I just tested this 2-in-1 wet-dry vacuum cleaner — and it's a real time saver

As someone who has several types of hard flooring in my home, my biggest gripe is the time-consuming task of filling up a bucket with water and mopping. Not only does it add time to my cleaning regime, but requires elbow grease to get rid of stains and dirt. And despite owning some of the best vacuum cleaners, I had still yet to find a powerful, wet and dry vacuum cleaner to replace my mop and bucket. It isn’t any wonder then that many households are opting for hybrid vacuums that can switch between carpet and hard flooring. 

Tineco’s Floor One S5 Extreme Smart Cordless Vacuum offers something that many of its rivals don’t. It vacuums up dust and debris as it washes the floor simultaneously.  That means, you don't have to interrupt your task to swap out attachments, or even go and fill or empty out a dirty bucket!.

In addition, it has smart features, a digital display and more notably, voice guidance to let you know what mode it’s in, the status of your dirt levels and when it’s time to empty it. Perhaps what’s more appealing is its self-cleaning function that will rinse out all the dirt inside and the roller brush so you don’t even have to get your hands dirty. Win-win!

While that all sounds impressive on paper, I was keen to see if the Tineco’s Floor One S5 Extreme cleaner will exceed my mopping expectations, and worth its price tag. 

Tineco Floor One s5 Extreme Smart vacuum review: Price and availability

The Tineco’s Floor One S5 Vacuum is available to buy in the U.S. from Amazon, priced $449 and Best Buy for $349 — which is at a reduced price.  In the UK, you can pick one up on sale at the official Tineco online store for £279 or Amazon for £399. 

Tineco Floor One s5 Extreme Smart vacuum review: Design and Use

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Design-wise, the Tineco Floor One S5 Vacuum is ergonomic, slim and doesn’t have the bulkiness of traditional washer vacuums. Its matte colors of grey and dark blue gives it a sleek, modern look, while the LCD display sits at the top of the cylinder.

The vacuum is operated by three push buttons on the handle, a self-cleaning, on/off and mode, and has a comfortable grip. Despite its slim appearance, it’s a little heavy to carry between rooms (weighing in at 17 pounds), which might be an issue if you have a lot of stairs. However, this is mainly due to the bigger tank capacity that will offer larger coverage in the long-run.  

In addition, it comes with a charging base, three rollers,  two dry filters, a cleaning tool and the Tineco cleaning solution. Overall, it’s a sleek-looking, cordless washer that is easy to store. The only downside is that it doesn’t come with any other attachments, should you wish to tackle those tricky angles, corners of crevices thoroughly. 

Tineco Floor One s5 Extreme Smart vacuum review: Features

Setting up the Tineco Floor One S5 Vacuum was fairly straightforward, and if you have any doubts, you can follow the ‘Quick Start Guide’ diagrams that are on the lid inside the box. What’s more, the voice guidance comes on as soon as you power it on to tell you what mode you’re on, when to change the dirty water tank, and other helpful prompts. 

The washer vacuum has several other impressive features to note. The iLoop smart sensor instantly adjusts water flow, suction, and brush roller speed, depending on how dirty your floors are. Plus, it also features an illuminated ring around the LED display that goes from red (debris detected) to blue (debris cleared), — which can be fun watching. The battery life is also displayed in the center, so you’ll always be aware of how much power you have left. 

The clean water tank sits at the back of the vacuum, and is easy to remove. There are clear instructions to fill it, and you’ll need to use the Tineco solution supplied. Bear in mind, the tank is quite tall in size, so might be tricky to get under a low faucet — in which case you might need to decant water with a spout. Unlike the traditional mop and bucket, you don’t use hot or lukewarm water, just room temperature — and no detergent such as dish soap. And after washing, you simply empty out the dirty water tank located at the front of the machine.

Perhaps my favorite feature is the built-in self-cleaning function. This automatically washes and cleans out the inner tubing and brush roller, so you don’t have to! You simply press the ‘self clean’ button on the handle to do the work, so it’s super easy to maintain.

This is also a great time-saver, in comparison to the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine vacuum cleaner, that required rinsing and cleaning under the tap after each use.

Tineco Floor One s5 Extreme Smart vacuum review: Performance

As I powered it on, voice guidance immediately told me I was on ‘Auto’ mode, before it proceeded to clean the floors. Although it was easy to maneuver around the floors, I could feel the powerful pull as it adjusted to the levels of dirt, whilst washing at the same time.  

After two sweeps over my kitchen tiles, it did appear much cleaner and whiter —and had even removed a few unsightly black marks on the surface. While it was great for tackling small messes and minor stains, it did struggle with hardened bits of food; you’d probably need to remove this manually. Another caveat is that it couldn’t get into corners, or any awkward spaces to clean thoroughly. I have a curved, lower cabinet in my kitchen, so cleaning the area underneath was a no-go. This is probably where having separate cleaning attachments to suit such areas would have been beneficial. 

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In any case, it still did an excellent job at lifting out dirt and dust, and excelled on my hardwood floors. This also seemed to take less effort to clean, and even left a slight sheen on the surface afterwards. I was also impressed by the fast drying time of my floors (under a minute). When I’ve tested other wet dry vacuums or even a steam mop, I’m usually left with random puddles or wet streaks. However, the drying time was super quick, and it didn’t leave behind a saturated floor.

It is rather loud on Auto mode, which often makes it a struggle to hear the voice guidance clearly — until you stop cleaning. And if you don’t want to wake anybody up in your household with a ‘talking vacuum cleaner’, you could always disable this function. I simply found it useful whenever I didn’t want to look down to read the LCD display screen.

Additionally, the voice guidance will instruct you to empty out the dirty water tank, and self-clean, which you do so by pressing the button at the top of the handle.

The only downside I found was the battery seems to deplete pretty fast. After using it for around 10 minutes, I was down to 65%. However, this is likely due to it being in Auto mode for the most part, and it still managed to clean three, medium-sized rooms. Plus, charging time was a couple of hours, which would mean you'd need to interrupt your cleaning regime if you have larger spaces. 

While it’s sufficient for smaller areas, if you have a palatial home, or larger coverage, this might not be practical.

Tineco Floor One s5 Extreme Smart vacuum review: Verdict

If you’re after a wet and dry, cordless vacuum cleaner that offers impressive suction, handy smart features and more importantly — can clean itself, I would certainly recommend the Tineco Floor One S5. 

Easy to assemble and use, the iLoop smart sensor does a great job for adjusting the power and mode suitable for the task at hand. It also has a handy voice guidance that will tell you what mode you’re on, and other useful reminders about filling the tank and emptying it. 

It quickly tackled debris on hardwood and tile flooring, while washing and removing any visible marks after two sweeps. The only downsides are that it can’t tackle corners or awkward angles as well as a mop can, nor does it come with suitable attachment heads to resolve this problem. 

Nevertheless, it’s certainly one of the more powerful washer vacuum cleaners I’ve tested so far, and gave impressive results in no time.