Narwal Freo 4+

We havre been using this machine since May. During this time this software has been poor considering the c and expected capability of the equipment. The problem has been with Bluetooth communication. At times the machine has connected but lately it has refused to connect to our phones. At this time the base unit is waiting to connect.. The Bluetooth on phone is seeing the unit at interval but when trying to connect is says “needs app to connect”. The phone says the” signal is too weak”. That obviously is the reason for inability to connect now.
One time I left the phone on top of the unit in pairing mode for one night. The next morning it was connected but soon lost connection. I then operated it manually, which at this time still does so without most of the functions.
My observation is the the radio signal is no longer functional since the phones see the machine at times and will not connect

Great little helper

This a great little machine. It helps me with daily chores, and the app is user friendly. I love how the machine is able to climb over my thick hallway runner. I thought that would be an issue—although it doesn’t clean around the rug’s edges very well. I do think the app could use some tweaking and more features.

I would love to be able to task the machine with cleaning a small area. I have already split certain large rooms but it doesn’t allow me to split off smaller areas that constantly need cleaning. Also, I have a marble slab in front of my fireplace that the machine always gets stuck on and it doesn’t clean that area and edge well. I have tried adding a furniture icon to that spot in the app, but the icons are difficult to use because the mapped area is not clear. Also the machine doesn’t clean around area rugs and wall edges and furniture very well. Also the machine seems to fit under most furniture but the little vent on top prevents it from moving under sofas and chairs.

I will also add that for the future I would love to see the capability to self empty the dustbin because that fills quickly in homes with pets and requires manual emptying and cleaning very often. Also a baseboard automatic cleaning and washing tool would be amazing- I know there is a newer baseboard dusting version that I saw after I already purchased this version the capability to wash them would be amazing.

I have had a Narwal Freo X Ultra for about a year and I absolutely love the machine. The app does have a bit of a learning curve but it definitely works. I think most of the reviews here are blown out of proportion.

That being said there is definitely some room for UX improvements. I’m going to do my best to provide constructive feedback for the product team:

- ability to see servicing needs for the vacuum shouldn’t be so buried.
- would love to be able to enter in the date of when I swapped a bag out so I can remember when to change the bag. (Bonus if the app can start to estimate when I should change a bag and remind me)
- would love the ability to quickly order replacement pieces, bags, cleaning solution, etc in the app.
- it’s definitely a bit cumbersome to manually force a deeper cleaning in an area once in awhile. Might be easier to just give the user a deep clean option instead of forcing the user to set a bunch of parameters to make a cleaning run more intense
- ui could use a easier to access “abort” or “delay a scheduled clean” function. There have been times I wanted to stop a clean and recall the vac immediately (eg being on a work call and it starts running and making too much noise)

Anyway, I am over all loving my Narwal and I recommend this brand of robot vacuum often to other people. Looking forward to future iterations of the physical & digital product. Big fan!