Tineco Pure One S11 Tango Review

Avg. consumer rating = 90/100 

We’ve reviewed a host of cordless vacuum cleaners over the years and found that many machines are just not up to snuff. However, there are some, like those from Tineco, that have pleasantly surprised us. In this review we take a look at the Tineco Pure One S11 Tango, a mid-range cordless with plenty of interesting features, including a specialized cleaner head for carpet and another for hard flooring.

 

 

	Good on carpet			Frequent filter cleaning
	Good on hard floors			Need wall mount for charging
	Both stick vac & handheld vac			Not great at edge cleaning
	Trigger lock feature			Hair tangles in brushroll
	Click-in battery
	Reasonably quiet
	Two cleaner heads
	Motorized tool included
	Quality filtration
	Headlights
	Automatic suction control
	Can charge two batteries at once
	Fairly lightweight

Quick Specs
Type	Stick Vac
Bagged/Bagless	Bagless
Best for...	Hard Floors & Carpet
Pet Hair Features	No
Approx. Weight	5.7 lbs
HEPA Level Filtration	Yes
Power Cord Length	Cordless
Motor Driven Brushbar	Yes
Warranty	2-years

Disclosure: We approached Tineco and requested the S11 so we could do a review. Tineco sent one over. Please note that this in no way affects our review.

TINECO PURE ONE S11 MODELS
There are currently three Pure One S11 models:

1) Pure One S11 Spartan
2) Pure One S11
3) Pure One S11 Tango

The base model is actually the "Spartan".  The Pure One S11 is the same as the "Spartan" except it also includes a Mini Power Brush and a Pre-Filter Cleaning Tool.  The "Tango" is the same as the "Spartan" except it also includes a Mini Power Brush, a Soft-roller Power Brush (specialized cleaner head for doing hard floors), and a Pre-Filter Cleaning Tool. We have the "Tango".

CONSUMER RATINGS
Owner ratings for the Tineco Pure One S11 were found at several popular online retailers – see table below. In total we found over 1500 ratings and when these were averaged they resulted in an overall vacuum score of 90.1 out of 100. As the score suggests the majority of owners are very pleased with their S11, however it should be noted that there are some comments highlighting issues such as short battery life, charging problems, and low suction.  You can read more S11 owner comments on Amazon.

Source	Consumer Rating	# Ratings
Amazon	4.5 stars out of 5	1455
Best Buy	4.6 stars out of 5	94
Target	4.4 stars out of 5	34

You can compare the S11 Tango’s score to that of other stick vacuums in our stick vacuum ratings table and also in our overall vacuum cleaner ratings table.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
- Manual
- LED Multi-Tasker Power Brush (carpet cleaner head)
- LED Soft Roller Power Brush (hard floor cleaner head)
- Mini Power Brush
- 2-In-1 Dusting Brush
- Crevice Tool
- Pre Filter
- Extra Pre Filter
- Pre-filter Cleaning Tool
- Hair Cleaning Tool
- Wall Mount
- Battery Charger

TOOLS
- Crevice Tool
- Hair Cleaning Tool
- 2-in-1 Brush Tool
- Mini Power Brush
- Pre-filter Cleaning Tool

The mini power brush is motorized which is a nice feature. More moderately priced machines will sometimes come with a power brush that is powered by vacuum suction. The motorized versions tend to do a better job.

The 2-in-1 dusting brush and the crevice tool are pretty standard but it is nice that they “click” into place. They are not compression fit. The “click” ensures they securely stay on the vacuum until you want to take them off.

The hair cleaning tool is a small “nice to have”. It helps pull/cut hair off of a brushroll. Also, given that these brushrolls do tend to collect hair (see our hair tests below) the tool is useful.

The pre-filter cleaning tool is not something you often see. The idea is that you place the pre-filter inside the tool and turn the vacuum on, thereby cleaning the filter. How much of the debris from the filter being cleaned ends up on the filter still in the vacuum is unknown, but the tool does work to clean the filter. It is also a critical tool in the case of the S11 as Tineco suggests cleaning the filter after each vacuuming session – which is very frequent in our experience.

CLEANER HEADS
The S11 Tango comes with two cleaner heads - one for carpet and one for hard floors.

- LED multi-tasker power brush (carpet cleaner head)

- LED soft-roller power brush (hard floor cleaner head)

Each cleaner head has headlights on the front and the brushrolls can also be easily removed for cleaning/maintenance.

