The Narwal Freo awaits its next job. Jack Wallen/ZDNET
My wife and I have avoided robot vacuums for a long time because we not only enjoy cleaning the house but we’re also pretty good at it. After we spend a few hours polishing the place, it looks immaculate.
But we don’t always have time to do so.
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We’ve tried quite a few products to make it more efficient, such as a mopping system that attaches to our Dyson vacuum. That worked about as well as you might expect (poorly).
So, when a marketing company reached out to me to test the Narwal Freo, I capitulated, assuming it would fall short of the company’s claims.
ZDNET Recommends
The Narwal Freo Robot Vacuum and Mop
This robot’s ability to vacuum and mop your floors will blow your mind…especially at a 20% discount. Originally priced at 1,099.99, the robot is currently selling for $879.00.
To my shock, it not only lived up to the claims, it surpassed them… by a long shot.
I’m here to tell you now that both my wife and I are converts. The Narwal Freo was so impressive that we both realized we wouldn’t have to spend so much of our time cleaning the house.
Seriously, I couldn’t believe it.
After unpacking the robot, setting it up (there’s quite a bit to do but it’s fairly simple), and sending it on its maiden voyage, we both stood back and watched it map the first floor of the house and then set about vacuuming and mopping.
Mopping!
After the first session was complete, the floors actually looked as good as they would have had we spent the time cleaning them. When Margot Robot (yeah, we named it) went back to her dock, she expelled the dirty water into the dirty water bin, cleaned and dried her mop heads, and set about recharging.
Of course, my curiosity was piqued. I figured, our floors were already clean, there’s no way the Freo picked up any debris. And certainly, the water in the dirty collection container wasn’t that dirty.
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Was I ever wrong?
The dustbin was packed with cat fur and other bits and the dirty water was actually dirty.
How? We’re very clean people.
The truth is, the Narwal Freo is perfectly capable of getting into those hard-to-reach (or often forgotten) places to suck up all kinds of dirt. And the mopping system is just impressive.
This determined little device can detect carpets and rugs, climb over small…