Narwal Flow 2 Review: Pet Hair, Mopping and Australian Value

Narwal Flow 2 review at a glance

The Narwal Flow 2 is a premium robot vacuum and mop for Australian homes, with pet-hair pickup, AI obstacle avoidance and a self-cleaning dock as its main attractions. Robot vacuums are getting dangerously close to needing their own LinkedIn profiles.

The Narwal Flow 2 is a good example. It does not merely vacuum, mop and return to its dock like some obedient little floor Roomba. It has dual cameras, LiDAR, structured light sensors, an AI processor, object recognition, dedicated pet and baby modes, automatic detergent dispensing and a visual language model designed to understand what it is actually looking at.

Some of that sounds genuinely useful. Some of it sounds like the inevitable consequence of putting AI into absolutely everything with a battery.

The important bit is that underneath all the clever software, the Flow 2 still needs to be good at removing toast crumbs, pet hair and whatever mysterious substance has dried onto the kitchen floor. Fortunately, the testing data suggests Narwal has not forgotten that part.

Vacuum Wars’ independent testing found strong results for obstacle avoidance, vacuuming, pet hair removal and navigation. Its studio mopping results were less convincing, although subsequent home testing was more encouraging. The figures cited below come from that published testing.

Australian pricing changes the value equation. On 15 October 2026, Narwal Australia’s Flow 2 Complete product page showed an AU$2,099 promotional price and an out-of-stock notice. At that level, I still expect the robot to clean the floor, maintain itself and preferably develop enough emotional intelligence to know not to start auto-emptying during a phone call.

Design, docking station and first impressions

The Flow 2 looks considerably more deliberate than the traditional puck-shaped robot vacuum parked beside a large plastic bin.

Narwal has redesigned both the robot and its docking station, with a more architectural look and an ambient lighting system built into the dock. The robot itself also has a status light that changes depending on what it is doing.

Is ambient lighting necessary on a vacuum cleaner? Absolutely not.

Would I slightly enjoy a floor-cleaning robot sitting in the corner glowing purple like a small nightclub? Also yes.

Narwal gives you several dock lighting options, including animated effects and a static nightlight, and thankfully you can turn the lot off. That last part is important because smart-home products occasionally forget that the most luxurious feature imaginable is a button marked “off”.

More important is the dock itself. This is not simply somewhere the Flow 2 goes to recharge. It empties the robot’s dustbin, washes the mop, dries components, handles detergent and replenishes the system so you are not constantly fiddling with it.

The onboard dustbin is reportedly a little smaller than average, although it remains relatively generous compared with quite a few recent flagship robots. For homes full of pet hair, that matters. A clever robot that fills itself halfway through cleaning the lounge is considerably less clever.

The Flow 2 also receives a substantial 7,000mAh battery, up from 6,400mAh in the original Flow. It’s another small indication that Narwal has treated this as a proper flagship update rather than changing the front bumper and calling it the 2026 model.

Narwal Flow 2 features and specifications

The headline specification is 31,000Pa of claimed suction, up considerably from the original Flow’s 22,000Pa. Robot vacuum suction figures should always be treated with a little restraint because an enormous number printed on a website does not automatically mean an equally enormous improvement on your floor.

Fortunately, the Flow 2 has more going on than a giant Pascal number.

Its main brush combines bristles for agitation with a tapered anti-tangle design intended to move hair towards the dustbin instead of wrapping it endlessly around the roller. The side brush is also designed to resist tangling and can reverse direction to help collect debris from corners.

The mopping system is more interesting. Rather than dragging a flat cloth around or relying on two spinning circular pads, the Flow 2 uses Narwal’s FlowWash rolling track mop. Clean hot water is continuously supplied to the track while dirty water is removed into a separate internal tank.

The cleaning water reaches 60°C, up from 40°C on the previous Flow, and the mop applies 12N of downward pressure. It can also extend towards edges and lift by 10mm when travelling over carpet.

I like this idea much more than simply making a normal mop pad wetter and hoping for the best. Continually refreshing the cleaning surface means the robot should spend less time redistributing yesterday’s kitchen grime around the house in an exciting new pattern.

Then there is the intelligence side.

