Dyson vs Narwal

Which brand to buy

Wet cleaning is the only place these two brands touch, and there the cheaper machine does more. The Narwal S30 Pro ($550) is a cordless wet-dry washer that vacuums and mops in one pass; owners say it handled a pasta-water spill in a single go and that its anti-odor module keeps the dirty tank from turning musty. The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine, now discontinued and replaced by the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine ($1,100), is a V15 stick with a wet roller head, and owners point out that head has no suction at all, so you vacuum first and then swap heads to mop. Owners also raise durability on the Submarine, with failures reported soon after the warranty ends.

Everything else splits by format. The rest of Narwal is robot vacuum-mops, and its reputation is mopping: owners call the Narwal Flow ($1,250) the best robot mop, thanks to a track pad washed in hot water as it runs. The same owners say its vacuuming lags rivals on thick carpet, and water use is a complaint on several Narwal robots. Narwal Freo Z10 Ultra owners love its floor finish but call the mapping software the dealbreaker; it is now discontinued and replaced by the Narwal Freo Z10 Turbo ($550).

Dyson has only a few robots and Narwal has no sticks, uprights or handhelds, so Dyson owns dry deep cleaning: the Dyson V15 Detect ($830) for mixed floors, the Dyson Ball Animal 3 ($490) for carpeted pet homes.

Hard floors, and you hate mopping? Narwal, either the S30 Pro or a Flow robot. Carpet, pets and stairs? Dyson, with a Narwal robot added later for the kitchen and bathrooms.

Dyson vs Narwal: common questions