The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex is one of the best headsets for working from home and the office. Designed with the hybrid worker in mind, it’s lightweight with ANC, built-in microphone, and an excellent sound profile that can be customized in a welcoming companion app. But it is expensive, and not the most rugged option out there.
The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex has long been topping our round-up of the best Bluetooth headsets. So, we jumped at the chance to get our hands on the kit to test it out ourselves. But even with an impressively lightweight design, ANC, built-in microphone, and an excellent sound profile, is this high-end headset ready for business?
JABRA EVOLVE 2 65 FLEX: PRICING & AVAILABILITY
The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex retails for $329 from the company’s official site, but it is available elsewhere (we saw it selling for about $250 over on Amazon). You can pick between USB-A and USB-C connectivity, and whether it’s optimized for Microsoft Teams or UC. Add in the wireless charging stand and the cost rises to $389. Whichever configuration you choose, those numbers put the headset in the premium price-bracket.
Influenced by the Apple school of packaging design, unboxing the Evolve2 65 Flex is an experience. Simple, streamlined, effective.
Easing off the cardboard sleeve reveals a plain black cardboard box with the message ‘It’s what’s inside that counts (that’s why we’ve reduced our packaging).’ We cracked open the lid to find a fabric charcoal case nestled beneath a single instruction card. No room here for bulky manuals destined for the recycling bin or left unread in the kitchen drawer.
It’s difficult to reinvent the wheel when it comes to professional headsets – and who would want to? So yes, the 65 Flex looks exactly as a set of business headphones should look, complete with on-ear cups that extend, swivel, and fold for storage.
The overall design is a lot slimmer than the Jabra Evolve 2 65 that we reviewed. The memory foam earphones are noticeably thinner and smaller, featuring Jabra AirComfort Fit. Gone is the fully cushioned headband, with a single strip of padding now moved to the top. The wireless charger has been reduced from a stand to a pad. The built-in noise-canceling microphone is now only inches long, stowed within the right ear-cup where it can be flipped up or down to automatically mute or unmute. The plastic mic does feel a bit flimsy here – it’s an issue with the headset as a whole really – but we chalk that up more to maintaining the impressively feather-light build rather than cost-cutting.
Button are located to the rear of both cups These include pairing mode, a mute/voice assistant, play/pause, and volume/next track controls. On the right outer-ear is a button for answering and ending calls – and in our model, this also gave us Microsoft Teams control. On the left-side is the wireless charging zone. LED lights to the top of both ears display headset status.
As with any of the best noise canceling headphones, the Evolve2 65 Flex boasts advanced Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which washes away unwanted background sounds. There’s also HearThrough technology, which Jabra says “lets you hear your surroundings and conversations”. Personally, this worked a treat while sharing an office. Coupled with the lightweight design, makes it oh-so-easy to forget you’re even wearing them.
Elsewhere, we had no issues. Admittedly, we were a bit worried about an on-ear headset with ANC. We’re more used to the snug isolation of the over-ear Anker Soundcore Q20 for day-to-day listening, but the 65 Flex is surprisingly excellent at blocking out background noise. If you work in a busy office (or just want to concentrate) and don’t want an all-encompassing over-ear model, this is a top choice.
You can switch between ANC and HearThrough using the Jabra Sound+ app. It’s here where we optimized audio and updated the firmware. There’s also a music equalizer and music presets, which offer options like a bass boost for music or a speech mode for podcasts. If you’re anything like us, you might enjoy ambient noise when focusing on work – we listen to so much, it featured in our Spotify Wrapped – so we especially liked the Soundscape mode. No more searching for playlists, you can quickly switch between the likes of white noise, ocean waves, and birdsong. The app is certainly worth investigating. We found the interface is nice and simple, and even if you’re not traditionally an audiophile, it’s very straightforward to enhance your listening experience.
The Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex is one of the best headsets for working from home and the office. Designed with the hybrid worker in mind, it’s lightweight with ANC, built-in microphone, and an excellent sound profile that can be customized in a welcoming companion app. But it is expensive, and it’s not the most rugged option out there.
It’s not a budget option by any means, although you can hear those extra dollars in the audio. It’s delightfully light, with cushioned pads as soft as clouds. Not too tight but never threatening to tumble off the head – although we wouldn’t recommend anything more active than swiveling in your office chair. However, that lightweight design means the build quality does feel less than robust. The Evolve2 65 Flex lacks the sense it would survive the crunch of a turbulent commute. In that case, you’ll absolutely want to upgrade the soft fabric case to a hard-shell.
It’s not perfect – mind you, show us a headset that is. Whether the issues are deal-breakers will depend on what you want from a wireless business headset. If you want a cheap headset for the occasional meeting that could’ve been an email, or you’re working out in the field, there are better options out there. If you’re looking for a model that’s comfortable, professional, and svelte, it’s one of the best you can get.
PC gamers looking for some of the most technologically friendly 1080p performance available may find the PNY GeForce RTX 4060 Ti an attractive buy. DLSS 3 and improved ray-tracing performance for under $400 is a steal, just understand that many newer games even at 1080p blow through its 8GB VRAM easily.
Pros
+Fantastic native 1080p performance
+DLSS 3 upscaling is great at 1440p
+Doesn’t run hot or loud
Cons
–8GB VRAM isn’t enough
–Not very good for overclocking
–Fairly boring design
When we reviewed the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition earlier this year, we were slightly disappointed with the mid-range offering from its small performance boost compared to the base 4060 (let alone 3060 Ti) alongside 8GB VRAM and design issues. Regardless of its faults, it was still a worthy buy for many reasons, like DLSS 3 being the current standard when it comes to AI upscaling tech while overall ray tracing performance saw significant improvements as well. As third-party versions of the GPU have been released, the PNY Geforce RTX 4060 Ti is a strong contender for the best graphics card using the RTX 4060 Ti GPU available on the market.
Despite still inheriting the under-the-hood flaws of Founders Edition, the PNY take on the GPU makes some significant improvement in terms of its design. The most obvious is that it only needs a single-power 8-pin PCIe power connector and not the special 16-pin adapter. Of course, this means opportunities for overclocking are severely diminished.
Meanwhile, having only 8GB VRAM is a shame considering that many of the most visually impressive AAA games released over the past year blows past that even at 1080p. When it comes to best bang for buck, the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti can be purchased for around $50 more. With DLSS 3 also comes Frame Generation. This employs AI-enhanced hardware to enhance resolution by generating new frames and interleaving them among pre-rendered GPU frames. While this enhances the fluidity and visual smoothness of games during rendering, it comes with the trade-off of heightened latency and input lag. Then there’s the reality that only around 50 games even support Frame Generation.
Even when pushing the PNY RTX 4060 Ti past its limit, it still manages to keep cool and quiet. Just be mindful that aesthetically, the overall design is a bit bland. If a potential buyer is looking for something to complement their RGB lighting extravaganza build, it’ll unfortunately stand out like a sore thumb. Compared to the Founders Edition, Nvidia still is unmatched with the sleek unified build.
Those looking for raw native power in the 1440p or above range will need to look at the best 1440p graphics cards and best 4K graphics cards, but this GPU becomes more of a testament to how awesome DLSS 3 is in terms of AI upscaling. Not only can this make 1440p gaming a pleasurable experience, it can handle some games at 4K with some settings tinkering.
If a fantastic 1080p experience playing more esports games at high frame rates like Fortnite and League of Legends matters more than playing Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake II at max settings, the PNY GeForce RTX 4060 Ti could be considered a seriously attractive purchase, especially when it comes to form over function.