LED DISPLAY
A large circular LED display sits on top of the handheld component. The perimeter of the LED display contains a loop that will change color (in real time) depending on the amount of dust/debris in the incoming air. Blue indicates the incoming air is free of debris while red indicates more debris.

The display also contains indicator lights that highlight if the brushroll is tangled, if the air channel is blocked, if the dust sensor needs to be cleaned, and if the wifi is connected (this vacuum has a smart phone app).

POWER MODES
The vacuum has two power modes: Auto and Max. Automatic power mode is the most interesting. We’ve seen this on the Tineco Pure One S12 as well as the Dyson V11 and V15. In Automatic power mode the vacuum uses a dust sensor that measures the amount of dust/debris in the incoming air. Suction will increase when there is a lot of dust/debris and it will decrease when there is less dust/debris. This feature works well and it allows for optimal cleaning and run times.

BATTERY
The S11 sports a rechargeable, detachable, 2,500 mAh, 21.6 volt, lithium-ion battery. The detachable design allows you to double your run times by buying a second battery. When one battery is run down you simply remove it and pop in a freshly charged battery and keep vacuuming. The S11 Tango only comes with one battery however, so if you want another you will have to purchase it separately.

The battery is released from the handheld component by pressing two tabs – one on each side of the battery. This may be a little awkward if you have small hands as the tabs have to be pressed at the same time and (if you are doing it one-handed) your hand has to straddle the entire battery. It would have been easier with a single button on the back, or something similar, but the existing system is still workable.

RECHARGING
Recharging the battery can be awkward if you don’t want to use the wall mount. The charger cannot be attached directory to the battery or the handheld unit. To charge the battery you must attach the charger to the wall mount and either place the handheld unit in the wall mount or remove the battery from the handheld unit and place the battery in the wall mount. This is a little frustrating for owners who do not wish to use the wall mount.

In our home we don’t have a place where we feel comfortable drilling into the wall. So to charge the battery we place the wall mount on the floor and put the battery into it. It is an awkward solution. It would have been much easier if the charger could also be used to directly charge the battery.

BATTERY LIFE
Tineco states that the vacuum will run for about 40 minutes in Auto power mode with a non-powered tool attached, and about 10 minutes in Max power mode with a non-powered tool attached.

While it is interesting to know the longest run time scenarios, it is likely that many potential owners would also like to know the run time when using the carpet and hard floor cleaner heads. So we did the tests.

To test, we ensured the battery was fully charged and the filter was clean, then we turned the vacuum on in the upright position and using a stopwatch determined how long the vacuum would run before it stopped.

	Auto Power Mode	Max Power Mode
Medium Pile Carpet (using carpet cleaner head)	27 min 18 sec	10 min 42 sec
Hard Floor (using hard floor cleaner head)	29 min 49 sec	10 min 40 sec

In our opinion these are reasonable run times.  Bear in mind that the tests were done with the vacuum stationary. In Auto power mode the suction increases or decreases depending on the amount of dust/debris encountered. Therefore in the tests the debris was pretty much zero for the bulk of the test, so the run time figures in Auto power mode are likely “best case scenario”.

SUCTION POWER
Maximum suction power for the S11 falls somewhere between the Tineco S12 and the Dyson V8. With respect ot he table below, note that Low suction for the S11 cannot be measured as the vacuum doesn’t have a Low power mode. When not in Max power mode the S11 defaults to Auto power mode where suction varies depending upon the amount of dust/debris encountered. Following are suction figures for a few popular cordless machines.

Stick Vac Model	Low suction (Air Watts)	Max suction (Air Watts)
Dyson V7	21	100
Dyson V8	28	115
Tineco Pure One S11	N/A (has Auto power)	130
Tineco Pure One S12	13	150
Dyson V10	15.8	151
Dyson V11	26	185
LG CordZero A9 Kompressor	N/A	200
Dyson V15	26	230

HANDHELD VACUUM
The handheld component of the S11 is an interesting looking piece of machinery. It looks very sleek and high tech, in part because of the clear plastic which is designed to show the internals of the machine, including circuit boards. We haven’t seen this approach before and, in our opinion, it works. The unit is indeed pretty neat looking.

The handle of the handheld component is also comfortable. It has a slightly rubberized grip which ensures it is not too hard and the trigger is in just the right place so it is easily accessible (at least with my hand). The power toggle (Auto to Max) is on the top of the handheld so you cannot just press it with your thumb – you have to use the other hand. But it is still prominent and easy to use.

