Search for Narwal robot vacuum decibels and most of its product pages give you a number. Narwal prints one in the page text of three current robots and inside the product images of three more. What it rarely prints is the condition: only two figures name a suction setting, and the unit switches between dB and dB(A) from page to page, and on one page, between the text and the footnote.
We opened the product page for every robot in Narwal's US robot vacuum collection, read the text inside its images, and read the user manual linked from each page. Six of the seven current robots carry a noise figure, and one carries a figure for its dock. This page lists every one in Narwal's words, with the mode and footnote Narwal gives it. No two share both a named mode and a unit, so we rank none of them against another.
Our picks are listed above, with full specifications for each.
Narwal's figures come in two shapes. Some are single figures, "as low as" or "just" a number, on the Freo 20 and Freo 20 Edge. Most are ceilings, printed with a less-than or less-than-or-equal sign or the word "under" or "below": the Flow 2, Flow, Freo X10 Pro and Freo S. The units vary too. Most pages use plain dB, the Freo S uses dB(A), and the Freo 20 uses both, dB in the page text and dB(A) in the image footnote. Our explainer on dBA explained sets out what the A weighting does; we do not rank a dB figure against a dB(A) one.
None of Narwal's product pages states a measuring distance. Three figures name a test: "Narwal laboratory testing" for the Freo 20, "Narwal's internal lab tests" for the Freo X10 Pro, and "Lab tests" for the Freo S. None names a room or a standard.
The labels matter more than the numbers. The Freo 20 page names its four suction levels in an image of an SGS test mark for hair tangling: "Quiet", "Normal", "Strong" and "Hyper". Our pet robot vacuum guide covers the tangle claims of every brand it lists. Narwal's noise figures touch few of those settings:
- Quiet suction. The Freo 20's 56.9 dB is "measured during quiet mode vacuuming", and the Freo X10 Pro's 59dB is for "Silent cleaning mode", "recorded in vacuum-only mode". These are the only figures tied to the quietest setting, and Narwal names that setting differently on each page.
- Vacuuming or mopping only, with no suction level. The Flow gives "Vacuum Only" and "Vacuum and Mop", and the Freo S gives "Sweeping-only mode" and "Mopping-only mode". These describe what the robot is doing, not how hard its fan is running.
- No mode at all. The Flow 2's "Operating under 56.5 dB" and both of the Freo 20 Edge's figures.
- Nothing for the stronger levels. No current Narwal page gives a figure for a level above Quiet, such as Normal, Strong or Hyper on the Freo 20, the settings you would use on rugs and pet hair.
All figures are Narwal's own, from its US product pages. We group them by what Narwal says they describe, but each figure stands alone, because no two share both a label and a unit.
Quiet suction, vacuuming
- Freo 20: "As low as 56.9 dB in Quiet Mode" in the page text, and 56.9 dB(A) "measured during quiet mode vacuuming in Narwal laboratory testing" in an image footnote; 31,000 Pa.
- Freo X10 Pro: "Silent cleaning mode operates below 59dB", in an image, footnoted "The 59db noise level was recorded in vacuum-only mode"; 11,000 Pa.
These two come closest to a fair comparison, since both describe the robot vacuuming at its quietest setting. But one is a single figure in dB(A) and the other a ceiling in plain dB, under a different mode name, so we set them side by side rather than call one quieter.
Vacuuming only, as a ceiling
- Flow: 57db or less in "Vacuum Only", in an image, in Narwal's lowercase; 22,000 Pa.
- Freo S: under 62dB(A) in "Sweeping-only mode", in an image footnoted "Lab tests. Actual results may vary."; 8,000 Pa.
Mopping, as a ceiling
- Flow: 60dB or less in "Vacuum and Mop", vacuuming and mopping at once.
- Freo S: under 60dB(A) in "Mopping-only mode".
The Freo S prints its mopping ceiling 2 dB(A) below its sweeping one. The Flow's ceiling for vacuuming and mopping at once is 3 dB above its vacuuming one. One is plain dB and the other dB(A), and only the Flow is vacuuming at the same time, so these two do not rank against each other either.
No mode named
- Flow 2: "Operating under 56.5 dB", in the page text, with no footnote; 31,000 Pa.
- Freo 20 Edge: "Operates at just 56 dB" in the page text, and "It also operates at 59 dB" in the FAQ on the same page; 31,000 Pa.
A figure with no mode could describe any setting, and the Freo 20 Edge gives two that are 3 dB apart, so neither of these can be placed.
One current robot has no figure anywhere we could read: the Freo Z10 Turbo. An image on its page says its "25000Pa suction removes dirt fast while keeping noise low for everyday cleaning", with no number, and its manual has none. The Freo 20 page now links a user manual; it carries no noise figure, and no other manual linked from Narwal's US pages does either. Our apartment robot vacuum guide weighs the Freo 20 for a small flat.
The dock is the part Narwal leaves out
Every current Narwal except the Freo S has a dock that empties the robot, washes the mop and dries it. The Freo S base only empties. Narwal prints a figure for one dock action on one model: the Flow image gives 60dB or less for "Antibacterial Washing", the dock washing the mop.