How much does it cost? MSRP listed at $389 but can be found for around $350 (around £395/AU$575)
When is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia
The PNY Geforce RTX 4060 Ti is currently available now in the US, UK and Australia. Though the MSRP on PNY’s online store is $389, it can be found for as low as $350 on other stores like Amazon or Newegg. Due to the more 1:1 nature of the PNY take vs. the Founders Edition, interested buyers are usually going to save a solid $10 for the same performance.
For PC Gamers on a budget, those looking for one of the best cheap graphics cards for their new rig can look toward its AMD rival the RX 7700 XT. Be mindful that AMD FidelityFX isn’t as good as DLSS, Nvidia simply does ray tracing better at the moment and that card is about $40 more. However, the Radeon RX 7700 XT comes packed in with 12GB VRAM if that matters. When it comes to overall gaming experience between the two, the Geforce RTX 4060 Ti is a very solid performer.
Great mop performance but less than exceptional vacuuming
With excellent mopping, a long battery life, a mop cleaning base station with a handy touchscreen, and an intuitive app, the Narwal Freo has a lot on offer. However, given the mediocre vacuum performance and the lack of an auto-emptying dust bin, combined with a high price tag, this robot vacuum leaves something to be desired and is best for households with lighter cleaning needs.
Pros
+Handy LCD touchscreen control panel on the base station
+Excellent self-cleaning mops
+Long battery life
Cons
The Narwal Freo offers everything you’d expect from one of the best robot vacuums. Beyond vacuuming, it has mopping, an intuitive app, long battery life, and a base station with auto mop-cleaning and an LCD touchscreen for extra control. But the question is, do these features deliver? Almost all of them do, except probably the most important one: vacuuming.
When it came to vacuuming, the Narwal Freo sucked, and not in a way that vacuums are supposed to. It failed to pick up debris during everyday cleaning tasks on carpeted and hard floors, leaving a larger-than-expected amount of hair, crumbs, and other dirt behind as it traversed my space, with its performance worsening over time. Edge brushes and other “special” technology did little to expel dirt from edges and corners, meaning you’ll want to grab one of the best vacuum cleaners to finish the job this device failed to complete.
Mopping on the Narwal Freo was a different story. The two oscillating mop heads did an excellent job cleaning up lighter dirt, spots, and grime. The robot vacuum also as a whole did a decent job navigating my space and freeing itself when getting stuck. It’s not the best I’ve seen but on par with many robot vacuums I’ve tested. After mopping, my floors sparkled while the auto-mop cleaning on the base station made the entire process virtually hands-off.
Speaking of that base station, it’s bulky, but the unique LCD touchscreen on its lid is especially useful when you don’t want to use the app. However, the omission of an auto-emptying dustbin was shocking given the retail price. For more control over settings and cleanings, the app was great, and you can even save multiple maps, making it ideal for multi-level spaces.
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The Narwal Freo is best for homes with lighter cleaning needs given the poor vacuum pick-up. However, it’s almost entirely hands-free and will leave your floors looking better than before with little effort on your part, removing a few chores from the list.
NARWAL FREO: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
How much does it cost? $1,399.99 / AU$1,999 (about £1,100)
When is it available? Available now
Where is it available? Available in the US and Australia
The Narwal Freo costs $1,399.99 / AU$1,999 (about £1,100). You can get it directly from the Narwal website or various retailers, including Amazon and Walmart. In Australia, it’s available on their website.
Given the price, this robot vacuum sits at the higher end of the market. Luckily, it offers many features to help justify that cost, including self-cleaning oscillating mops and an LCD touchscreen. Still, the lack of an auto-emptying dust bin is shocking. If you can grab it on sale, it will make the device a much better value. One small but much-appreciated detail is the inclusion of a floor cleaning solution, but it costs a pretty penny when that needs replacing.
Something like the Eufy Clean X9 Pro offers similar functionality to the Narwal Freo, including self-cleaning and oscillating mops, and it retails for $500 less, making it a better deal. But if you’re looking for almost everything a robot vacuum can offer in one convenient package, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra might suit you better. With it comes self-cleaning mops and the auto-emptying dust bin that the Narwal Freo lacks – although this impressive vacuum will set you back $1,599 / AU$2,699 (about £1,265).
