Tineco Pure One S15 Review

Avg. consumer rating = 88/100 

The Pure One S15 is the new cordless stick vacuum from Tineco. There are many interesting features built into the S15 and most are well thought out and useful. We have the “Pet” version which includes a special cleaner head that keeps hair from tangling in the brushroll, a mini power brush for removing hair and debris from furniture, and HEPA air filtration to ensure only clean air leaves the vacuum. We were pleased that Tineco has provided a charging stand instead of a wall mount. In terms of cleaning prowess, our tests showed that the S15 is very good at some cleaning tasks but it struggles with others.

 

	Designed for carpet & hard floors			May struggle with larger debris
	HEPA level filtration			Only includes 1 battery
	Both stick vac & handheld vac			Zero-touch emptying doesn't always work
	Has a charging stand			Smallish dust canister
	Click-in battery
	Reasonably quiet
	Trigger doesn't have to be held down
	Motorized tool included
	Anti-tangle technology
	Headlights
	Automatic suction control

Quick Specs
Type	Stick Vac
Bagged/Bagless	Bagless
Best for...	Hard Floors & Carpet
Pet Hair Features	Yes
Approx. Weight	6.8 lbs
HEPA Level Filtration	Yes
Power Cord Length	Cordless
Motor Driven Brushbar	Yes
Warranty	2-years

Disclosure: We approached Tineco and requested the S15 so we could do a review. Tineco sent one over. Please note that this in no way affects our review.

TINECO S15 MODELS
Specifications and details can be a little difficult to find for the different S15 models. We’ve put together our best understanding at this time regarding the three different S15 vacuum models currently available.

Tineco Pure One S15 Pro: LCD display, voice assistance (guides you through some tasks), direct-drive anti-tangle cleaner head, dusting brush, crevice tool, mini power brush, hair cleaning tool, extra pre-motor filter, power slider on handle (has auto, max and manual power modes)
Tineco Pure One S15 Pet: LED display, direct-drive anti-tangle cleaner head, dusting brush, crevice tool, mini power brush, hair cleaning tool, extra pre-motor filter, auto and max power modes
Tineco Pure One S15 Essentials: LED display, anti-tangle cleaner head, dusting brush, crevice tool, hair cleaning tool, auto and max power modes

SCORE
Our vacuum scores are typically generated by averaging verified owner ratings, however the S15 Pet is quite new and not currently sold at many retail outlets. When we run into these circumstances we create our own score.

Vacuum Cleaner Advisor scoring:
Value for money = 4.5/5
Cleaning - bare floors = 4.5/5
Cleaning - carpet = 4.5/5
Cleaning - large debris = 3/5
Cleaning - pet hair = 4.5/5
Cleaning - edges = 3.5/5
Run Time = 4/5
Recharge Time = 4.5/5
Ease of use = 4.5/5
Level of Filtration = 5/5
Noise Level = 5/5
Movement carpet = 4.5/5
Movement hard floor = 5/5
Maintenance = 4/5
Warranty = 4.5/5
Tools = 4.5/5
Ergonomics = 4.5/5
Average score = 87.6/100

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
Whenever we've received a Tineco vacuum we have always been impressed with the packaging.  It is usually very compact and well organized.  The S15 was no exception.  The packaging was so compact we thought they had sent the wrong vacuum (see image below). 

So what was in the box?
- Pure One S15 Pet vacuum
- 1 detachable battery
- HEPA filter
- 2 pre-motor filters
- Direct-drive anti-tangle cleaner head
- 2-in-1 dusting brush
- Crevice tool
- Mini power brush
- Hair cleaning tool
- Power adapter
- Charging stand
- Operating manual

TOOLS
The vacuum comes with three tools and one accessory.

Tools
- 2-in-1 dusting brush
- Crevice tool
- Mini power brush (easy to remove brushroll)

Accessory
- Hair cleaning device (also has brush on one end that can be used for brushing down filter or canister)

The tools can be attached to the end of the wand (good for overhead cleaning, cramped corners, behind furniture) or directly to the handheld unit. The tools “click” into place and are secure. You press a button on the tool to remove it. This is a better system than friction fit tools which you have to push on and pull off.

CLEANER HEAD
The cleaner head has a row of LED lights along the front that turn on when the vacuum is on. Lights are handy when you are vacuuming in corners, behind furniture or any dimly lit area. We have grown to really like lights on the cleaner head and miss them when they are not there.

