it [successfully removed](https://i.imgur.com/gmJKqoC.jpeg) what [was left](https://i.imgur.com/yEglcoa.mp4). Both sections were equally soiled to start, so I believe the Aqua10’s additional pressure really made the difference here. ***Mopping Verdict***: Needs more testing, the Aqua10 outperformed the Flow tonight on dried paw prints so in my personal scoreboard that's big points for me. I am running a deep clean now and will check on the dirty water tank, mop roller, tray and all that tomorrow to see how it faired. I'm leaning towards the Aqua10 for mopping at this time but things like water usage, roller condition, dock condition, on board dirty water tank, etc could influence this still. **Some Thoughts:** * This test is making me rethink **roller vs. track-style mops**. Track pads may still shine on smooth surfaces like tile, but rollers seem better at scrubbing textured surfaces such as faux wood grain. * I’m also seeing signs of **more advanced navigation** from the Aqua10. For example, it was able to tightly maneuver around my tricky bar stools—an area where most robots either get stuck or avoid entirely. * ~~For vacuum + mop runs, I suspect adjusting the~~ **~~room cleaning order~~** ~~will help with dog hair management. In my initial test, the robot tackled three dog-heavy rooms first, which overloaded it with hair. Spreading those rooms out should let the unit empty before hitting the next high-hair zone.~~ **This had no impact on clogging.** * The Aqua10’s **vacuum sound is still one of the harshest I’ve used**. Quiet Mode isn’t bad, but I’m not convinced it provides enough suction at that level. * The Narwal app has so many nice little features, for example during the clean it tells you everything its doing in each room, Dreame just has a full task status bar. I much prefer the Narwal and knowing what the robot is specifically up to. **UPDATE**: Upon investigating more, the Narwal is setting the cleaning strategy for "Low Moisture, Soft Pressure" for some tasks which may be why the mopping performance is so different. I am reaching out to Narwal to see how to adjust this. **UPDATE 2**: Narwal was unable to assist, claims it is always set to the highest pressure despite that not being the case with no way to manually set pressure. A shame because if the 12N is to be believed with the Flow, it would rival the Aqua10 in scrubbing power if applying max force but I have no way to trigger it to use that. I have seen where it shows "soft pressure" being applied when running in AI mode, I have not seen "hard pressure". I also haven't noticed much of a difference in the wetness levels with the Flow where they were very noticeable with the Aqua10. # Maintenance After a deep clean over night with the Aqua10 here is how things are looking: * Used up all the water, app notified that clean water tank was empty (I took a screenshot of this but forgot to save it, it shows up as a notification and in the Dock section of the Dreame app) * Dirty water looks [nice and dirty](https://i.imgur.com/y0248Tn.png) * Cleaning tray has a small amount of[ dog hair](https://i.imgur.com/yZW3T56.png) * Roller area is a [little dirty](https://i.imgur.com/eZK4pUD.jpeg) with [dog hair](https://i.imgur.com/Pnx0jRo.png) * Dirty Water tank on robot is [soiled](https://i.imgur.com/3XSCrXR.png) * Mop Roller after cleaning was still [dirty ](https://i.imgur.com/1yEZjjX.png)\-- **This is a big deal in my opinion, if its not even getting the roller clean in the base station, what in the world is being spread over the floors?** ***Impressions***: Normal drip tray soil, would be easy enough to clean. It looks like it picked up a good amount of dirt from the floor based on the water color. The floors themselves look great after the deep clean. The mop roller area definitely collected some hair and debris, everything was run as "Mop AFTER Vacuum". The fluffer looks like it works well, roll was not matted down. The onboard water tank had some dirty water/sand in it still. I'd love to pull apart the Flow to compare this but I cannot. Was not happy with how dirty the roller was after mopping. And it only mopped what was shown above, nothing crazy like spilled soy sauce. Just general foot traffic dirt. # Other I kicked off a kitchen clean today using the voice assistant "Ok Dreame, Clean the kitchen". It did good with this, it came and vacuumed the kitchen, went back to the dock to empty the dust bin and wash the mop roller. Finally it came back and mopped the kitchen. No issues to report here, responded quickly and easily to the "Ok Dreame" trigger. I liked that it was built into the robot and not through Google Home. From my understanding Narwal is getting the featured later as its currently in testing. Battery life has not been great so far with the Aqua10. I haven't been using battery friendly settings but it's not able to do a full house vac and then mop on one charge which is disappointing. Roughly 700sqft of cleaning area. If I end up keeping the Aqua10, a water hookup would be extremely ideal for this bot. I'd love to crank up the moisture even further and not worry about draining the onboard water tanks. # Final Thoughts Upon further testing, I believe there is a fundamental issue with the ducting on the Aqua10 (and MOVA Z60 for that matter). They seem to have achieved their suction rating by narrowing the air duct where debris pulls into the dust bin and because of this it gets clogged easily with dog hair. This is showing up in testing on YouTube as well. I would be highly cautious with the Aqua10/MOVA Z60 if you have pets. It's just a poor dust bin design all around. The Narwal Flow did not experience any clogs like this. For floor scrubbing, the Aqua10 beat out the Narwal Flow, either through pressure or wetness. I wish I could replicate that with the Flow but even 3x passes on meticulous pathing and wettest setting the Flow still couldn't get the dirt out of faux wood grain like the Aqua10 could. However, since it cannot keep up with dog hair without clogging, (clogged twice in 3 days), I had no choice but to return the Aqua10.