Value: 3.5 / 5
NARWAL FREO: SPECIFICATIONS
Watt:
45W(vacuum) / 72W (base)
Suction power:
3,000pa
Speeds:
Quiet, Normal, Strong, Super Powerful
Bin volume:
480ml
Battery life:
180 minutes (Freo Mode)
Filtration:
Yes
Noise volume:
65Db (vacuum) / 50Db (base)
Mop water volume:
Not specified
Water levels:
Slightly dry, normal, wet mopping
Mapping:
Yes
Obstacle avoidance:
Yes
Base:
14.6 x 16.3 x 17.1 in (370 x 415 x 435 mm)
Smart support:
Siri
Tools:
None
Weight:
9.59 lbs (4.35 kg)
NARWAL FREO: DESIGN AND FEATURES
LCD touchscreen control panel on base station
Auto mop cleaning base, no auto emptying
Two oscillating mop heads
The Narwal Freo came in a massive, heavy box that was difficult to maneuver on my own. Upon opening, I was greeted with a large instruction sheet and began setting up the vacuum. The process took about 10 minutes, including downloading the Narwal app and connecting to Wi-Fi via a 2.4GHz band. It was fairly simple and similar to most robot vacuums.
One glaring omission from the base station’s design is an auto-emptying dustbin, something I’ve seen on almost every robot vacuum in its price range. Instead, you get that floor solution that tucks neatly inside along with clean and dirty water tanks for the self-cleaning mops. That means you’ll need to empty the 480ml dust box on the robot vacuum itself, which can be annoying. However, the tray where the mops are cleaned is removable, so you can rinse it down if it looks or smells a bit grimy.
The robot vacuum is similar to others, with a large main roller brush featuring actual bristles, edge brushes, and various sensors throughout. It’s the same white as the base, so scuff marks began to show immediately after the initial use. There’s only one button on the device, giving you limited control unless you’re using the LCD touch screen or the app. The dust box is easy to remove, though I found that some contents would fall out in the process, which is annoying given the fact that there’s no auto-emptying dust bin.
My favorite part of the actual robot vacuum is the oscillating mops. You get two large, plush mop heads that rotate and adjust pressure based on the floor type. I’ve found that this type of mopping does a better job of cleaning floors than the vibrating mopping pads seen on most. After mopping, the base station cleans the mops and even dries them to prevent smelly bacteria growth.
I’ve mentioned controlling the vacuum via the app or the LCD touchscreen on the base, but you can also send the vacuum out to clean using smart home integration. It currently supports Siri voice control, and the Narwal app makes it insanely simple to set up – something I can’t say for other vacuums I’ve tested.
NARWAL FREO: PERFORMANCE
Easy-to-use app
Excellent mopping
Mediocre vacuuming
For its first task, I sent the Narwal Freo out using Narwal’s unique Freo Mode that detects the dirt in an area and cleans accordingly using “DirtSense Technology.” The vacuum and mops are both used in this mode. The device navigated my downstairs with relative ease, though it would occasionally get tripped up on rugs, eventually freeing itself without my help. After finishing cleaning a room, or sometimes more often, the vacuum would go back to the base and clean the mops. This process takes about two minutes. Then, it would go right back out, picking up where it left off cleaning.
Freo Mode left the floors cleaner than before, but the performance wasn’t perfect. Most of the spots from food spills and muddy boots got mopped up, though the mops that are supposed to lift on rugs and carpet wouldn’t always do so, soaking the edges of rugs. There was still debris left in the corners and edges of rooms, especially near the kitchen cabinets. Given this vacuum advertises a “Smart Swing” technology to combat this issue, I was disappointed the feature wasn’t better. The rugs also had some debris and dog hair left on them. It’s important to note that I have a fluffy dog constantly traipsing leaves and muck throughout the house, so this vacuum had its work cut out for it.