No current Narwal product page gives a figure for emptying, the loudest thing a docked robot does. Narwal's own noise guide says "The self-emptying dock is often the loudest part of the entire system", and that an auto-empty cycle in general is a 10 to 15 second burst that can reach 75 to 80 dB. It adds that some docks run a hot-air drying cycle for 1 to 4 hours after cleaning. Every current Narwal dock except the Freo S base dries the mop, most of them with warm or hot air by Narwal's account, and Narwal gives no figure for that either. The Flow 2 manual gives the dock's dust collection a power rating of 450W, against 65W (Max) for the robot. That is not a noise figure, but it shows where the power goes.
Set beside the robot figures here, 56 to 62, emptying at 75 to 80 dB would be the loudest sound the system makes by a wide margin. Our decibel chart puts those numbers next to everyday sounds.
What the gaps mean
Decibels are logarithmic: roughly every 10 dB sounds about twice as loud. Every robot figure Narwal prints sits between 56 and 62, a spread of 6 dB that crosses modes, units and ceilings. The Freo 20 Edge's own two figures are 3 dB apart, which is as large as most of the gaps between models, and a good reason not to read much into any of them. Treat a gap of 1 or 2 dB as a tie. The gap that matters is the dock: emptying at 75 dB, the low end of Narwal's general figure, would be 13 dB above the highest robot figure here, more than a doubling in loudness.
Narwal's quiet features, by their real names
Quiet suction. The lowest of the Freo 20's four levels, and the setting its figure describes. The Freo X10 Pro page calls it "Silent cleaning mode" in one image and shows the voice command "Siri, Switch NARWAL To Quiet Mode." in another. An FAQ on the Freo Z10 Turbo page, written for the Freo Z10 Pro, lists its suction levels as "Noise Reduction, suitable for quiet cleaning when people are resting", then Standard, Powerful and Super Powerful.
Baby Care Mode. On the Freo 20 page Narwal prints its Quiet Mode figure in the Baby Care Mode section, for cleaning "during naps, work calls, and family time without disturbance." It does not say whether Baby Care Mode simply switches to Quiet suction. The Flow 2 page lists a Baby Care Mode too, with no figure.
Pet Care Mode. It works the other way. On the Freo 20, "Smart pet-zone cleaning automatically boosts suction for fur and kibble", which means more noise, though Narwal gives no figure for it. Our pet robot vacuum guide covers that trade.
Do not disturb mode. The Flow 2 and Freo 20 Edge manuals say "In the app, you can configure no-go zones, child lock, do not disturb mode, and stairless mode". Neither says what do not disturb holds back, and the Freo 20 manual does not mention it. Our apartment robot vacuum guide explains how other makers use it to keep a dock quiet overnight.
Vacuum only and mop only. Each manual we read lists four cleaning modes; the Freo 20 wording is "Vacuum, Mop, Vacuum and Mop, and Vacuum then Mop". The Flow's lowest robot figure is for vacuuming only, and the Freo S's for mopping only.
Keeping a Narwal quiet
Narwal's noise guide gives a checklist for a robot that suddenly gets louder: "Empty the dustbin", because "A full bin restricts airflow, forcing the motor to work harder"; clean or replace the filter; "Remove tangled hair at the bearings" of the main brush; check the side brushes and wheels; and look for blockages in the suction path. For the dock it says "If the auto-empty sounds different, check for a full dust bag or debris in the suction channel." For anything mechanical, a separate Narwal post says that if a Narwal "begins making grinding, rattling, or high-pitched noises, do not attempt to disassemble or repair it yourself", and to contact Narwal support, since self-repair damage is not covered by the warranty.
How Narwal compares
This page sets Narwal models side by side without ranking them. For how Narwal's figures sit among other brands, see our quietest robot vacuums guide, which treats the Freo 20's 56.9 dB(A) as a quiet-mode figure in its own unit. Our Roborock, ECOVACS, Dreame and eufy pages list those makers' figures the same way, and our robot vacuum mop combo guide covers the Freo S and Flow mopping figures. Before treating a gap of a decibel or two between brands as real, read why decibel ratings rarely compare across brands.
Models we did not rank
The Freo Z10 Turbo is current but has no figure, as above. The Freo X Plus page is still up, but the robot shows as out of stock, and its page promises an "Ultra-Quiet Dust Emptying Solution" without a number. Narwal's older Freo Z Ultra is no longer sold on its US store, but a Narwal blog post gives it "As low as 53dB" for robot cleaning and "As low as 71dB" for base station self-emptying, from "Narwal's internal lab test". That is the only model-specific emptying figure from Narwal we found, and it belongs to a robot you can no longer buy from Narwal.
How we chose
We read every robot in Narwal's US robot vacuum collection, opened each product page in full, read the text inside its images with character recognition and confirmed each figure by viewing the image, and read the user manual linked from each page. We also read Narwal's blog posts on robot vacuum noise. We recorded each figure in Narwal's words, with its mode, unit and footnote, and grouped figures by that label. No two models' figures shared both a named mode and a unit, and the two with no mode at all cannot be placed, so nothing here is ranked. Prices are Narwal's US list prices, the compare-at price where one is shown, on October 10, 2026; most models were on sale below list.
Every figure here is Narwal's own, from its US product pages, their images and its blog, and none of its product pages states a measuring distance. Your floors, rugs and walls will change what you hear, and nothing here covers Narwal's stronger suction levels or a dock emptying, the louder parts of owning one. We did not measure any of these robots ourselves.
