Narwal S10 Pro a fine powered vacuum/mop (cleaning review)

The Narwal S10 Pro is a powered vacuum/mop that uses electrolysed water for disinfecting and can fold flat to get under some furniture.

Power vacuum/mops seem to be the category of the year – we have seen them from Tineco, Shark, Roborock, Karcher, HiZero and more. Dyson, LG and Samsung have mop head attachments or power mops.

The theme has many variations – single, double, and quad rollers, clean water bottle sizes, wastewater handling, with/without vacuum suction, steam, combo, electrolysis, lay-flat and more. We wrote a guide, Five tips for choosing a cordless power mop which we try to update after every review.

What does the Narwal S10 Pro do?

First, consider it a hard-floor-only power mop because it is not a vacuum in the traditional sense. Few vacuums/mops can operate as vacuums only and are not for carpets.

Like all, clean water (electrolysed in this case) is supplied from a clean tank to a rotating roller and dirty water is squeegee/bladed off to the wastewater tank. The vacuum provides additional suction to help the mop and improves one-pass cleaning results.

Yes, Narwal does what we expect of any powered vacuum/mop.

Warning: unsubstantiated jargon ahead

Narwal has done a superb job ensuring its numerous TikTok and YouTube influencers and bloggers stick to the ‘company script’. I have seen many of the same buzzwords and statements used by video and short-form reviewers without testing their veracity. After all, they have only a few minutes to superficially convey the message and surreptitiously keep the product. Never let the facts spoil a good story.

This is the only deep-dive review that has tested the device in five households over several weeks.

Australian Review: Narwal S10 Pro vacuum/mop

Website	Product Page User Manual (not on AU site) US manual
RRP 25/8/24	$899, but shop around. Take care that marketplaces like AliExpress, eBay, Kogan, etc., have Chinese models without Australian warranties.
From	Narwal, Big W/Woolworths Marketplace,
Warranty	One year (30-day return and 45-day replacement)
Support	WeChat, SMS, Call, email
Company	Narwal Robotics Corp is a Chinese company located in Dongguan and managed by founder Junbin Zhang. It was a startup in 2016, and its first products were crowdfunded in 2019. Its investors include DJI, Tencent, and ByteDance (TikTok).
More	CyberShack tech cleaning news and reviews

New ratings in 2024

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.

First impression – looks good

Compared to a lineup of more traditional power mops, the Narwal S10 Pro is a compelling buy based on looks alone.

At CyberShack, we have learned that looks are skin-deep. We spend four weeks testing five different house types to reveal its strengths and weaknesses. We also analyse website claims and jargon and, if necessary, call out overly ambitious claims.

So, let me say that the website earns a Gold Logie for euphemisms, claiming ‘world firsts” and jargon. As is typical of startup Chinese websites, Narwal invents buzzwords and infers superpowers for this product.

The fact is that it is a pretty decent power vacuum/mop, adding electrolysed water cleaning that many of its competitors lack. If readers understand its strengths and weaknesses, we have done our job. Of course, if you want more, these cost more!

It has a typical size of 30.5 (W) x 30.5 (D) x 127 cm (H). The handle detaches for shipping and storage. It has a small LED panel and power, mode, volume, and cleaning buttons.

Modes

• Quiet
• Smart (Auto with Max Enhance): All tests used this, and all panellists felt that it was all they needed.
• Turbo
• Suction only
• Auto Low area lay-flat mode (reduces vacuum to reduce the incidence of water sucked into the motor.
• Indicators – dirt and high dirt (handy)
• Full/empty water tank sensors.

Vacuum – Pass on hard floors only

It claims 14000 Pascals or about 1750 air watts and 17 Newtons downwards pressure.

In reality, it is nowhere near that because the suction is measured at the vacuum pipe throat—not the roller or floor. Don’t worry; many manufacturers try this to win bragging rights.

17 Newtons (17kg per 1m per second) is a rubbish measurement. In reality, a human hand or arm can exert 60-100 Newtons ‘elbow grease’ when mopping, so it is a pretty irrelevant measurement not used by competitors.

Even in suction mode, it is not a vacuum as we know it—it is not for carpet. This mode removes liquid from the floor without spreading it all around.

Tests (auto mode)

We tried tomato sauce, dried coffee and fruit juice, Nutrigrain (dry), rice and long hair.

The 100ml tomato sauce was cleaned well, but the roller, vacuum throat, and wastewater tank required immediate manual cleaning before any other use. It was messy!

Dried coffee brought up the Dirt detector, which took about six passes to remove (about average).

300ml fruit juice was cleaned well, and we could continue to mop the rest of the area. It was not viscous enough to clog the roller.

It would not pick up rice and Nutrigrain as they are too large to fit between the roller and the vacuum throat.

Long hair was a problem. I stuck to the roller like glue even after self-cleaning and required manual removal.