The Flow 2 uses dual RGB cameras alongside structured light and LiDAR-based navigation. Its new visual language model gives it what Narwal describes as effectively unlimited object recognition, moving beyond a fixed database of known obstacles.

That enables features such as identifying valuables on the floor and placing their location on the map. Lose your keys beneath the couch and the robot may actually become part of the search party rather than the reason they disappear further underneath it.

There are also dedicated pet and baby-care functions. Pet-focused cleaning can prioritise relevant areas, while baby mode can reduce operating noise around nursery spaces. The AI system uses a processor rated at 10 TOPS and can reportedly recognise objects down to around 5mm.

The dock rounds things out with hot-water mop washing, warm-air drying, automatic detergent dispensing and automatic dust emptying into a 2.4-litre bag.

This is one of those specification sheets where Narwal appears to have walked into the engineering department and said, “Yes.”

Cleaning performance: carpets, pet hair and hard floors

This is where the Flow 2 becomes more convincing.

Vacuum Wars measured suction at nearly twice its testing average, while airflow was also slightly above average. More importantly, the robot performed well actually picking things up, collecting different sizes of debris from both carpet and hard flooring without leaving much behind or firing crumbs across the room like tiny ballistic missiles.

In its carpet deep-clean test, the Flow 2 removed 84 per cent of embedded sand from medium-pile carpet, an above-average result.

It also performed strongly with pet hair. Vacuum Wars’ flattened hair test uses 2.5-inch strands pressed into carpet, and the Flow 2 returned a result well above the test average.

That is one of the numbers I care about more than the headline suction figure. Plenty of robot vacuums can collect some cereal from a timber floor. Pulling hair and fine debris from carpet is where you find out whether the hardware is actually doing anything useful.

The anti-tangle system deserves particular credit. In the seven-inch hair test, no hair became wrapped around either the main brush or its axle. The comparison average was 26 per cent.

For anyone with long hair, pets, or both, that could save a surprisingly irritating maintenance job. Cutting compacted hair from a tiny roller brush using a pair of scissors is exactly the sort of activity that makes you reconsider whether the future has actually improved anything.

Obstacle avoidance was another standout.

Across Vacuum Wars’ standard and more demanding obstacle tests, the Flow 2 avoided 20 of 24 objects. Combined with the new visual recognition system, this should make it less likely to eat cables, bully socks or attempt to incorporate a child’s toy into the cleaning mechanism.

Navigation was also above average despite an unusual cleaning pattern. Rather than constantly marching across the room in long, perfect rows, the Flow 2 works through smaller sections with more frequent directional changes.

Watching that could initially make you wonder whether the robot has forgotten where it is going, but the measured efficiency suggests otherwise. It completed the test floor plan faster than the category average while still producing a strong navigation score.

Threshold performance is another useful strength. Narwal rates the Flow 2 for up to 30mm single thresholds and 40mm tiered obstacles. In testing, it managed 32mm without trouble and even cleared 38mm on a second attempt.

That’s particularly relevant in older homes or anywhere with awkward transitions between rooms. There is very little point owning a fully autonomous robot if it requires human rescue every time it encounters a particularly ambitious door sill.

Mopping needs a little more context than the vacuuming results.

Despite all the promising hardware, Vacuum Wars recorded a relatively low score of 68 in its dried-stain test compared with an average of 108. A later coffee-focused test did not transform the result either.

Its combined mopping performance ended up around average once water use was included.

There is a caveat. In its three-month home follow-up, Vacuum Wars reported much better mopping after a firmware update. That sequence does not establish that the update caused the improvement.

The studio and home results answer different questions. Without repeat controlled testing after the update, I would not declare the original stain-test weakness solved, but the later home experience deserves to be considered alongside it.

And that is the slightly strange thing about increasingly software-driven appliances. Your vacuum cleaner can now receive an update and potentially become better at washing the floor. We are one bad release away from someone saying, “Don’t install MopOS 3.2, it ruined edge cleaning.”

Narwal app, voice control and daily use

The biggest attraction of something like the Flow 2 is not raw cleaning power. You can buy a very capable normal vacuum cleaner for dramatically less money.

You are paying for the ability to think about cleaning less often.

The Flow 2 can vacuum, mop, detect carpets, lift its mop, empty its own bin, clean its own mop system and then dry things afterwards. Automatic detergent dispensing removes another small job from the list.