I did more intensive testing of the Narwal Freo’s vacuuming to see how it fared when cleaning up different sizes of debris. Using a large concentration of oats, sugar, and sprinkles, I tested its pick up on a hard laminate floor at the vacuum’s various speeds: quiet, normal, strong, and super powerful. I noticed that each suction level performed similarly.
Some of the oats and sprinkles got flung around in the first pass-through, but sending the vacuum out a second time saw most of the mess suctioned up. Some sprinkles got crushed in the process, and they were left behind. The sugar appeared to get vacuumed. However, upon closer inspection, there was some grittiness on the floor, and it took several passes to remove it.
I sent the vacuum back to the base after these tests—the robot vacuum successfully found the base and docked every time it finished a cleaning task. But on its way, it had to pass over several transitions, losing some of the contents of the dust box, and leaving a mess of sprinkles, and oats behind. Luckily, the robot vacuum increases suction when docking at the base, helping to prevent the dust box contents from falling out.
I performed these same tests on medium-pile carpeting, and unfortunately, the Narwal Freo’s performance was pretty pathetic. No matter the suction level and even with a second pass-through, most of the oats, sprinkles, and flour were left behind. I had to grab a cordless vacuum I was testing to pick up the mess the Freo left behind. So, if your home consists mostly of carpeting, I’d seek another robot vacuum option.
Its mops were also put through more intensive testing, as I spread yogurt, honey, and some of my morning coffee on the floor. I used all the mop water levels: slightly dry, normal, and wet mopping. Slightly dry tended to spread the mess around, but normal and wet mopping performed better. After the first pass, the coffee was gone, though the yogurt was smeared around while only some of the honey was removed. A second pass-through cleaned up the majority of the mess.
I love how great the mops perform. They’re perfect for cleaning up lighter spills and messes. When emptying the dirty water tank, I could see just how great they were working, as that water was nasty. Plus, even after several weeks of use, the mops look almost as good as new. They are white, so there are a few darker spots on them, but there’s no odor, which is a testament to the handy auto-cleaning and drying feature on the base station.
Beyond the more intensive testing, I observed how the Narwal Freo performed everyday tasks, whether it was in Freo Mode, Vacuum, Mop, or both.
Its navigation was on par with other vacuums I’ve tested. For the most part, it covered the entire area I had requested the robot vacuum to clean. The device would avoid objects like dog bowls and toys. But when it came to furniture and larger obstacles, it would skirt nicely around some or just fully ram others with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes, the Freo would get tripped up by an obstacle for several minutes, continuously running into it or spinning around it. I’ve found this to be a common issue with many robot vacuums. Wires would also get caught in the main brush from time to time–not a big surprise.
Speaking of the main brush, it has bristles, something many robot vacuums have done away with. That means it’s a hair magnet, and I had to clean it on multiple occasions. I also found the brush difficult to get back in place correctly after cleaning, a minor annoyance.
When it came to detecting debris, it was a hit or miss. Sometimes, the Narwal Freo would spot larger messes and pick them up immediately. Other times, it seemingly avoided the mess, never going back to clean up, proving the vacuum to be unreliable.
As the Narwal Freo vacuumed, it attempted to kick out debris from hard-to-reach places, corners, and baseboards using the edge brushes. Oftentimes, it didn’t successfully move the debris, and if it did move the debris, that debris never actually got suctioned up. This was a major disappointment, especially given the price.
In fact, I was truly shocked at just how mediocre the vacuuming performance of the Narwal Freo was. I’ll admit that my floors were full of crumbs, pet hair, leaves, and other debris, making them messier than the average household. But I was lucky if the Freo picked up a third of what was on the floor. Sure, larger crumbs and dirt were left, and that’s acceptable and often expected from these devices. However, small leaves, tiny needles from an artificial Christmas tree, and minuscule crumbs were left behind even after I sent the vacuum out multiple times.
