Narwal Freo Z Ultra robot vacuum review: Shiny floors but a few flaws

Price upon review

$1,499.99

Best prices today: Narwal Freo Z Ultra

Last year, Narwal released two robot vacuum cleaners: the Narwal Freo and the Narwal Freo X Ultra. Now it’s time for another flagship model, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra. A number of things have been improved, but unfortunately some small minus signs remain (and a few 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 of this robot that previous models lacked is the automatic emptying of the dust container. This now happens automatically when the vacuum cleaner is connected to the base station, just like for the dirty water when mopping.

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Granted, this is a good option for allergy sufferers, and granted, the bag doesn’t need to be replaced often because it’s large (2.5 liters) and the dust in it is compressed, though it says 120 days to keep it should change out is wishful thinking.

But we cannot ignore the fact that it is both environmentally unfriendly and uneconomical than a simple container that can be emptied directly into a waste bin.

Hopefully this will be fixed for the next version.

Easy to use and rich in features

As with previous models, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is also very easy to get started with and use. After you plug in the base station and fill up with water for mopping, the vacuum cleaner automatically maps your home, which is done 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 needed), and secondly, if you have carpets or rugs.

Carpet identification should be done automatically, but in practice you’ll get the best results if you go in and edit the cards manually.

Once this is done, it’s just a matter of getting started. Thanks to the Freo Mind function, you don’t have to go in and adjust the cleaning settings if you don’t want to. Instead, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra analyzes the dirt levels itself and then decides how to clean and how thorough it should be.

But if you prefer, you can of course control most aspects of cleaning manually. Everything from the suction power when vacuuming and the amount of water when mopping, to how thorough the cleaning should be.

There is also a wide range of settings for the base station and its maintenance, all wrapped up in a clear and simple interface.

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Overall, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is very feature-rich and equipped with small details such as the fluffy baseboard module that cleans vertical surfaces and improves dust accumulation along moldings.

Sparkling clean

Automatically adjusting the settings works surprisingly well, but for the very best results, a small manual adjustment is often required. But once this is done, the result is a sparkling clean home!

Thanks to the combination of vacuuming and mopping, the Narwal Freo Z Ultra cleans very effectively. It gets into corners and under cupboards and the like, 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.

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

But unfortunately, a disadvantage of previous models remains: poor obstacle avoidance. Because although the Narwal Freo Z Ultra is equipped with a camera (which is also a smart feature), it cannot avoid all obstacles.

Large obstacles (like furniture) and medium-sized obstacles (like a lost stuffed animal 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 cleaner breaks down. fixed.

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

Jan Zandblad

So considering the remaining negatives and the fact that the Narwal Freo Z Ultra’s price is higher than the Narwal Freo X Ultra, we give it a solid four out of five.