When I bought a 100-year-old house in 2020, I didn't realize how much vacuuming, dusting, and mopping it would take to keep the 1,600-square-foot home clean. I'd long thrown the broom away in favor of a high-suctioning vacuum, but I was still working with a Swiffer-style mop each week, and it wasn't cutting it. I hated how mops seemed to move dirt and grime from one part of the home to another, no matter how much they claimed to "trap dirt" in the fibers.
I was finally introduced to a Tineco a year into living in my historic home with the Tineco Floor One S5, and I was hooked immediately. Not only could it vacuum and mop simultaneously, but it was also designed to clean the brush roll continuously, suction up dirty mop water into a tank, and inform me when a particular part of my floor was clean or dirty. When I had the chance to try the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro, I jumped at the opportunity. I knew the quality of a Tineco, and the S7 Pro didn't disappoint.
The Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is easier to use, with longer battery time, and better edge cleaning than previous versions. It also came with four modes for a deeper clean. Read on for an in-depth review and discover why the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro rose to the top of my list of the best wet-dry vacuums.
The Tineco Floor One S7 Pro reigns supreme with its excellent performance, auto dirt detection system, high-tech LCD screen with an assistant, and brushroll drying capabilities.
- Four cleaning modes
- iLoop Smart Sensor informs users when the floor is clean
- Self-cleaning system also air dries brush roll
- LCD screen with a Tineco Assistant that offers guidance
- Very expensive
- Can’t be used on rugs
Setup and design
The Tineco Floor One S7 Pro arrived well-packaged in a medium-sized cardboard box. It comes nearly assembled, and I only needed to insert the handle into the main body and add some accessory holders to the side of the charging base.
I immediately noticed how the design of the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro differed from the Tineco Floor One S5 version I previously tested. For one, the wheels of the S7 Pro were larger and covered in thick rubber and deep grooves. They glided more softly on my hardwood floor, especially over my considerably tall thresholds. The body of the wet-dry vacuum, which was made with thick plastic, now mimicked wood panel grains, adding to the sleeker style.
The vacuum head of the S5 was designed so that only a close-edge cleaning could occur on the right side of the vacuum head, as there is an inch-thick plastic piece on the left side of the brush roll. With the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro, the floorhead enables close-edge cleaning on either side, within one centimeter of the wall.
Our review of the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro
I tested the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro vacuum over two months in my 1,600-square-foot home. With laminate and historic hardwood floors that get particularly dusty, there were many opportunities to test the S7 Pro's cleaning capabilities. Because of the wet-dry vacuum's design, my floors are far cleaner than they were before I started using this machine at least once a week.
Overall Ease of Use
Overall, this is a relatively easy wet-dry vacuum to use and has a lot to do with the 3.6-inch LCD screen, unlike anything I've seen on any other wet-dry vacuum. Upon turning on the wet-dry vacuum for the first time, an interactive tutorial guide with a Tineco Assistant that looks like a colorful 3D cartoon played on the LCD screen guiding me through the set-up process.
The LCD screen provides visual cues as you clean and undergo the self-cleaning maintenance. Everything from the mode that is currently in use to the battery life and the clean water tank levels are displayed on the screen. The assistant occasionally provides verbal instructions such as "refill the clean water tank" or "place the wet-dry vacuum on the charger" when the battery is low.
Although a headlight turns on when the wet-dry vacuum powers up, allowing you to see dust and debris on the ground, the iLoop Smart Sensor encircles the LCD screen that indicates to you if your floors are dirty or clean. This "loop" turns red when the smart system recognizes the floor has dirt, debris, or a stain. That loop slowly changes to the color blue as you vacuum and mop over the dirty area. When the loop is completely blue, the floor is clean.
On the ergonomic handle, you'll find the self-cleaning button on top and a power button in the front. Above the power button is a four-direction button used to move through the different cleaning modes on the LCD screen and the settings button.
At 11.31 lbs., this wet-dry vacuum isn't the lightest I've tested, but thanks to a self-propulsion system, it glides forward and backward easily. My arm never once tired. The self-propulsion system, combined with the wet-dry vacuum head's swivel ability, allows it to reach difficult places and around objects without moving them. The vacuum head is not too tall or wide so that it can fit under cabinets and in tight spaces.
