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Robotic vacuum cleaners still have a hard time avoiding objects, as we learned on our site Exclusively the latest laboratoriesThat’s where we discovered that Best robot vacuums We recommend that we cannot avoid every object we experience, and even those that claimed superior avoidance were not good at it. Narwhal 2 streaming here at Consumer Electronics Show 2026 With the same bold promises. The company’s latest release says it will come with an improved, AI-enhanced object avoidance feature that can help find lost valuables. It’s an attractive promise, but one I take with a grain of salt from any robot vacuum manufacturer.
However, I’ve got to take a look at the Flow 2 and other products in Narwal’s lineup for CES 2026 and there’s a lot to impress me beyond just the improved object avoidance technology, though that will be the standout feature if it works as promised. Here are some that stood out to me.
The Flow 2 improves on the previous model with a higher temperature wipe and a reusable dust bag.
Avoid objects and locate valuables.
The Flow 2 comes with Narwal’s NarMind Pro Autonomous System, a new navigation system that features dual 1080p RGB cameras with a 136-degree field of view. It runs the VLM OmmniVision AI Model, which Narwhal says enables the Flow 2 to have unlimited object recognition ability, unlike other robot vacuums that typically have a list of 20 to 30 objects they’ve been trained on. Narwhal says Flow 2 is able to capture and interpret surrounding spatial information in real time. If it can’t select an object for local processing, it takes an image and sends it to a cloud-based AI model for analysis. Narwhal says the combination of on-device processing and cloud-based AI makes it faster and more accurate to recognize and avoid obstacles.
Notably, the company says it allows the robot to follow millimeter-level obstacle avoidance strategies that can be tailored to suit types of obstacles. There are four different modes, including Pet Care, Baby Care, and AI Floor Tag, which allow it to adapt cleaning to accommodate pets, babies, and families. The Pet Care feature supports automatic cleaning of pet areas, finding your pet and making video calls to your pet (I don’t think my cat would be able to figure that out).
Narwal says the Flow 2 can also flag valuables and designate them as the highest priority for avoidance.
Baby Care mode switches to Quiet mode near cribs, sends reminders about lost toys and avoids areas where your baby crawls, though this seems a bit counterproductive if you want to keep that area clean, so presumably there’s a way to change this setting. Finally, AI Floor Tag is a mode that recognizes valuable items, assigns them the highest priority to avoid, and logs them in the app to send you an alert.
On a more practical level of cleaning, Flow 2 can recognize different types of dirt and adapt cleaning strategies depending on whether the dirt is wet or dry, heavy or light. It can also determine when Flow 2 needs to return to the base station to re-wash the mop and re-mop certain areas. These are all fairly useful features, and avoiding obstacles is somewhat difficult, as you learned in one of our most recent lab stories. As several experts have told me, the problem lies more on the software end than the hardware end, so I’m looking forward to getting the chance to test Flow 2 at CNET Labs to see if the mystery has finally been solved.
Reusable dust bag and washable debris filter save on replacements
Flow 2 has 30,000 Pa of suction and 12 N of downward pressure to sweep.
Not as flashy as Advanced Object Recognition, the Flow 2 has some useful quality-of-life features. Most robot vacuums these days come with an all-in-one base station that charges the robot and automatically empties the trash into the dust bag. It’s a great feature to save time and effort, but the downside is that you end up spending on buying dust bags and replacing filters on a semi-regular basis. The Flow 2 claims to have eliminated this completely, featuring a reusable dust bag and washable debris filter.
Flow 2 is designed to build on everything we loved about Narwal Flow and perfectly improve on the aspects we didn’t like so much. It comes with an attractive new arc design, a base station featuring a frosted glass panel, and easy-to-lift clean and dirty water tanks. It supports 30,000Pa of suction while vacuuming and features the FlowWash mopping system, which allows it to continuously refresh the mop with clean, hot water while cleaning. The new model supports wiping temperatures up to 140°F and has 12 Newtons of downward pressure.
These are all pretty standard features in a high-end robot vacuum, so I’m very excited to see how they fare when faced with our tough lab test of avoiding objects. Narwhal has promised me that Flow 2 will be doing a demo to showcase its obstacle-avoiding capabilities later this week, so I’ll update this story with my impressions after seeing it. New cordless vacuums and mattress vacuums
New cordless vacuums and mattress cleaner
The Narwal V50 comes with a docking station that stores all the accessories.
The rest of Narwal’s lineup is interesting, given that the company is expanding into cordless vacuums and mattress vacuums. The V50 joins the ranks of competitors such as Leavewit Aero And the Roborock H60 Hub Ultra. It is a compact cordless vacuum cleaner that has an automatic vacuum base. At just 3.1 pounds, I found it easy to hold and maneuver, but I wasn’t able to use it because it was just a prototype of the unit.
It also comes with a standard range of features for more premium vacuums, including smart dirt detection, stronger suction power for carpets, brush coils and replaceable batteries. As a nice touch, it comes with an extra battery by default and all nozzles and accessories can be stored in the base station.
The V50 comes with an extra battery and the base station can store all the accessories.
Narwhal’s upcoming vacuum doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s interesting because it strongly resembles the Dyson PencilVac I used Hands-on before. The entire vacuum is housed in a very slim body, making it look more like a broom or mop than a traditional vacuum cleaner. It felt super light when I held it, although I wasn’t able to turn it on and use it again. I imagine that, like the PencilVac, this would be better suited for quick cleanups given the small size of the trash can, though it does have 140 watts of air, which should translate into solid pickup.
Narwal’s new, unnamed vacuum is similar to Dyson’s PencilVac.
On the plus side, the Narwal model includes a docking station and a trash can that empties automatically. Narwhal says it has a 50-minute run time and a 1.6-liter base station that lets you run for up to 60 days without needing to empty. This seems optimistic in my experience if you have multiple pets or a large family.
The U50 is a portable mattress vacuum with sterilizing features.
Finally, there is the Narwal U50 series, which is a specialized vacuum cleaner for mattresses. It is a compact and portable device with many sterilization features designed specifically for mattresses. Featuring 137°F heating, UV sterilization and 16,000Pa suction power, it is designed to remove bed mites and allergens.
The U50 has UV and heat sterilization to deal with mites and allergens.
The dust is stored in an airtight dust bag that can hold up to two weeks of dust. Narwhal says it’s antibacterial and features a clear window, allowing you to see when it’s full. It seems to me like it’s a fairly niche product, as you can probably use an upholstery brush with a cordless vacuum to get at least some of the same mattress cleaning, but the sanitizing features are great if you’re worried about that.