So far... **App - Narwal**, smoother and less lag, real-time robot location while moving. Dreame app has some hitches like when you tap a room for cleaning, if you tap too soon after doing something else it will select the room then deselect it. This caused me to start a "full house" clean instead of a selected room clean more than once. I am using an iPhone 16 Pro for reference. **Aesthetic - Tied**, I like both styles and they are very different from one another. **Build Quality** \- At first I was going to give this a tie but the more I use the Aqua10 the more little clunks, buzzing and vibrations I hear from its operation. For example when it stops, it stops with a thud not smoothly. When turning, I'm not sure if its the wheels skipping or what but it makes a vibrating sound. The vacuum sound itself is very high pitched as well. It seems like Narwal put a lot of effort into refining the experience of being around the vacuum. At this point I'm leaning towards **Narwal** for build quality. They both seem like sturdy robots built with quality components. **Vacuuming** \- If we're going by raw performance, they are basically tied with the Narwal being a little more aggressive in edge cleaning. Both do really well "mid-lane" where its just vacuuming with no edges or obstacles. If you needed something for just vacuuming, I don't see any advantage over the Flow with the Aqua10. The Flow gets into edges better by going closer to them, even with Aqua10 side brush. The Flow is also slightly shorter so its able to get under things easier. It's not much shorter but every MM counts when trying to squeeze under appliances and furniture. If you aren't going to be in the same room while they are cleaning then either would be a good choice. If you plan to use it in the same room or at night, I'd probably not recommend the Aqua10 for its higher pitched vacuuming sound **Mopping** \- I plan to test this soon, letting the dogs settle down so I can have an obstacle free test area filled with wonderful dry paw prints to mop up. I'm really interested in this text because its by far the main reason I wanted a good mopping robot. I may be able to forgiven some of the Narwal perks if the Aqua10 mops better. **Edit**: Mopping has been a huge surprise and I'm almost certainly calling this for the Aqua10.

It looks like I'll be returning the Aqua10. I was able to get it setup in a way I was happy but I woke up to a other dog hair clog. In the weeks with the Flow I never had a clog. I know I mentioned it a lot, but I don’t have that much dog hair that it should be clogging a robot vacuum. I really think that the dustbin opening is just too small.

Yeah it's a nice robot for sure, this morning I woke to another dog hair clog though so this just might not work for me. 3 weeks with the Flow and it never clogged.

Looks like Narwal put out a [$100 off coupon](https://amzn.to/3MoSZcO) to go with their discounted price bringing the total down to $899 now for the Flow. Excellent vacuum all around, I did a full [comparison ](https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1p25hqm/dreame_aqua_10_ultra_roller_vs_narwal_flow_ama/)to the Aqua10 if anyone was interested. The reason I bring up the [Ecovacs Deebot X11](https://amzn.to/3LW14FZ) in this post is because I've been testing this for the last week now and I have to say I'm really impressed with its performance. It does a stellar job in vacuuming, navigation, obstacle avoidance and mopping. I also really like the powerboost charging and bagless station way more than I thought I would. The only downside I've found at this point is the AI stain detection is way too sensitive for my dark floors but after toggling that off it's been fine. Just another option to consider at this price range! If I were to rank the current roller mop vacs I've tested so far, I would put them in this order: 1. [Narwal Flow](https://amzn.to/3MoSZcO) \- $899 (best for smooth floors) 2. [Ecovacs Deebot X11](https://amzn.to/3LW14FZ) \- $899 (best for textured floors) 3. [MOVA Z60 Ultra Roller](https://amzn.to/4omH8cC) \- $999 (great all around but questionable longevity) 4. Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller (Not currently for sale, only the "[Roller](https://amzn.to/3XnxlIp)" version is. Questionable with dock leaks and dust bin issues) 5. [Eufy Omni E25](https://amzn.to/4pBPQVz) \- $599 (great all around but not as good mopper as the others) If anyone has questions regarding the vacs I've tested I'll do my best to answer

I'm just a hobbyist with a special interest, lol. I was in need of two for two locations so my Flow has been my workhorse and my personal bot has changed a few times. The Aqua10 clogged constantly with hair so that didn't work out, the MOVA Z60 I thought was going to be my "one" but then the fluffer roller bearing went out inside return window so that got returned. The x11 was purchased on a whim because of it's discount and it has super impressed me. I will likely keep this unless I get more news about the Eufy S2 within it's holiday return window.