I appreciate that the vacuum pauses when standing upright and that the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro can lean back about 30 degrees so that I can reach further under beds, dressers, and the like.
Cleaning Performance
This wet-dry vacuum has four different modes – auto, max, ultra, and suction. Max is essentially a deeper clean than auto mode, while ultra is best used when you want to better utilize the Tineco cleaning solution to sanitize your floors. The suction mode suctions up excess liquid and spills. In terms of noise, the wet-dry vacuum emits a sound rating of 70 decibels in auto mode, 73 in max mode, 71 in ultra mode, and 75 in suction mode.
Most users will get by with Auto-mode, which does a phenomenal job cleaning floors. The wet-dry vacuum cleaned fine materials like flour and coffee, large debris like Cheerios, and even liquids like syrup, juice, and barbecue sauce in a single pass. When it came to dried foods, liquids, or mud, it took anywhere from two to four passes of the S7 Pro, depending on how caked it was to the floor. It's best to increase the mode to max or ultra on stickier stains, even though auto mode does a decent job.
When vacuuming, the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro increases suction when the smart system recognizes a dirty floor. I was equally happy with how the S7 Pro doesn't leave a lot of standing water. This is always a concern as I have 103-year-old wooden floors, and too much water can damage such flooring.
When I'm moving the wet-dry vacuum across my floors, the machine continually flushes clean water through the brush roll so that it remains fairly clean and I'm not pushing dirt and grime from one spot to the next. There is also a scraper that essentially "wrings" the dirty water from the brush roll, which is immediately suctioned into the dirty water tank. You can't get this kind of cleaning assurance with a mop or even a robot vacuum with mopping and vacuuming capabilities.
The Tineco Floor One S7 Pro picks up debris and dirt as well forward as it does backward, which is not the case for all wet-dry vacuums. The brush roll can reach within one centimeter of the wall on either side of the vacuum head. In fact, it's better to use the edge rather than the front of the vacuum head to clean along a wall, as the front of the vacuum head can only reach within about 3/4ths of an inch. (For reference, I've only seen one or two wet-dry vacuums with better cleaning along the front of the vacuum head.)
Battery life
According to Tineco, this cordless wet-dry vacuum has a battery life of up to 40 minutes. During my testing, the battery had 10 percent of charge remaining after 43 minutes of use. I probably could have cleaned the floors for another five minutes (at most) before it died completely.
A battery that can last over 40 minutes is way more than I need to clean my 1,600-square-foot house. The battery doesn't even get to 50 percent by the time I'm done cleaning on auto mode. When I used the wet-dry vacuum on Ultra and Max mode, the battery was at 47 percent when I was done. Most people will likely be able to clean their entire home without needing to pause to charge the wet-dry vacuum.
Maintenance and cleaning
The maintenance and self-cleaning process for the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is a bit of a hassle, but not more so than any other wet-dry vacuum with a similar design on the market. When I'm finished vacuuming and mopping the house with the S7 Pro, I place it on the charger and hit the self-cleaning button on the top of the handle. Two options appear on the LCD screen: Quick self-cleaning, which requires 2 minutes, and a Super self-cleaning option, which requires 6 minutes.
The Super self-cleaning mode does a better job of flushing out dust, debris, and hair from the brush roll and the vacuum head. It's not perfect by any means, but it results in less cleanup on my part. The self-cleaning process has a sound rating between 65-77 decibels.
The LCD screen depicts the self-cleaning process as it happens, starting with the Tineco soaking the brush roller and then cleaning it before flushing water through the main pipe. From there, the brush roller undergoes a deep cleaning before it is air-dried. The air-drying process lasts for one minute during the Quick self-cleaning and about 4.5 minutes during the Super self-cleaning process. As the brush roll rotates, air is pulled through the vacuum head. However, it's not enough time to fully dry the brush roll.
Once the self-cleaning process is completed, I remove the dirty water tank and dispose of the dirty water, but not before I try to remove hair and debris with the brush provided. The cleaning brush is now a malleable wire brush with a lot of small soft bristles that can better grab onto hair and debris in the dirty water tank. I used to pour the dirty water tank into my sink and turn on the disposal afterward. Still, I don't think this is the best course because some hair and debris will inevitably make their way to my disposal, and I'm nervous that it will affect it over time. Now, I empty the dirty water tank outside, but the toilet is an option too.