TRIGGER LOCK
Having to constantly hold down the vacuum trigger for power is an issue which has caused plenty of complaints from Dyson stick vac owners over the years. This approach is used in all Dyson stick vacuums. The logic is that you are only using power when you are sure you need it, which will theoretically increase the run time. But what if you don’t want to hold the trigger down all the time? Some people say their finger gets tired.

Tineco have solved the problem by providing a trigger lock. You can use the trigger the same way as the Dyson vacuums if you want, but the S11 provides the option to lock the trigger in place so you don’t have to constantly depress it. It’s a good feature and it works well. It’s easy to click the trigger lock into place and it’s just as easy to disengage it.

DUST CANISTER
The dust canister is a reasonable size for a stick vacuum. It’s not particularly large but it isn’t too small. You will still have to empty it frequently if you are doing a lot of cleaning in dirty areas but that’s par for the course with many of these lightweight cordless stick vacs. Below we’ve posted dust canister sizes for a few of the machines we’ve reviewed in the past:

Stick Vac Model	Dust Canister Size (gallons)
Dyson V7/V8	0.14
Tineco Pure One S12	0.16
Tineco Pure One S11	0.16
Dyson V10 (Absolute/Animal)	0.20
Dyson V11/V15	0.20

There is also a release button on the inner side of the dust canister that allows the entire canister to be easily removed for cleaning. It’s a handy feature and useful because dust canisters can get very dirty after a while. But be careful. The S11 dust canister also houses the dust/debris sensor and you don’t want to get it wet. So it’s best to just wipe things down – do not wash.

FILTRATION
The vacuum has three filters - a metal mesh pre-filter, a cloth pre-filter, and a HEPA post-motor filter. The metal mesh filter can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. The cloth pre-filter is cleaned using the pre-filter cleaning tool and can also be rinsed in water. The HEPA filter can be rinsed in water.

Tineco suggests cleaning the pre-filter after every vacuuming session – which is quite frequent in our opinion. Kind of a hassle to do this every time you vacuum. They also suggest washing the cloth filter every month and replacing it every 6 months. In addition, they suggest washing the HEPA filter every 3 months and replacing it every 12 months. So, despite being a bagless vacuum with reusable filters you will still have some consumables.

The cyclonic technology combined with the filters removes 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns in diameter. This is a high quality of filtration (HEPA level).

If quality air filtration is important to you then a feature you want is a sealed system. The Tineco S11 has a sealed system. A sealed system ensures that all the air entering the vacuum passes through the filters before being exhausted from the machine. No unfiltered escapes from the vacuum.

MANEUVERABILITY
Maneuverability of the S11 is average. It moves ok but tends to skate a little over carpet and still moves forward a bit when you try and turn it. The S11 is not the only cordless machine we’ve seen do this on carpet. Many others do as well. Frankly, in our experience, the only cordless machines that don’t do this are the Dyson machines. Of course the S11 moves more precisely on hard flooring.

The S11 cleaner head turns easily enough at the twist of the wrist but it doesn’t turn very sharply. You cannot turn this cleaner head at a right angle (90 degrees). In addition, if you want to get under very low furniture you will find that the cleaner head will come up off the floor if you lay the unit flat (image below). You can turn the unit on its side and this will actually bring the cleaner head in contact with the floor but it is a little awkward.

By virtue of being so light the vacuum is, in general, still fairly easy to move around but we think movement and maneuverability could be better.

WEIGHT
We recorded the S11’s weight as follows:

S11 with carpet cleaner head = 5.7 lbs
S11 with hard floor cleaner head = 5.68 lbs

For comparison purposes, following is a list of several other cordless machines we have reviewed. As you can see the weight of the S11 is somewhere between the Dyson V7 and V8. All-in-all we would say the S11 is lightweight.

Stick Vac Model	Weight (lbs)
Dyson Omni-glide	4.2
Dyson V7 (motorhead)	5.5
Tineco Pure One S11	5.7
Dyson V8	5.8
Shark WANDVAC System	5.9
Dyson V10	5.9
LG CordZero A9	6.0
Tineco Pure One S12	6.6
Dyson V11	6.7
Dyson V15	6.8
Shark Rocket Pro	7.3
Shark IONFlex / ION F80	8.7
Shark Vertex Cordless	9.0

We weighed the S11 handheld unit at 3.5 lbs which is a fairly comfortable weight for a handheld. We have some cordless vacuums with uncomfortably heavy handheld units, like the Dyson V15 at 4.5 lbs and the Dyson V11 Outsize at 5.4 lbs.

NOISE LEVEL
Noise reduction has clearly been a part of the S11 design. It is one of the more quiet vacuums we’ve worked with over the years.

