Tineco Floor One S5 review: A dual vac and mop with the power to scrub

By Erin Lawrence Published January 12, 2022

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We’re at an interesting point for home automation. All those futuristic robots we’ve been promised for decades are finally coming to fruition, and nowhere is that more true than in robot vacuum technology. But sometimes, you need more than an autonomous robot to do your bidding. Sometimes you need to grab the tools and get ‘er done. Enter: The Tineco Floor One S5.

The Tineco Floor One S5 is a dual-purpose upright that is fully cordless. It’s a wet/dry stick vacuum and mop with some unique features that sets it apart from other stick models. Underneath, Tineco S5 has a soft microfiber roller that works to pull in and scrub away dirt and spills.

This vacuum and mop does it all: It sucks up dust, debris, and wet messes while scrubbing the floor surface with its spinning roller too.

The S5 comes with a freestanding charging and docking station. Refreshingly, there’s no app or smartphone connection — it’s just power up and clean.

The S5 has a fairly comfortable adjustable telescoping handle, and the head unit swivels for getting into tight spaces.

The S5 needs its clean water tank filled with fresh water. The tank seems a bit small, but the fact is this device isn’t using a lot of water and doesn’t appear to need it.

The Tineco S5 will clean with just water or water plus a cleaning solution and you only need about half an ounce to boost your clean. When it’s turned on, the power will pull the machine forward with its scrubbing rollers to clean more deeply. During my testing, a single pass scrubbed up the dirt, including things like muddy dog paw prints.

The spinning brushes underneath the Tineco S5 are able to deliver spinning roundhouse kicks to dried messes.

I tried the Tineco Floor One S5 in various real-life, in-home situations. I used it simply as a vacuum, and when I review a vacuum, I test it out on fine particles like flour, spills like rice or oats, and bigger chunks like crackers.

While the vacuum did indeed inhale it all, it kind of formed a goopy mess inside the dirty water tank, and the internal scoop-shaped filter gets loaded quickly. Even so, it did do a very good job of keeping the mess out of the water.

When it came to the floor mopping capabilities, I was able to try it on muddy paw prints, damp dirt, and even liquid spills too.

Here the Tineco S5 was truly a winner; unlike some mopping robots that simply wipe a damp cloth across your floor, the spinning brushes underneath the Tineco S5 are able to deliver spinning roundhouse kicks to dried messes and inhale spilled milk, wine, and coffee.

I tested the S5 on tile and hardwood and it did a great job on both, and it didn’t leave the floors too damp or streaky.

Ultimately, it was quite impressive how well this wet and dry vacuum and mop works.

When you’ve finished cleaning, it’s time to pour out the dirty water tank — it’s a surprising barometer of how dirty the floors are, and deeply dirty water went right down the drain! A built-in strainer in the dirty water bin is designed to make hair removal quick and easy.

When the vacuum is emptied and the dirty water bin is rinsed, set the Floor One S5 back in its docking station. The unit can auto-detect dirt and buildup, so a voice may tell you to begin a cleaning cycle by pressing the self-clean button. Two minutes later all the internal workings should be fresh again.

This vacuum and mop has impressive self-cleaning abilities too.

The vacuum uses something called an iLoop Smart Sensor that detects where dirty build-up is on the floor. If the LED light on the screen is red, it’s seeing more dirt, so you should make a few more passes. If it’s blue, it’s not so bad. The Tineco S5 will also automatically adjust water and detergent flow, giving your more solution to clean bigger messes. In my testing, I found this worked intermittently. One time I brought out the S5 to handle a dried-on red wine stain but the lights didn’t change at all. Even so, it does a good job at powering it off the floor.

In follow-up tests, I’d get some lights, sometimes, but it seemed to depend on things like the color of the flooring and any light or shade dappling the floor. The bottom line on this feature is that I don’t think you really need to worry about it since you can see for yourself when there’s dirt or spills on the floor and the Floor One S5 cleans really well on its own. But it’s a nice gimmick, I suppose.

The Tineco Floor One S5’s 2.1 inch LCD screen displays cleaning information and any alerts, plus the remaining battery level, as well if your water tanks are empty or need refilling — useful information to have at a glance.

On a single charge, Floor One S5 aims to run for about 35 minutes. Since it lives on its charging dock, it was always ready to go for me, so I can’t really say how long it takes to recharge fully.

Overall, I’m really happy with how this floor cleaner performs. It powers off dried-on dirt from both my tile and hardwood floors. I love the versatility of the wet-dry performance here since it means I don’t need to worry about vacuuming first, then mopping.

Downsides? It is not quite as maneuverable as some other stick vacuums and mops I’ve tried, and the internal debris filter is small so it struggles to clean up bigger, lumpier messes. Even so, it works very well and we like using it since it gives the floors in our dual-pet home a good, thorough cleaning.

There are a few wet-dry vacuums and mops on the market. Roborock has just released its Dyad which is a similar concept, and Dreame’s H11 Max is out there too, as are a few models from Bissell. For the most part, the features, price, and availability seem to be on par, so at this point keep watch for a sale, or hunt for your most important features and comparison shop. There are a lot of great options in this space right now.

The Tineco Floor One S5 feels fairly sturdy and comes with an extra roller. I anticipate it will be a durable addition to my home for the foreseeable future.

I can definitely recommend the Tineco Floor One S5 for your hard floors. It’s a surprisingly powerful and versatile floor cleaner that makes the chore easier.