I particularly like the option to have the robot vacuum carpet before wetting the mop. It is one of those settings that sounds obvious once somebody has implemented it. There is also a carpet-intensive option that performs two passes when required.

The robot supports Matter, works with external voice assistants and also includes Narwal’s own onboard voice controls. Narwal’s Australian product information lists Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and the built-in “Hey Nawa” system.

The app gives you the expected room controls, schedules, cleaning preferences and no-go areas, plus access to the more advanced AI functions.

Unfortunately, this is also where one of the Flow 2’s weaknesses appears.

User reviews of Narwal’s app have included complaints about connectivity and mapping behaviour. Those reports do not necessarily mean every Flow 2 owner will experience problems, particularly as the product and its software continue to mature, but they are worth taking seriously.

A robot vacuum can have the intelligence of a small NASA project, but if the app refuses to connect while you’re standing three metres away holding your phone, none of it feels particularly futuristic.

This matters even more at this end of the market. The entire point of spending several thousand dollars on an autonomous cleaner is reducing friction. I don’t want to become unpaid IT support for my vacuum.

The encouraging part is that Narwal is clearly investing heavily in software, and the Flow 2’s underlying navigation and object recognition already appear strong. Firmware updates may continue improving things.

I’d simply prefer the basics to be boringly dependable before the robot starts helping me locate my wallet.

What works well: obstacle avoidance and pet hair

The obstacle avoidance is probably the feature that impresses me most.

Not because recognising objects with AI sounds particularly flashy, although it does, but because avoiding cables and small household junk is one of the areas where robot vacuums can become irritating very quickly.

The Flow 2 appears genuinely capable here. Avoiding 20 of 24 objects across demanding testing is a strong result, and the ability to move beyond a predefined list of recognised items could become even more useful as the software improves.

I also like that Narwal has not used intelligence as a distraction from basic cleaning hardware.

The vacuum performance is strong, carpet cleaning is above average and the anti-tangle brush system performed extremely well. If I owned a pet that treated every floor in the house as somewhere to leave half its coat, those results would matter far more to me than whether the docking station could display a purple animation.

The FlowWash system remains an excellent concept too. Continuously cleaning the mop surface makes far more sense to me than dragging one increasingly dirty pad across multiple rooms.

And finally, the dock is properly comprehensive. Auto-emptying has become expected at this price, but combining it with mop washing, drying, detergent management and water handling substantially reduces how often you have to interfere.

That is exactly what a premium robot vacuum should be doing.

Mopping results and app limitations

The obvious one is mopping performance.

The hardware sounds excellent. Hot water, continuous mop cleaning, decent pressure and a track design with lots of surface contact should make the Flow 2 a mopping monster.

The controlled test numbers did not show that.

The encouraging home results after a firmware update mean I would not write the system off. Buyers should consider both the original controlled stain testing and the later home experience.

The app is the second concern.

A device this dependent on mapping, room management and AI features needs reliable software. Connectivity problems are more than a minor inconvenience when virtually every advanced function lives behind your phone.

I also think Narwal is reaching the point where feature quantity risks becoming noise.

Scenario-based cleaning, valuables detection and unlimited object recognition are genuinely interesting. Ambient lighting on the dock is amusing. But none of those features should take priority over app stability and consistently excellent cleaning performance.

Then there is the price.

Even at the checked AU$2,099 promotional price, this is a substantial spend for a vacuum cleaner, even one that has apparently completed a minor degree in computer vision.

Narwal Flow 2 price in Australia and alternatives

On 15 October 2026, Narwal Australia’s product page displayed the Flow 2 Complete at AU$2,099 on promotion, with an out-of-stock notice. Its comparison table still showed AU$2,999, so check the selected bundle, live price and availability before buying.

The official Flow Series collection listed the original Flow at AU$1,999, reduced from AU$2,499. Against those displayed sale prices, the Flow 2 premium was AU$100. Check live offers because that gap can change with promotions.

The Flow 2 gives you more for the money. Suction rises from 22,000Pa to 31,000Pa, battery capacity increases from 6,400mAh to 7,000mAh, the mopping water temperature rises and the object-recognition system becomes considerably more sophisticated. The dock also gains hotter cleaning and automatic detergent dispensing.

