At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Leaves floors sparkling clean
- Fully functional
- Easy to use
Cons
- Dust bag adds an ongoing cost and environmental waste
- Still some problems with obstacle detection and avoidance
- Expensive
Our Verdict
The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is an easy-to-use robot vacuum cleaner that, thanks to its inbuilt mopping function, will leave your home sparkling clean. However, its price is high and there are some small flaws that drag down the rating, although we would still recommend it.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Best Prices Today: Narwal Freo Z Ultra
In the last year, Narwal has released two robot vacuums: the Narwal Freo and the Narwal Freo X Ultra. Now it’s time for another flagship model, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra. Some things have improved, but some small minus signs unfortunately also remain (and a couple have been added).
If you’re in the US, you can buy the Freo Z Ultra for $1,499.99 from Narwal .
One of the features this robot has that previous models lacked is automatic dust container emptying. This is now done automatically when the vacuum cleaner docks with the base station, just like for the dirty water from mopping.
The base station contains both a dust bag and containers for clean and dirty water.
Jan Sandbladh
Admittedly, this is a good option for allergy sufferers, and admittedly the bag doesn’t need to be changed very often as it’s large (2.5 litres) and the dust in it is compressed, although the boasted 120 days before you need to swap it out is wishful thinking.
But there is no getting away from the fact that it is both more environmentally unfriendly and more uneconomical than a simple container that could be emptied straight into a bin.
Hopefully this will be fixed for the next version.
Easy to use and feature-rich
As with previous models, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is also very easy to get started with and use. After plugging in the base station, and filling up with water for mopping, the vacuum cleaner automatically maps your home, which is done both quickly and efficiently.
However, as before, some manual intervention may be required. Firstly, if the thresholds between rooms are too high (in which case several different maps are required), and secondly if you have carpets or rugs.
Carpet identification is supposed to be automatic, but in practice you’ll get the best results if you go in and edit the maps manually.
Once this is done, it’s just a matter of getting started. Thanks to the Freo Mind feature, you don’t have to go in and adjust the cleaning settings if you don’t want to. Instead, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra analyses the dirt levels itself and then decides on its own how to clean and how thorough it should be.
But of course, if you want to, you can manually control most aspects of cleaning. Everything from the suction power for vacuuming and the amount of water for mopping, to how thorough the cleaning should be.
There is also a wide range of settings for the base station and its maintenance, all packaged in a clear and simple interface.
The plinth module cleans vertical surfaces.
Jan Sandbladh
Overall, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is very feature-rich and equipped with small niceties, such as the fluffy plinth module that cleans vertical surfaces and improves dust collection along mouldings.
Sparkling clean
The automatic adjustment of the settings works surprisingly well, but for the very best results, a little manual adjustment is often required. But when this is done, the result is a sparkling clean home!
Thanks to the combination of vacuuming and mopping, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra cleans really effectively. It gets into corners and under cabinets and the like, just as you would expect from a good robot vacuum cleaner.
As a bonus, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is also relatively quiet, both when cleaning the floor and during processing and cleaning in the base station.
The Narwal Freo Z Ultra has spotted the matchbox…
Jan Sandbladh
…but still runs over it happily.
Jan Sandbladh
But unfortunately, one more drawback from earlier models remains – poor obstacle avoidance. Because even though the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is equipped with a camera (which, by the way, is another one of its clever features), it’s not able to avoid all obstacles.
Large obstacles (like furniture) and medium-sized obstacles (like a lost cuddly toy or a sock left under the bed) can be avoided, but smaller objects (like a matchbox) are still happily ignored and occasionally cause problems when the robot vacuum gets stuck.
But it avoids the sock …
Jan Sandbladh
…and the cuddly toy.
Jan Sandbladh
So given these minus signs that remain and that the price of the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is higher than the Narwal Freo X Ultra, we’re giving it a solid four out of five.
Product specs
Best Prices Today: Narwal Freo Z Ultra
This article originally appeared on our sister publication M3 and was translated and adapted from Swedish.
Author: Jan Sandbladh, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jan tests hardware and software in audio & video as well as smart home, such as headphones, IP cameras and car accessories. Jan has worked for our sister sites PC för Alla and M3 for many years.
Recent stories by Jan Sandbladh:
- Xiaomi Robot Vacuum 5 Pro review: A robot vacuum you can trust to do its job
- Eufy 3-in-1 robot vacuum E20 review
- Gtech Airfox Platinum stick vacuum review