Overall, the mop left minor streaking – it was worse when the roller got dirty.

Edge clean – One side Pass and two-side Fail

It has edge-clean on the roller’s right side, which reaches about 5mm of the edge. The left (drive-side) has about a 25mm edge gap. Some brands now have dual edge clean, which is particularly handy in hallways or stairs. The ‘head’ is approximately 90mm high, so overhangs must be higher to clean under.

The front of the roller also has about a 6-10mm gap.

Lay flat – Pass

It can lay flat to get under furniture with at least a 260mm space. It automatically enters Low Area mode (reduces vacuum to reduce the incidence of water sucked into the motor).

Weight and motion – Pass

It claims a ‘hand weight’ of 900 g, but the device with water is about 5.2kg—quite heavy. The brush roller propels it forward, but it does not have the motorised forward or back wheel assist that some brands have.

Battery – Pass

It claims a 50-minute run time and 297m2 coverage. I don’t know how they arrived at that figure, but our four panellists found it exhausted in 40-45 minutes and 100m2.

Can you use cleaning liquid?

It apparently electrolyses the water, but there is no information on that. This does not provide better cleaning power than tap water but can be a mild disinfectant.

There is no mention of using a floor cleaning solution, but I suspect you can use Narwal cleaner without voiding the warranty. Cost: $39.95 per litre, but it is diluted down.

Water – too much

It claims 32 water jets and intelligent water-spraying algorithms. Our engineer counted 16 jets fed from one water pipe and doubts that there is much intelligence.

In our tests, the panellists found that the 700ml clean water tank lasts about 100m2. The wastewater tank, however, has closer to 200ml. In their opinion, it uses more water than other brands, and we could not find an adjustment. Contrary to the ‘dries instantly’ claim, it takes several minutes to dry.

Noise – Pass

Reasonably quiet – 58dB on auto but can reach 78 dB.

Maintenance – Pass

It claims self-wash and self-dry – Zero maintenance. Wrong.

After each use and before self-clean/dry, you must

• Empty and clean the wastewater tank and filter (if necessary).
• Remove the roller cover and roller and clean the ‘squeegees’.
• Clean the vacuum throat

The run the Mop self-clean and Dry. The default is a 30-minute 55° warm air dry.

Panellist summary

• This is not a vacuum, and using it on a carpet, even in suction mode, is next to useless. It is a power mop with a rotating roller brush and a vacuum to help remove wastewater.
• Claims of self-cleaning are wholly exaggerated. This cleans the roller, but you still need to do quite a lot of manual maintenance.
• It only has right-side edge cleaning, leaving about 5mm uncleaned and 25mm on the left side. There are excellent dual-edge clean devices.
• Is electrolysis a substantiated claim? Our engineer says it requires a positive and negative anode, cathode, and saline solution. We will accept Narwal’s claim.
• It claims 32 water streams and an intelligent water spraying algorithm. Our engineer can only find 16 fed from a single water pipe.
• 50min Run Time. Clean up to 297㎡on A Single Charge. Battery life is about 45 minutes covering 100m2 of hard floors – not 297m2 (which must be on suction only)
• Under furniture is 250mm – not 150mm, and when laid flat, suction reduces so as not to flood the filter and motor.
• Lightweight Agile Design. 42% Less Fatiguing at 0.9kg Handheld Weight – sorry, it is 5.2kg, and the wheels are not motorised – not for arthritis sufferers.
• AI DirtSense works pretty well.
• It won’t handle larger detritus.
• Hot Air Drying at 55°C is closer to 40°C.
• Generally streak-free except when the mop is getting dirty.
• Dries instantly, allows immediate floor walking. No, it uses more water than most and can take a few minutes to dry.

CyberShack’s view – The Narwal S10 Pro wet/dry vacuum/mop is a fine powered mop

Our panellists are now quite proficient at testing cleaning tech. In the past few years, they have seen most of the better ones. But they tend to be picky and compare everything to the $999 Tineco Floor One S7 Pro – an upgrade to an already good vacuum mop with dual-edge cleaning, headlight, and powered forward/rear wheels or the $799 Tineco FLOOR One S6 Pro Extreme – hard floor vacuum and mop is a breeze with electrolysis water, dual-edge clean and forward powered wheels.

This is not an advertisement for Tineco that has a 2-year warranty but a comparison you should make.

Overall, the panellists were happy with the power vacuum/mop capability.

Narwal S10 Pro wet/dry vacuum/mop ratings

• Features: 80 – It has all the expected features except dual-edge cleaning
• Value: 75 – at $899, it is not class-leading
• Performance: 80 – as good a vacuum/mop as competitors
• Ease of Use: 80 – lacks power-assisted wheels
• Design: 80 – Great looks and interesting design that allows for lay-flat.