Once emptied, I thoroughly clean the dirty water tank, which can cause an awful smell if not cleaned well and allowed to dry. To clean the dirty water tank, I must also rinse the air filter at the same time.
The final step is to remove the vacuum head and clean bits of dust and debris stuck on the cover with a paper towel. I'll then remove the brush roll so it can air dry and clean off any dust and debris that wasn't flushed out through the self-cleaning process. After that, I'll replace the brush roll with the additional dry brush roll provided.
The maintenance and clean-up may seem like a lot of work, but once you've done it a few times, the process goes quickly. It's imperative that you clean out all the nooks and crannies of the machine so you don't continue to clean with dirt and dust trapped in the vacuum head. Unfortunately, I have not found a wet-dry vacuum with a similar design that offers a completely hands-off self-cleaning system. That said, I'm willing to put in the small amount of work necessary to ensure my floors are incredibly clean.
Filtration
Tineco Floor One S7 Pro is outfitted with what Tineco calls a "dry filter." It traps foam and small bits of debris, like hair or leaves. The filter should be removed during the maintenance and cleaning steps of the dirty water tank and cleaned thoroughly with water. I then let it air dry for at least a day. Since Tineco provides two air filters, I switch to a dry one after each cleaning.
There is no other type of filtration system for the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro, which is unfortunate. I would have liked the dirty water tank to have a pet hair or debris filter so that I could more easily remove debris from the dirty water before disposing of it. In the future, I'd like to see Tineco design a wet-dry vacuum with a small trash bin so that there was even less debris in the dirty water tank.
Cons to consider
If you live in a house with all hard floors, it's likely that you'll have an area rug or two, like I do. Yes, I keep it thoroughly vacuumed, but it would be nice to have one product that could clean the hard floors and the rugs during the same cleaning session. I'm surprised that the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro does not have the capability to also clean rugs, especially when you consider that there are more affordable wet-dry vacuums on the market, like the Ecowell Lulu Quick Clean P05, that have this capability.
Beyond the very expensive price, the only other con to be mindful of is the maintenance required of the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro. No matter the wet-dry vacuum (robots aside), you're going to have to conduct the icky chore of emptying a dirty water tank and removing some dust and such around the brush roll in the vacuum head. With such a big price tag, it is unfortunate that the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro doesn't have a heated drying system for the brush roll.
What are your alternatives?
You can enjoy a similar wet-dry vacuum for about half the price when you buy the Tineco Floor One S5. It may not have an LCD screen or edge cleaning that's as good as the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro, but it's outfitted with the iLoop Smart Sensor and has a max battery runtime that is up to 35 minutes (the S7 Pro's battery lasts over 40 minutes). It cleans great, too. Perhaps not as well as the S7 Pro, but close enough.
Tineco also offers the Floor One S7 Steam, which our team has yet to try, but uses 284℉ Steam to sanitize and deep clean floors. It features many of the same features of the Pro, but only 20 minutes of battery life when used in steam mode.
The Ecowell Lulu Quick Clean P05 offers a more versatile wet-dry vacuum experience in that it can also vacuum and wash rugs. It's more affordable than the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro but lacks the kind of system that notifies you when the floor is dirty and clean, like the Tineco iLoop Smart Sensor. The battery runtime is about 30 minutes, and the screen is less high-tech, but the quality of cleaning is sufficient. Plus, the Ecowell has a heated brush roll drying system that is leaps and bounds above the Tineco.
Those on a tight budget could check out the Shark Vac Mop, though it isn't like other wet-dry vacuums. You essentially vacuum first and then add a disposable pad on the bottom of the head to mop your floors. It's one tool for two jobs, yet it doesn't save much cleaning time. At least it's less than $100.
The bottom line
If you're going to splurge on a single thing this year, let it be the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro. This wet-dry vacuum has a long-lasting battery, phenomenal edge cleaning, and offers one of the deepest vacuuming and mopping experiences on the market. If you're dying for a wet-dry vacuum that can be used on rugs, too, you're going to have to look elsewhere. That said, I doubt you'll find any other wet-dry vacuum with the kind of smart technology and deep cleaning capabilities of hard floors as the Tineco Floor One S7 Pro wet-dry vacuum.
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