I also believe the vacuum’s performance declined from when I first began using it. I tried to remedy the problem, doing everything from emptying the dust box after each use to cleaning the brushes and filter. Still, it failed to have a better pick-up. That poor vacuuming performance could be due to the 3,000Pa max suction level, which is pretty low considering the cost. Therefore, if your household has pets, kids, or just tends to get a bit grimier, I’d steer clear of the Narwal Freo.
Performance: 2.5 / 5
NARWAL FREO: APP
Easy to use app
Mapping uncomplicated
It was simple to start using the Narwal Freo. Before its first run, the robot vacuum leaves the base and creates a map of your space. The process was quick, and I had a relatively accurate map of the downstairs of my home, which is about 700 square feet with multiple rooms, in about 15 minutes. You can then edit the map, block off certain areas, and name rooms using the Narwal app. The map isn’t as intelligent as some I’ve used, but it should suffice for most.
A great feature of the Narwal App is its ability to save up to four maps. So, beyond the main downstairs map, I created two others. One map of my sunken family room and another of the upstairs. Mapping was uncomplicated, as you just needed to move the robot vacuum to the space and let it do its thing. However, you can’t select specific rooms to clean on the additional maps, as the app only allows you to highlight areas to be cleaned, which can be tedious.
However, the app as a whole is easy to use and took me only a couple of minutes to master. It lets you adjust vacuum settings, check when components need replacing, schedule cleanings, and more. When you don’t go through the app, you can always use the LCD touchscreen on the base, though you’ll have less control over the specifics of your cleaning.
App: 4.5 / 5
NARWAL FREO: BATTERY LIFE
Battery lasts over three hours
Takes less than 4 hours to recharge
The Narwal Freo is equipped with a 5,200mAh battery that lasts an impressive amount of time. Using Freo Mode, which includes vacuuming and mopping, the battery lasted over three hours. That was enough juice to clean almost 700 square feet of space three times. It’s the best battery performance I’ve seen in my robot vacuum testing.
When only using the vacuuming function, I found that the battery did deplete quicker. Still, it lasted long enough for multiple whole home cleanings. Of course, increasing the suction level did cause the levels to drop even faster.
After the battery dropped below 20%, it returned to the base for charging. There’s an option to send it back out to complete a task after it has reached a certain level of charge. And the battery gets back to 100% percent surprisingly fast, taking less than 4 hours.
Battery: 5 / 5
SHOULD I BUY THE NARWAL FREO?
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
Expensive but feature-rich vacuum, similar option retails for less
3.5 / 5
Design
Easy to set up, base station washes and dries mops but no auto-emptying, useful LCD touch screen on the base, oscillating mops on robot vacuum
4 / 5
Performance
The two oscillating mop pads work great, but the vacuum pick up and edge clean up are mediocre
2.5 / 5
App
The app is simple to use and offers multi level home mapping
4.5 / 5
Battery life
Battery lasts over three hours depending on the mode and recharges quickly in under 4 hours
5 / 5
Buy it if…
You want top-tier mopping.
The Narwal Freo features two oscillating mops that put the vibrating mopping pads seen on most robot vacuums to shame. The base station cleans and dries the mops, leaving them in great condition even after several weeks of use.
You have a multilevel home.
Unlike many robot vacuum apps, the Narwal app allows you to create up to four maps. So, if you have different levels in your home, you won’t need to worry about deleting your current map to clean another part of your space.
You don’t always want to use an app.
The Narwal Freo has a unique LCD touchscreen on the base station, allowing you to select different modes and send the robot vacuum out to clean. Beyond that, it gives details about when components need replacing, shows your network settings, and more.
Don’t buy it if…
You have pets or kids in your home.