The brushroll has three rows of bristles: Two rows of soft blue bristles and one row of stiff red bristles. This design is made to tackle both carpet and hard flooring. The brushroll is also designed to be easily removed from the cleaner head. A small slider on the side of the cleaner head allows the brushroll to be pulled straight out, making for easy cleaning which you will inevitably have to do. You can clean a brushroll without having to remove it but if it gets really tangled or obstructed then the ability to pull it out makes things much easier.

Fortunately brushroll tangle should be limited as the S15 cleaner head has anti-tangle technology (sometimes referred to by Tineco as Zero-Tangle Technology). Teeth built into the cleaner head remove hair/string/thread/etc from the brushroll as it spins. We test this technology in the Cleaning Tests section below.

Two large rubberized wheels on the back of the cleaner head and two smaller wheels on the underside (near the front) make it easy to move on both carpet and hard flooring. All the wheels are rubberized so they track well on hard flooring and they also don’t scrape the floor.

The cleaner head on the S15 will stay flat on the floor when the wand is moved down to be parallel with the floor. On previous Tineco vacuums that we have reviewed (A10 Hero, Pure One S12, Pure One S11 Tango) this was not the case and it was annoying when trying to get under very low furniture. In the image below we show the Pure One S11 Tango, the Pure One S12, and Pure One S15 Pet. You can see only the S15 cleaner head will lay flat and is the only one that will contact the floor in this position.

LED DISPLAY
The display screen is the flat area on top of the handheld unit. It is an LED screen and it shows percent battery charge, WiFi connection, level of suction, and trouble lights (clean the brushroll, clean the filter or there is an obstruction, clean the dust sensor).. There is also a dust monitoring loop around the outside of the display – this loop changes from red to blue as the air entering the vacuum gets cleaner.

VACUUM CONTROLS
Trigger: The trigger turns the vacuum on. When it is pressed once the vacuum turns on and stays on. When it is pressed a second time the vacuum turns off. It does not need to be held down while vacuuming. There have been many complaints over the years with Dyson cordless units because they required that the trigger be held down when vacuuming. They have recently addressed this.

Power Button: The vacuum defaults to automatic power mode when it is turned on. A button, conveniently accessible on top of the handheld unit, changes from automatic power to max power.  Note that long-pressing this button turns the WiFi on/off which is important if you are using the App.

Dust Empty Release Catch: This catch opens the bottom door of the dust bin.

Dust Empty Tab: Just opposite the trigger is a slider. As you push the slider down it is designed to push the debris to the bottom of the dust canister for easier disposal (Tineco sometimes refers to this as zero-touch emptying).

POWER MODES
The unit has two power modes.

Auto - adjusts suction automatically depending on the amount of dust in the incoming air (there is a dust sensor in the vacuum). This approach is intelligent as it doesn’t waste excess vacuum power in areas that are not particularly dirty.

Max - provides maximum suction but it also drains the battery much more rapidly.

There is no Low power mode.

BATTERY
The unit uses a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery with the following specifications.

22.2V, 2500mAh, 55.5Wh

The battery is also detachable which is a feature that makes it possible to increase run times. If you buy another battery you can swap out a drained battery for a fresh one when vacuuming – this effectively doubles your run time. This is a very good feature for those who want or need more cleaning time. The battery can be removed and a new one attached in seconds.  It also makes it easier to replace if/when necessary.

CHARGING BASE
We really like the charging base. We’ve got several Tineco cordless stick vacs and they all come with wall mounts. We do not wish to put screws into our walls and therefore do not use the wall mounts – which results in leaning the vacuums against a wall in a closet (where they are not charging). The charging base solves these problems. The vacuum is stored and charges in the base.

The AC input to the base is 100-240 volts. The three main tools can be stored directly on the charging base (there is no storage space for the small hair cleaning accessory). Tineco estimates that recharging a completely depleted battery takes between 3 and 5 hours which is a reasonable amount of time.

Note that it is only possible to charge the battery when it is on the vacuum.

BATTERY LIFE TEST
According to Tineco the S15 Pet has:
- Approximately 40 minutes of runtime in Auto power mode.
- Approximately 10 minutes of run time in Max power mode.

The operating manual says “Estimated runtime data was obtained by a Tineco Laboratory using one battery and non-motorized accessories”. So this means these figures were not derived using the cleaner head.

