Review: Narwal Freo S
Our editorial rating is based on product testing.
- simple yet modern design
- a fairly compact automatic station with a dust bag
- low price
- exceptionally good Narwal Freo app
- excellent obstacle avoidance
- good mopping quality considering the mop’s simplicity
- in demanding conditions with lots of dirt, it doesn’t handle things quite ideally
- no replacement dust bags included in the package
- imprecise room partitioning and a less clear map
We’ve already tested several robotic vacuum cleaners from Narwal, but lately they were mostly flagship models with a large automatic station packed with new technologies. This time, we’re taking a look at the newcomer from the simpler, more affordable model line, Narwal Freo S.
It’s a vacuum cleaner with a smaller station that’s only used to empty the dust container. You only get a classic mopping cloth, and some advanced technologies are missing. In the review, we’ll look at both its strong and weak points.
Where to buy Narwal Freo S?
The Narwal Freo S robotic vacuum is available exclusively from our reliable partner Geekbuying, only in white. It’s stocked directly in the European warehouse, which means very fast delivery within a week and with no extra fees! For Narwal vacuums, an extended 2-year warranty from the Chinese side is also available.
Narwal Freo S, 2-year warranty
TIPExpress delivery from the Polish warehouse with no customs duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you express from a local Polish warehouse. Shipping from Poland usually takes 7-10 days and is handled by a courier. When it arrives, you don’t pay any extra fees—no customs duty or VAT.
TIP15-day delivery via Aliexpress Standard Shipping
For this product, Aliexpress Standard Shipping is available with guaranteed delivery within 15 days. It’s the most reliable delivery method and, in most cases, it’s handled by a courier company. The 15-day delivery is something we actually tested.
When you order from a Chinese warehouse, AliExpress adds a customs duty charge of approximately 3,70 € per order to your cart. When you receive the shipment, you won’t have to pay anything extra.
Technical specifications
| Model | Narwal Freo S |
|---|---|
| Weight (robot + station) | 5.4 kg |
| Robot dimensions | 330 x 330 x 100 mm |
| Dock dimensions | 330 x 228 x 162 mm |
| Suction power | 8000 Pa |
| Dust tank capacity (robot) | 250 ml |
| Tank capacity in the station | 3.5 liters |
| Mopping pressure | 8 N |
| Water tank | 300 ml |
| Battery | 3200 mAh |
| Obstacle avoidance | 20 mm |
| Noise level during vacuuming | 62 dB |
| Noise level during mopping | 60 dB |
| Navigation | LDS LiDAR |
| Voice support | Alexa / Google Home |
Packaging contents & quality
The Freo S packaging feels solid. The manufacturer ships it in a sturdy cardboard box with multiple internal inserts to protect the robot and the station, but in this case it doesn’t use the so-called double packaging. The box dimensions are 382 x 375 x 420 mm and the weight is 6.6 kg.
Inside, you’ll only find the docking station with an integrated dust bag, the robotic vacuum itself, a standard mop with a cloth, and a multilingual manual. Still, you won’t find Slovak or Czech here.
The packaging is therefore quite simple—it doesn’t include any extra replacement dust bag or an additional mopping cloth. However, it does its job; the components inside are protected well enough during shipping.
Design and build quality
The Narwal Freo S robot vacuum has a classic design with dimensions 33 × 33 × 10 cm and a weight of about 3,2 kg. The docking station measures 33 × 22.8 × 16.2 cm and weighs approximately 2.2 kg.
Narwal Freo S keeps a clean, modern design. On the front of the robot, you’ll find a bumper with built-in sensors for impact and obstacle avoidance. On the back, there’s a removable dust and water container.
The top is smooth and glossy, with two rubberized buttons that are backlit. The main feature on the underside is a rotating brush, complemented by a side three-armed bristle broom for wiping dirt from the suction opening. There is also space to attach the mop and rubberized wheels with a distinctive tread pattern.
The docking station is more compact than the “ultra-large” bases of most high-end models, which some users will definitely appreciate. It includes only a dust bag located under the top-opening cover and a small cleaning brush, although it’s very hard to remove.
The plastic parts feel well-made: they’re sturdy and fit together nicely (with no noticeable gaps).
Pairing with the app and its environment
Narwal Freo S works with an app of a very similar name, the Narwal Freo. After installing the app, you set up an account, add a new device, and the app will search for the robot when it’s within range of your Wi‑Fi network.
The pairing process involves simple steps: resetting the vacuum by holding both buttons on the top, selecting your home WiFi network (only the 2.4 GHz band is supported), and entering the WiFi network password. The rest happens automatically and very quickly.
The first step is a quick mapping of the rooms, during which the app creates a map. While doing this, the vacuum only lightly moves through each room without vacuuming. The map is then shown in the app, where it is automatically divided into rooms as well.
In our case, this partitioning was clearly wrong. In a three-room apartment, the app divided the map into as many as 8 rooms. Later, we connected them manually according to our preferences. Unlike other Narwal models, the rooms here don’t have clearly defined boundaries. At first glance, it isn’t immediately clear how far each room exactly extends. Personally, we liked the maps from older models more.