The Narwal Freo fails to pick up a good portion of debris when performing average cleaning tasks. So, if you’re house is prone to more crumbs, hair, and dirt, this vacuum won’t be able to keep up. You’ll want to grab an option with more suction power.
You have a mostly carpeted home.
Given the mediocre vacuuming performance, especially on carpeting, and the high price tag, you’d want to grab this vacuum for the excellent mops. If you don’t have hard floors, then you can find better-performing vacuum-only options for cheaper.
You want an auto-emptying dustbin.
Unfortunately, the base station of this robot vacuum doesn’t include an auto-emptying dust bin. That means you’ll need to remove the dust box and empty it. It’s a surprising omission, considering the price of the vacuum.
NARWAL FREO: ALSO CONSIDER
Not sold on the prowess of the Narwal Freo? Below are a couple of alternatives that you can consider.
–Expensive
–No auto-emptying dustbin
–Mediocre vacuum performance
Header Cell – Column 0
Narwal Freo
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
Eufy Clean X9 Pro
Price:
$1,399.99 / AU$1,999 (about £1,100)
$1,599.99 US / AU$2,699 (about £2,370)
$899.99 / £899.99 / AU$1,499.95
Watt:
45W(vacuum) / 72W (base)
Row 1 – Cell 2
Row 1 – Cell 3
Suction power:
3,000pa
6000Pa
5,500Pa
Speeds:
Quiet, Normal, Strong, Super Powerful
Row 3 – Cell 2
Row 3 – Cell 3
Bin volume:
480 ml
0.66 gallons (2.5L)
13.9 oz (410 ml)
Battery life:
180 minutes (Freo Mode)
180 min (quiet mode)
150 min (standard vacuum/mop setting)
Filtration:
Yes
Row 6 – Cell 2
Row 6 – Cell 3
Noise volume:
65Db (vacuum), 50Db (base)
69dB (vacuum), 77dB (base)
65dB (vacuum), 50dB (base)
Mop water volume:
Not specified
0.92 gallons (3.5L)
1.1 gallons (4.1L)
Water levels:
Slightly dry, normal, wet mopping
Row 9 – Cell 2
Row 9 – Cell 3
Mapping:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Obstacle avoidance:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Base:
14.6 x 16.3 x 17.1 in (370 x 415 x 435 mm)
16.7 x 20.2 x 17.7 in (42.4 x 51.3 x 45 cm)
17.4 x 16.6.2 x 16.4 in (44.3 x 42.2 x 41.6 cm)
Smart support:
Siri
Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Siri
Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
Tools:
None
Row 14 – Cell 2
Row 14 – Cell 3
Weight:
9.59 lbs (4.35 kg)
10lbs (vacuum)
31.7 lbs (14.4 kg)
Roborock S8 Pro Ultra An impressive but pricey robot vacuum, offering both vacuuming and mopping abilities, and has a self-cleaning, auto-emptying docking station to give you a mostly hands-off cleaning experience. An intuitive app delivers intelligent mapping as well as easy adjustment of settings.
Read our full Roborock S8 Pro Ultra review
Eufy Clean X9 Pro A solid robot vacuum that vacuums and mops. The rotating mops are great at removing spills and spots on your floor, while the base station’s auto-cleaning feature washes the mops for you. Unfortunately, there’s no auto-emptying for the dust box. There’s also an intuitive app that creates an intelligent map and makes it simple to adjust various settings.
Read our full Eufy Clean X9 Pro review
HOW I TESTED THE NARWAL FREO
Tested over the course of several weeks
Used almost every mop and vacuum setting
Tested on various floor types, including carpet and laminate
I tested the Narwal Freo in my two-story home with floor types that include hardwood, medium pile carpet, tile, and laminate. There are also low-pile rugs throughout. I’d send the vacuum out multiple times per week using the different modes: Freo Mode, Vacuuming and Mopping, Vacuuming, and Mopping. The robot vacuum would do its thing, and I would only intervene if needed, observing how it handled obstacles, edges, and more.