It is most likely that owners will want to know how long this vacuum will run when you are using the cleaner head. So we’ve done our own run time tests:

Run times with motorized cleaner head on medium pile carpet
Auto Power – 26 min 50 sec
Max Power – 9 min 32 sec

Run times with motorized cleaner head on hard floor (tile)
Auto Power – 29 min 42 sec
Max Power – 10 min 20 sec

Using the cleaner head you can see that the run times in Auto mode are short of 40 minutes. Having said that, run times are similar to that of the Pure One S11 Tango.

SUCTION POWER
On Max power the S15 generates 120 air watts of suction. There is no Low power suction setting, and on Auto power the suction varies so it can be difficult to measure.

A few comparisons are provided below:

Stick Vacuum	Low Suction (air watts)	Max Suction (air watts)
Dyson V7	21	100
Tineco A10 Hero	25	110
Dyson V8	28	115
Tineco Pure One S15	N/A (Auto power)	120
Tineco Pure One S11	N/A (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
Like many cordless stick vacuums today, the S15 also doubles as a handheld vacuum. The tools fit directly onto the handheld unit which is great for doing vehicle interiors, furniture, etc.

But what is it like to wield the handheld component? The grip feels good and we’ve weighed the S15 Pet handheld unit at 3.94 lbs. The weight is perhaps a little above average if we compare it to some of the handhelds from similar vacuums:

Stick Vacuum	Handheld Component Weight (lbs)
Dyson V7	3.10
Shark Rocket Pro	3.44
LG CordZero A9 Kompressor	3.49
TIneco Pure One S11	3.49
Dyson V8	3.50
Dyson V10 (Abs / Animal)	3.66
Tineco Pure One S12	3.69
Tineco Pure One S15	3.94
Dyson V11 (Abs / TD / Animal)	4.42
Dyson V15	4.52
Dyson V11 Outsize	5.36

In our experience it is nice to have a handheld at about 3.5 lbs or less. This makes longer cleaning sessions much easier on your arm and wrist.

DUST CANISTER
Dust bin volume = 0.47 liters = 0.124 gallons. This is a fairly small dust canister and if you are doing a lot of cleaning you will find yourself having to empty the dust canister frequently.

Stick Vacuum	Dust Canister Size (gallons)
Tineco Pure One S15	0.12
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

In principle emptying the dust canister is easy. Open the dust bin door then push down the dust empty tab (slider across from the trigger). However we sometimes found hair and debris getting caught around the ring that moves up and down in the canister (part of the zero-touch emptying system). Tineco is trying to solve the problem of having to stick your hand into the dust canister to get out stuck debris. It’s not a bad idea but it doesn’t always work well. It may have been better to just leave the feature out.

FILTRATION
The vacuum has three filters – a metal mesh filter, a pre-motor filter, and a HEPA post-motor filter.

The operating manual states that you should “Clean the dustbin and filters after every use.” I think perhaps Tineco is only talking about brushing off the dustbin and mesh filter here but it isn’t entirely clear. Even so, I suspect many owners will not do this as frequently as suggested.

For the best performance Tineco states you should wash the pre-motor filter every month and the HEPA filter every three months. Also, they suggest replacing the pre-motor filter every six months and the HEPA filter every 12 months.

It is easy to access the pre-motor filter (it sits inside the dust bin) and the HEPA filter (it can be easily pulled out of the back of the handheld unit). The HEPA filter uses a magnet to keep it in place – you can feel it snap into place. The magnet is a nice touch.

A HEPA filter helps remove allergens from the air and a vacuum with this high level of filtration is a good choice for households with asthma or allergy sufferers and/or pets.

Also, Tineco provides a second pre-motor filter with the PET and PRO models. This is smart and very useful. If you have rinsed the pre-motor filter it can take 24hrs or so to dry. And you don’t want to put it back in the vacuum before it is dry! So the second filter allows you to vacuum while the other filter dries. You cannot run the vacuum without this filter installed.

WEIGHT & MOVEMENT
The S15 Pet weighs 6.8 lbs. This is a little on the heavy side for a cordless stick vac but we have noticed that with the push for longer run times and more power, manufacturers are using larger batteries and the weights of cordless machines is actually going up.