We performed a noise test by placing a digital noise level meter three feet in front of the vacuum cleaner head on carpet. With the vacuum in the upright position we turned it on and pressed the power trigger. We recorded the peak decibel output over a 10 second period. We did this in both Auto and Max power modes.

S11 in Auto power mode = 63.3 dB
S11 in Max power mode = 67.0 dB

We’ve performed this test for a host of other cordless machines and you can see some of the results in the table below:

Stick Vac Model	Low Power (dB)	Max Power (dB)
Tineco Pure One S12	61.1	66.7
Dyson V8	62.2	71.7
LG CordZero A9	63.0	74.4
Tineco Pure One S11	63.3 (Auto power)	67.0
Dyson V11	63.7	71.0
Dyson V15	66.1	70.0
Shark WANDVAC System	70.3	72.2
Dyson Omni-glide	70.6	76.0
Shark Vertex Cordless	72.9	72.9
Hoover ONEPWR Evolve	73.2	78.3
Shark Rocket Pro (cordless)	74.2	75.1

CLEANING TESTS

CARPET
In our carpet cleaning test we created small-to-medium size debris from ground cheerios, chili flakes, flax seeds, and split green peas (each component was carefully weighed with a sensitive scale). This debris was placed in a 5 ft long line on low pile carpet. The vacuum was run over this line in about a 10 second pass and the percentage pickup was calculated. We performed this test with the S11 and the Dyson V7.

Results:
S11 = 99.4%
V7 = 97.6%

The S11 clearly outperformed the V7. Perhaps there are two things going on here. 1 – We’ve had the V7 for four years and it is one of our “go to” machines so it has had a lot of use. 2 – The V7 does not have automatic suction control and it is operating at a constant low power whereas the S11 power increases when needed (and you could hear and feel the S11 power increasing during this test).  Whatever the case, pickup over 99% is very good.

HARD FLOOR
We ran the S11 with its specialized hard floor cleaner head on a tile surface with similar debris to that in the carpet test. We also ran the V7 with the Dyson soft roller cleaner head. Note that most Dyson cordless vacuums do not come with the soft roller cleaner head and in many cases you have to buy it separately.

Results:
Both machines performed very well on the hard floor. Pickup was about 99.9% or so for both, with the S11 perhaps picking up a tiny bit more than the V7 (as per the video). 99+% is again an excellent result.  We have enough experience with these tests to state that this high percentage pickup is, for the most part, down to the specialized soft cleaner heads.

HAIR
We placed long black human hair and short white pet hair on low pile carpet and ran the S11 Tango over it.

Results:
Hair pickup was good but unfortunately much of it stayed on the brusholl which required quite a bit of cleaning after the test. This tells us that the S11 may not be a great choice for homes with lots of hair to deal with (like households with pets for example).

At the end of the video you can see that we also tested the mini power brush tool to see if this would be an option for handling hair. Again, pickup was good but there was much tangling in the brushroll. Also, the mini power brush brusholl cannot be removed for easy cleaning (the carpet cleaner head brushroll can be easily removed) so it can be a pain to clean. So this is not better a solution for dealing with hair.

EDGES
In this test we placed chili flakes up tight against a baseboard and ran the vacuum over them. Some machines will pick up everything while others will leave a strip along the wall.

Results:
The S11 performance was average. In order to really clean well along an edge like this with the S11 you would probably need to use the crevice tool (as shown at the end of the above video).

SMART PHONE APP
You can download the Tineco smart phone app (iOS 9.0 or later and Android 5.0 or later) from the App Store, Google Play and the Tineco website.

The App will allow you to set the vacuum suction, and it displays the dust amount, working hours, and working status. In addition you can see the battery charge, and the filter status.

I’ve never been keen on using a phone app for my vacuums so I won’t get into this one. But it is available for those who are interested and it is not a feature we typically see on a lot of stick vacs.

WARRANTY
The Tineco Pure One S11 Tango carries a 2-year limited warranty. Note that the warranty is only valid if the vacuum is used in the county in which it was sold.

MANUAL
The manual is provided in English, Spanish and French. It covers most of the basics and also has a section on the warranty. You can see a copy of the manual here: Tineco Pure One S11 Manual

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Nigel Russco has been reviewing and testing vacuums for over 14 years. He is a professional engineer and uses his review platforms to help consumers determine which vacuum cleaners are the best for their cleaning needs. Follow Nigel on facebook or view his vacuum review videos on the Vacuum Cleaner Advisor YouTube Channel.