Funny I had a similar experience with Mova and eufy but no problems with the flow

I think a standout feature of the Narwal that differs in real-world performance vs benchmark testing used by vacuum testing channels is that there is no restricted test parameters. So for example the narwal can sense if the area isnt clean yet and go back and clean it. So one pass over a dried stain might not be as good as another robot but if it goes back to finish and leaves a cleaner surface than a single pass during a typical mop session from a different vac, the end result is the narwal will leave the area cleaner. Now I'd perfect the smarts of the narwal paired with the best mopping capability naturally and I think the Narwal Flow will fill that niche but something I realized while doing far too much research on this is that benchmark testing doesnt tell the full story at all. It's like buying a dodge neon with a huge engine vs a porche with a slightly smaller but still big engine. Just a random musing while trying to decompress from too much research into buying a new vac lol

Flow, easy choice. Only improvements over the Z

If noise is your priority, the Narwal Flow is by far the most quiet and pleasing sound to be around. The Aqua10 annoyed me greatly. Here is a comparison review I did of the two and I include a sound comparison. [https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1nnmoi5/dreame\_aqua\_10\_ultra\_roller\_vs\_narwal\_flow\_ama/](https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1nnmoi5/dreame_aqua_10_ultra_roller_vs_narwal_flow_ama/)

The Flow hands down against the Yeedi in regards to performance and quality. Price and budget is something only you can decide if its worth it.

The Narwal has much much better battery capacity and battery efficiency. It cleans more area per % by a large margin over the Aqua10.

Not at all, the Aqua10 clogged twice in 3 days running the same floors daily as the Flow, the Narwal Flow hasn't clogged once in a month. Just be aware that if you check the dust bin after the Flow returns from cleaning it will still be full, it dries the dust bin after returning to the dock and only empties before it goes out for its next job. At first I thought this was odd but it actually works very well. Also its dust bin design is excellent with its pre-filter screen. The Aqua10's filter required cleaning after a week, the Flow lasted all month.

I'll tell you the more the spend the more critical I am. I've tried the latest flagships and returned them for one reason or another. Not sure if it's the design needed to fit all the fancy tech but they are just worse for pet hair. I'm current trying a Eufy E25, while it isn't perfect, flagships are certainly not +$500 better. I love it's big dust bin and hasn't clogged with shpherd hair yet. If anything it has me hyped for the Eufy S2. If I had to recommend a flagship at this point the only one would be the Narwal Flow. Excellent all around except for mopping pressure and moisture. I wish you could crank those up some and it would be perfect.

The Narwal Flow is excellent with great mopping, not enough info out there with Roborocks Flow. Typically roborocks perform really well but they made some questionable design choices with it so who knows.

Having tried all the major flagships, I would rank them below. The Flow being the perfect choice for all hardwood floors. 1. Narwal Flow 2. Ecovacs X11 3. MOVA Z60 Eufy s2 coming soon, likely sometime around January and will be a strong contender as well.

Narwal Flow, my second pick would be an X11 Ecovacs

Narwal Flow #1 followed by Ecovacs X11 for mopping-first. For Roborock i'd say CurvX is a solid choice for spinning mop pads.

In your list the CurvX but I'd rather the Narwal Flow even for just vacuuming. It's dust bin design is amazing at keeping the prefilter clear

My absolute favorite feature of the Flow is how quiet it is while it's running. I can run it at night while I sleep it's so quiet.

I think a standout feature of the Narwal that differs in real-world performance vs benchmark testing used by vacuum testing channels is that there is no restricted test parameters. So for example the narwal can sense if the area isnt clean yet and go back and clean it. So one pass over a dried stain might not be as good as another robot but if it goes back to finish and leaves a cleaner surface than a single pass during a typical mop session from a different vac, the end result is the narwal will leave the area cleaner. Now I'd perfect the smarts of the narwal paired with the best mopping capability naturally and I think the Narwal Flow will fill that niche but something I realized while doing far too much research on this is that benchmark testing doesnt tell the full story at all. It's like buying a dodge neon with a huge engine vs a porche with a slightly smaller but still big engine. Just a random musing while trying to decompress from too much research into buying a new vac lol

I can’t get ours to work at ALL. We have the compact version and it doesn’t drain. We have sent it back and the replacement also doesn’t drain. I’m considering just returning it because its been a month of bs

Oh my god after hours of poking at the compact version we figured out how to get it working. THANK YOU for the pump tips. We also figured out that it matters if the intake/out is pointing outwards from the base station actually matters so much to the point that if it’s pointing in at all it won’t run. It’s such a design flaw but I’m so glad we figured that out.