The app interface is built around the room map mentioned above. The main home screen also shows the current battery status, the “Start” button, quick cleaning mode options, cleaning history, and quick map adjustments.
We’re extremely satisfied with the app and praise it in every review of the Narwal robot vacuum. Right from the home screen, it offers everything you need to control the vacuum. Its design is simple, clear, and above all intuitive.
Performance and cleaning modes
Freo S is advertised with suction power of up to 8 000 Pa, placing it in the category of stronger home robots. It features LDS-LiDAR navigation and a sensor used for local obstacle avoidance.
We have the following modes available:
- Vacuuming and mopping
- Vacuuming and then mopping
- Vacuuming
- Mopping
In vacuuming modes, you can also choose the power: – quiet, normal, strong, and super strong. For mopping, there is an option for the wetting level: low, normal, and wet. There’s also the number of cycles the robot should perform in each mode. The default values are: one cycle, normal vacuuming level, and normal mopping level.
Vacuuming performance
In practice, the Narwal Freo S reliably handles everyday messes. Dust and crumbs don’t cause it any problems. As for carpets, we tested it on two types: with a very short pile and a medium pile. On the medium-pile carpet, in some places it even skipped certain dirt particles despite running over the same areas repeatedly. However, this isn’t anything unusual.
It also has occasional issues with larger particles like paper scraps, candy wrappers, or small stones. Often it just moves them to another spot, which we’ve seen countless times even with other models, including those in the higher price range. We also weren’t pleased that longer hair gets wrapped around the vacuum’s brush.
The robot can handle low thresholds or transition strips up to a height of 2 cm, which is a sort of unwritten standard among robot vacuums.
We also subjected this vacuum to a demanding test, when we scattered multiple types of mess on the kitchen floor. In this case, it was rice and crumbs from chocolate cereal.
The vacuum didn’t handle these types of dirt completely ideally. Most of it did disappear from the floor, but even after repeated vacuuming it still couldn’t pick up everything. The side brush still managed to push some particles into a spot that had already been vacuumed.
After each cleaning cycle, the contents of the dust bin are sucked out into the docking station and transferred into a dust bag. It has a capacity of 3.5 L and, according to the manufacturer, should be enough for about 180 days. It’s a shame the manufacturer doesn’t include at least one spare bag.
Vacuuming speed, noise level, and battery consumption
During testing, we used the vacuum in a three-bedroom apartment where, according to the app, it could reach an area of about 30 m2. A single vacuuming session usually took 39 minutes. With vacuuming and simultaneous mopping, it was 43 minutes.
To show the battery consumption and the duration of some cycles, let’s list a few examples:
- vacuuming with mopping, normal level: 32 % battery, 45 min
- vacuuming with mopping, maximum level: 63 % battery, 43 minutes
- vacuuming, quiet mode: 17 % battery, 32 minutes
- vacuuming, super strong mode: 62 % battery, 39 minutes
- mopping, normal level: 15 % battery, 45 minutes
As for noise levels, at maximum power we measured approximately 65 dB.
Mopping quality
As for mopping quality, we had a slight concern here. Even though the mop is pressed with 8 Nm, it’s only a standard static cloth made of cotton and polyester. Especially after a few flagship models with rotating mops, we were quite skeptical.
However, we put the vacuum through the same mopping test as in other cases – in the evening we spilled water with cocoa and with food coloring on the floor. We left the liquids to dry overnight and in the morning we ran the vacuum to wash off the spots. The cocoa stains were almost completely dry, but the ones with food coloring were still wet.
We expected the vacuum to just smear these stains around the floor, but we were pleasantly surprised. Most of them it removed really effectively, although even in this case it couldn’t remove the dirt completely. Fine streaks remained even after two mopping cycles at the maximum level.
App options
As we mentioned, the app is a huge positive for Narwal robot vacuums. It’s intuitive, clear, and offers plenty of useful settings.
Let’s start with map edits. Here you can merge or split individual rooms, rename them, add carpets to the map, or create no-go zones that the robot should avoid. For each zone, you define whether it should apply only to vacuuming, mopping, or both.
The settings are significantly simplified compared to high-end models. In general settings, only mode scheduling for “Do Not Disturb” is available, along with turning automatic dust suction into the bag on or off after each vacuuming.
We also appreciate the display of the status of each accessory, such as sensors, the mop, the rotating brush, the side brush, or the dust bag in the docking station.
Task scheduling for a specific day and time is also available, with the option for regular repetition. There’s also a clear list of individual cleanings the vacuum has performed.
Narwal Freo S: Final assessment
The Narwal Freo S robot vacuum offers an affordable alternative to expensive vacuums with a large docking station. For a price under 250 EUR, you get a vacuum with suction power of 8000 Pa, obstacle-avoidance sensors, and an automatic station for collecting dust.
It handles regular vacuuming quite well, and thanks to the compact docking station it doesn’t take up much space. We also highly appreciate the well thought-out Narwal Freo app.
On the other hand, it only offers basic mopping without rotating mops, has no cameras, and no special AI features. It also occasionally struggles with vacuuming larger bits of dirt such as paper scraps or small stones. Still, considering its price category, it’s a good household helper.
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