The $699 Narwal Freo Pro Can Hang With The Best Robot Vacuums I’ve Tested

Narwal Freo Pro

The Narwal Freo Pro came out of the box looking like a slightly modified Freo X Ultra, and that’s a good thing! LiDAR sensors, improved anti-tangle brushes, dust compression, self-cleaning base station, and more are all at your beck and call, and all for a friendly mid-range price.

There will be times when new robot vacuums fail to impress me, but today is not that day. The Narwal Freo Pro is an unassuming mid-range cleaning bot with an impressively low retail price of $699, which makes it an instant contender for the best robot vacuum under $1,000.

The Narwal Freo Pro shares more than a few parts and features with the Freo Ultra flagship series, particularly the last-gen Freo X Ultra, and steps it up with newer sensors, anti-tangle brush, and software to ensure the cleanliness of your floors.

Where does the Freo Pro fit in the Narwal family?

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Based on its initial price point and the omission of a few flagship features, the Freo Pro sits firmly as a top-tier cleaning device with mid-tier features. To make it even simpler: The Freo Pro is the least expensive bot in the Narwal line that comes with a self-cleaning base station.

In terms of pure performance, the Freo Pro navigates and cleans on par with the Narwal Freo X Ultra from 2024. This is not surprising; it appears the main anti-tangle brush, mop pads, dry debris collection bag, and more are the same or at least interchangeable between the two. However, if long hair is of concern for you, the Freo Pro steps things up with the new De-tangling Side Brush, which captures and directs hair to the Anti-Tangle main brush.

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The Freo Pro’s base station has a single multi-action button for operations. This is where the device saves money over the more capable Freo offerings that have touch displays. Don’t worry; the Freo Pro base station still offers heated mop washing with DirtSense technology. However, like the Freo X Ultra, dry debris is compressed into the bot itself and not stored in the base station.

Narwal recommends changing out the vacuum bag every seven weeks, but the compression system in the Freo X Ultra is giving me closer to twenty weeks before it fills up. Since the Freo Pro uses the same bag, you should expect a long life as well based on my extensive testing of the Freo X Ultra.

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While the Freo Pro does not offer extending brush and mop pad arms for edge cleaning, the bot retains a shuffle mode from previous generations to get to the edge. It does take more time to clean this way, as the bot twists to push the mop pads to the wall, then shuffles forward and does it again. After a week of only using the Freo Pro to clean my home, I see no dust in the edges or corners.

What I really like about the Freo Pro

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The Freo Pro continues Narwal’s legacy of superb mapping and navigation using LiDAR and vision sensors. It has become my expectation that I should not have to ever rescue a bot that gets into a place it cannot get out of, and the Freo Pro delivers.

The Freo Pro successfully cleans every corner of my house without needing to be rescued.

Whether I follow the bot around or simply check the progress in the Narwal app, the Freo Pro gets to every corner of my space and on top of my rugs and mats without issue.

Narwal’s goal continues to be a hassle-free experience with its robot vacuums, including quiet operation to avoid interrupting your life. Again, mission accomplished with the Freo Pro. The new sweeping brush design that collapses to push hair to the main roller is much cleaner than the fixed brush design, main roller continues to be nearly 100% anti-tangle, and the compression of hair and dry trash in the vacuum bag ensures I don’t have to worry about replacing that bag for a while.

See also  Narwal Continues To Raise The Bar With Its Latest Robot Vacuums At CES 2025

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I talked about the shuffle strategy that twists the bot in place to mop to the edges of the room, it’s called EdgeSwing, which also works around obstacles such as furniture, and it works well. My floors are as clean and shiny as ever. The water canisters in the base station last for about 1000 sqft of cleaning, which means I need to refill them part way through every third mop cycle.

Truthfully, what I like most about the Freo Pro is that there’s very little to dislike. It’s a no-fuss device; I just set a cleaning schedule and forget it.

Some minor complaints

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There is much to love about the Narwal Freo Pro and, thankfully, very little to dislike.

Recognizing that I’m about to express a “first-world” problem, I wish the Freo Pro had automatic detergent mixtures. Instead, Narwal requires you to drop individual dissolving detergent tabs into the clean water canister. This works just fine, but Narwal instructs against this strategy with their other Freo bots. It seems odd that it’s not the operating procedure.

You really need the app to control this bot.

I won’t register this as a full complaint either, but the lack of a control panel on the base station requires users to rely on their connected phone and the Narwal app more than ever. This is a very understandable compromise for the price point. After all, the Freo Pro cleans extremely well, it simply has fewer conveniences in exchange for a lower price.

Narwal Freo Pro review verdict: One of the best robot vacuums under $1,000

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I’m excited to tell you that the Narwal Freo Pro compares very, very well to the competition. Within the Narwal family, there’s no doubt that the Freo X Ultra ($999.99 at Amazon) and Freo Z Ultra ($1499.99 at Amazon) are superior experiences with much higher price tags, but the Freo Pro is definitely better than the original Freo and the older Freo Plus.

Looking at other brands, the Freo Pro is comparable to the Eureka J15 Pro Ultra ($799.99 at Amazon) in terms of mapping and cleaning performance, though the Eureka has a better base station and more conveniences. There’s also a $300 price difference, so you’d expect the Eureka J15 Pro Ultra to come out slightly on top anyway.

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On the Roborock side, the Freo Pro vacuums as well as the Saros 10 and Saros 10R, and I also like the mopping performance of the Freo Pro over the Saros 10 ($1599.99 at Amazon), but the Saros 10R ($1599.99 at Amazon) is the winner of these three for polishing the floors. Like the Eureka, the Roborock base stations are superior to the Freo Pro, though this time you’re paying a lot more for the Saros flagships. Roborock’s Qrevo mid-range series is perhaps more innovative, but the Freo Pro is more reliable in my experience.

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Full sales and shipping for the Freo Pro begins on March 24 starting at $699, but with pre-orders it can be as low as $599. For that price, this bot is an easy recommendation.