Stick Vacuum	Weight (lbs)
Dyson Omni-glide	4.2
Tineco A10 Hero	5.0
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
Tineco Pure One S15	6.8
Dyson V15	6.8
Shark Rocket Pro	7.3
Shark IONFlex / ION F80	8.7
Shark Vertex Cordless	9.0

Movement on carpet and movement on hard flooring is quite good. The unit steers easily and goes where you want it to go. We actually think it steers better on carpet than the other Tineco units we have tested (A10 Hero, S11, S12). If there is anything to criticize it might be that the vacuum feels a little top heavy but it’s not too bad.

NOISE LEVEL TEST
We performed a noise level test with a digital noise level meter. The meter was placed 3 feet in front of the cleaner head on low pile carpet. The vacuum was turned on (in Auto power mode) and the peak decibel reading over a 10 second period was captured. We’ve performed this test for a host of vacuums over the years and a sample of cordless machines – for comparison purposes – can be seen in the table below.

Stick Vacuum	Low Power (dB)	Max Power (dB)
Tineco Pure One S12	61.1	66.7
Tineco Pure One S15	61.7 (Auto power)	67.6
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

As the figures show, the Tineco Pure One S15 Pet is a fairly quiet vacuum. Of course, noise level in Auto power mode varies with the suction level and what we have recorded here is the low suction level of Auto power mode (no dust/debris entering the vacuum during the noise level test).

CLEANING TESTS

Low pile carpet test
We created fine/small/medium size debris from ground cheerios, chili flakes, flax seeds, and split green peas. This was placed in a 5ft line on low pile carpet and the vacuum was passed over it (10-15 second pass). The vacuum was in Auto power mode (you can hear the suction level pickup when we start going over the debris).

Percent pickup was 99.8%. There was a small amount of some fine/small debris left behind but overall this was a very good result.

When we moved to larger debris (full size fruit loops) we found that pickup on our first run wasn’t very good. Upon inspection it appeared that the larger fruit loops were getting stuck in different areas of the handheld unit and the dust canister.  In the handheld unit they got lodged in the gate that keeps the debris in the canister.  Therefore when we finished vacuuming the debris fell out of the canister (through the gate that was blocked open) and back down onto the floor.  We also found fruit loops lodged in and around the ring inside the dust canister (the ring that move up and down via the dust empty tab). We performed a second large debrist test and in this case the fruit loops did not get stuck anywhere.  Repeated testing showed that the fruit loops getting lodged in different areas of the vacuum occured frequently enough for it to be a problem. 

A second large debris test (with no fruit loop clogging) on carpet is shown below:

Hard floor test
We performed a fine/small/medium size debris test on a tile floor.

The level of pickup was very good. Percentage pickup by weight was 99.7%. We’ve seen a few cordless machines with this high level of pickup but we've also seen some down at 95-97%

We also performed a test on large debris (no clogging this time). The front of the cleaner head is quite low and while this doesn’t seem to affect small-to-medium size debris much, it did have a tendency to push some of the larger debris around in front of the cleaner head. This occurred in both Auto and Max power modes.

Hair test
In this test we placed long black human hair and short white pet hair on low pile carpet. We ran the vacuum over it looking at the level of hair pickup, the possibility of the brushroll slowing, and any brushroll tangling.

Pickup was good and there was no discernible slowing of the brushroll. The brushroll had a few strands of hair on it but very little. We did notice that the teeth in the cleaner head had some hair in them that needed to be cleaned out (easy to do by hand). So the system wasn’t perfect but it definitely limited hair tangle issues.

Edge cleaning test
We placed chili flakes against a wall and ran the vacuum up tight against the wall to see if it could pick up all the flakes. We’ve run this test on a host of vacuums and some will pick everything up (usually the larger, full size, corded machines) while others might leave a swath of chili flakes an inch wide along the wall. The S15 results were somewhere in-between and we’d call the edge cleaning performance average.

Even if the edge cleaning is average you can always put a crevice tool on the end of the wand to clean along edges. It’s extra work but it does the job.

SMART PHONE APP
The WiFi frequency band for the App is 2.4G. The app shows the same things you can see on the handheld LED display. In addition, you can see your cleaning history, filter usage, the number of dust particles collected, and you can even create cleaning reminders. The vacuum works fine without the app but some people may find the features and additional information interesting and maybe even useful.

WARRANTY
The Tineco Pure One S15 carries a 2-year parts and labor warranty.

MANUAL
The manual is provided in English, Spanish and French. It is fairly short but covers the basics. There is also some information on maintenance and the warranty. You can see the manual here: Tineco Pure One S15 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.