Beyond the basics, I did more intensive testing of the device on both hard floor and carpeting to see how it handled larger messes of varying debris sizes. Using oats, flour, and sprinkles, I tested all the suction levels of the vacuum to see how well each setting vacuumed. I also spread yogurt, honey, and coffee on the floor to observe the mops’ performance at varying water levels.
Although this is the first time I’ve tested a Narwal robot vacuum, I have reviewed plenty of others from top brands like Shark, Roborock, Ecovacs, Eufy, and more, so I feel confident in my experience using these devices.
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained – regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it’s on our radar.
The Philips Fidelio L4 are almost at the level of the Sony WH-1000XM5 and other popular cans. They sound great and fit well, but some weird bugs let them slightly down and leave you wondering if the next revision will be the perfect pair.
I absolutely want to love the Philips Fidelio L4. In many ways, they undercut the Sony WH-1000XM5 perfectly ensuring you get something for less while still benefiting from all the features you’d want from one of the best headphones.
The problem lies in the execution. The Philips Fidelio L4 suffers from a few too many disconnection issues. When playing, it sounds fantastic. Audio is rich, vibrant, and with just the right amount of bass to ensure you don’t miss out on crisp mids and trebles. The problem is that sometimes it simply drops out and I can’t figure out why. Instinctively, it seems like wear detection could be a problem but even when disabled, the Philips Fidelio L4 would sometimes just switch off, acting like it was doing you a favor.
It’s frustrating because the Philips Fidelio L4 are good enough that they still deserve a high rating. Besides the exceptional sound quality, there’s also up to 50 hours of battery life which easily beats the competition. A 15 minute charge gives back 14 hours which is ridiculously good going.
For $349 / £300, the Philips Fidelio L4 are well-priced among strong competition even if they’re not the most exciting looking. You’ll love how great it sounds until it cuts out and you’re left wondering just what you did while you restart the headphones. Still, weirdly, they sound so good, it’s a little easier to forgive than maybe it should be.
Released in December 2023
Officially priced at $349 / £300
The Philips Fidelio L4 was released in December 2023 for £300. Currently available in the UK, the Philips Fidelio L4 is also set for release in the US for $349 although, at the time of writing, isn’t currently available to buy.
The headphones are available solely in black – a fairly traditional color for headphones – so don’t go looking for fancy colorways.
At this price point, the Philips Fidelio L4’s biggest rivals are the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort 45, which offer very similar features but more brand recognition and as we’ll see later – more reliability too. There’s always the Apple AirPods Max if you want to spend more too.
Header Cell – Column 0
Philips Fidelio L4
Drivers
40mm
Active Noise Cancellation
Yes
Battery life
Up to 40 hours (ANC on), up to 50 hours (ANC off)
Weight
330g
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.3, 3.5mm
Waterproofing
No
The Philips Fidelio L4 packs all the key features you could need. At least when they’re working nicely. The Philips headphones app guides you through the essentials. There’s wear detection, auto on/off and an adjustable EQ. The latter comes with four presets but it’s always good to be able to adjust things for yourself too.
Other useful features include LDAC support, voice assistant functionality, spatial audio (although no head tracking), and touch controls too. Multipoint support means it’s easy to hook the cans up to multiple devices at once too – a feature that’s fast becoming an essential given how many devices I switch between on a daily basis. There’s also Bluetooth 5.3 support and a 3.5mm jack for listening to music more crisply.
Sounds perfect, right? Yes and no. While using the Philips Fidelio L4, I found it very prone to random disconnections. I could be idly listening to a song and then suddenly, the headphones would make a couple of shutting down style sounds and do exactly that. At first, it seemed like a battery issue but I found turning off wear detection and touch controls seemed to help matters. It’s a weird one to pin down as it doesn’t seem to be entirely down to wear detection but it’s an irritant on what we’ll soon see is an otherwise exceptional pair of cans and definitely a dealbreaker.