With a small price gap, the newer model’s upgrades become easier to justify. A larger discount on the original Flow could change that calculation.

If your home has pets, cables everywhere, mixed flooring and awkward thresholds, the Flow 2’s recognition and navigation upgrades have an obvious purpose. If your place is relatively tidy, compare the live offers with our original Narwal Flow review before deciding which features you will actually use.

External competition is not exactly relaxed either.

For another reference point, Dreame Australia lists the X50 Ultra at AU$2,999. It takes a different approach, including ProLeap threshold-crossing hardware, retractable navigation and 20,000Pa claimed suction. That is a feature comparison rather than a head-to-head cleaning test; the claimed suction numbers alone do not establish which robot cleans better.

That is the challenge with shopping for a premium robot vacuum in 2026. You’re comparing several tiny autonomous cleaners that all appear to have escaped from an engineering expo.

The Flow 2 earns its place in that comparison, but its appeal depends on your floors, the app experience and the price actually available.

Who should buy the Narwal Flow 2?

The Flow 2 makes the most sense in busy homes where floor cleaning is a constant job rather than something you deal with once a week.

Pet owners stand out immediately. Its pet-hair pickup and anti-tangle performance look excellent, while the larger onboard bin relative to some competing flagships is useful when dealing with substantial amounts of fur.

It also suits homes with mixed flooring. Being able to vacuum carpet, lift the mop and transition onto hard floors within a single cleaning routine is far more useful than a robot that performs brilliantly until it reaches the rug and needs supervision.

Families may get more from the object-recognition system too. Shoes, toys, cables and random small objects are precisely the things that can turn an autonomous cleaning run into a rescue operation.

Anyone buying primarily for mopping should be a little more cautious. The FlowWash hardware is impressive and later real-world results following firmware updates sound promising, but the controlled testing was not nearly as dominant as I would expect at this price.

And if you have a small, uncluttered apartment with mostly hard floors, a flagship may be more than you need. Our iRobot Roomba Combo Essential review explores a simpler approach for small spaces, although it lacks the Flow 2’s extensive automation.

Verdict: is the Narwal Flow 2 worth it?

The Narwal Flow 2 feels like a glimpse at where premium robot vacuums are heading.

The impressive part isn’t that Narwal has attached an AI label to the box. It’s that the intelligence appears to translate into genuinely good navigation and obstacle avoidance, while the underlying vacuum hardware still performs properly.

Vacuuming is strong. Carpet cleaning is good. Pet-hair performance is excellent. Hair tangles are handled impressively, threshold crossing is capable and the docking station takes care of most of the tedious maintenance jobs that normally undermine the whole “autonomous” argument.

The FlowWash mopping system should be one of its biggest advantages, which makes the mixed studio results frustrating. Later home testing was more encouraging, but it does not replace a repeat controlled test.

The app could also use some attention. At this price, reliable software isn’t a bonus feature. It is part of the appliance.

Would I recommend it? For a large, busy household with pets, mixed flooring and enough obstacles to genuinely exploit its smarter navigation, yes, the Flow 2 makes a strong case. You’re buying one of the more technologically ambitious robot cleaners available, and much of that technology appears to serve an actual purpose.

For everyone else, compare the original Flow at its current price. At the checked AU$100 promotional gap, the Flow 2’s upgrades are easier to justify; at a larger premium, the older model becomes a more serious alternative.

The Flow 2 is clever enough to recognise almost anything you leave on the floor. The bigger question is whether its extra intelligence earns its place in your home.

Narwal Flow 2 FAQs

Is the Narwal Flow 2 suitable for pet hair?

Pet hair is one of its stronger use cases in the cited independent testing. Its anti-tangle brush also performed well, although a clean brush, filter and dustbin remain part of routine maintenance.

What is different about the Narwal Flow 2 mop?

It uses a rolling track that is refreshed with clean water during mopping, while dirty water is collected separately. That differs from a flat pad that is only washed when the robot returns to its dock.

Does the self-cleaning dock remove all maintenance?

No. The dock automates dust emptying, mop washing, drying and detergent dispensing, but the water tanks, dust bag, filters, brushes and cleaning tray still need attention. Follow Narwal’s Flow 2 maintenance instructions for the required tasks.