iRobot Roomba 205 vs Narwal Flow

The Narwal Flow wins overall: it mops as well as vacuums, self-empties at its dock, runs about 200 minutes per charge and is Matter certified for Apple Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant. The Roomba 205 is vacuum-only, tops out at Google Home, Alexa and IFTTT, and its main appeal is a smaller charging footprint.

The Roomba 205 skips a bulky auto-empty dock by compacting debris inside the robot itself, but it never mops. The Narwal Flow uses a conventional self-emptying dock and adds a full rolling-track mop that washes and dries itself, so it covers both vacuuming and mopping.

No. Mopping, detergent compatibility and all the auto mop features are unsupported on the Roomba 205, since it is built purely as a vacuum. The Narwal Flow mops with a hot-water rolling track mop that also self-washes at the dock.

The iRobot Roomba 205 has the smaller footprint, since its internal DustCompactor lets it use a compact charging base instead of a dock with a dust bag. The Narwal Flow uses a full auto-empty, mop-washing dock station, which takes up more floor space.

Buyers who want to avoid a bulky auto-empty dock, only need vacuuming (not mopping), and are fine with Google Home, Alexa and IFTTT as their only smart-home options.

Buyers who want vacuuming and mopping handled together, a dock that empties and washes itself, a longer per-charge runtime, and Matter-level smart-home support across Apple Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant.