Tineco Pure One S12 Platinum smart stick vacuum cleaner (cleaning review)

The Tineco Pure One S12 Platinum is a premium, smart, cordless, stick vacuum cleaner. It comes with an extensive array of tools, accessories, and two batteries and is available exclusively from Godfreys.

The brand/model is positioned up there with Dyson, LG A9, Samsung Jet, and others, costing around $1000 (more or less). Overall, that is a fair positioning for this product.

It does not have a self-empty charge base, but frankly, that is in the category of nice but unnecessary. In fact, a vacuum needs a little most care and attention for best performance than just dumping its load.

Note: This is for the Tineco Pure One S12 Platinum. Do not confuse it with reviews for Pure One S15 Pro, Pure One S12 Pro EX, Pure One S12 Plus, Pure One S12, Pet Smart or Essentials, Pure One S11, Pure One X or Pure One Air Pro – many of which are not for Australia.

Australian Review: Tineco Pure One S12 Platinum Model 165-1873-2301

Website	Tineco AU Site and Godfreys Site and Manual
Price	$1099
From	Exclusive to Godfreys
Warranty	24-months ACL
Made in	China
Company	Tineco (Est. 1998) is part of Ecovacs (Deebot). In 2019 launched in the US, then Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
More	CyberShack Cleaning news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

Apologies to Tineco; well, all brands

In the absence of a ‘Guide to stick vacs’ (which we are now writing), we need to use a reference device for comparison. Our reference stick vac for 2023 is the Dyson Gen5 Detect – the evolution continues (vacuum review). We need a reference device to alert readers to differences they should look for and to assist in ratings. We have also reviewed Ultenic, LG, and Samsung stick vacs and draw on those experiences.

We keep references to other brands on an ‘Apples for Apples’ basis and in the same category, e.g., Tineco Pure One S12 Platinum competes in the premium class. However, in our opinion, and verified by tests, the Tineco tech and spec levels are more at the 2018/19 Dyson V10/V11 level than the 2020 V12 Slim Detect, 2021 V15, or 2022 Gen5 Detect class.

First Impression – Pass+

It comes with a boatload of powered heads, tools, a wall charger bracket and two batteries. Users comment that this is a major reason for buying. That, and Godfrey’s glowing endorsement as a device exclusively theirs (you can’t buy it elsewhere or negotiate on price).

Design-wise, it is a stick vac with a 90° angled dust canister (similar to LG CordZero A9, and Dyson has a straight-through design) and a fixed vacuum tube (similar to Dyson, where LG has an extendable tube).

It is mainly made of white plastic that should last, but our tests are over a few weeks, not years. Some parts, like the dustbin hatch and speed trigger, look delicate.

The top LED readout contains all you need to know about the device, negating the need for an App. On top are an Auto button (press for 2 seconds to activate the iLOOP auto-suction) and a touch strip to vary suction from Eco to Max.

It uses an index finger trigger to activate and has a trigger lock. Great idea, but this is made of chrome-finish plastic, which could bend and be a weak point, so take care. And it will get in the way of left-handers.

The HEPA/steel tube filter clips into the top back and the battery into the bottom back of the device.

A nice feature is that the motor body separates from the dustbin, allowing easier cleaning. But a design flaw prevents using water to clean the dustbin. The iLOOP sensor (a photo-electric sensor detecting dust down to 15um) is in the suction barrel head and cannot get wet.

There is a wall-mount charger and accessory holder. Regrettably, the charger cannot be used for vacuum recharge unless screwed to the wall – renters be aware.

Setup – Easy – Pass+

Apart from unpacking all the bits (that you will probably never fit back into the box) and charging (about 3-4 hours sequentially per battery), it is just a matter of assembly and go. We strongly recommend you keep the box if you need to return it for warranty or service.

The Tineco App. Why? Not necessary

More so-called smart devices need an App and, in this case, 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi. You cannot use the App without agreeing to the Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and accepting the newsletter (which you can later turn off in the App).

The App refers to a barcode on the motor handle (that did not exist). However, you can manually connect the device using its Wi-Fi direct SSID and link it to your Wi-Fi.

But the App adds little to no value. It shows battery level, filter clean, cleaning report, dustbin clean, and suction adjustment – all you need is the colour LCD readout.

Consumer Advice: We suggest you first read the AU website’s privacy policy and terms of use. Note that these are different to the device policies in the App – an oversight that Godfreys needs to fix.

While we can say that the policy and terms are relatively benign, understand that:

They are governed by and construed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China without reference to conflicts of laws. Any disputes under these Terms of Use shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in Wuzhong District, Suzhou City, P.R China. 

The good news is that you don’t need the App (so don’t use it), which is really about ‘owning the customer’.

Inbox

Users state that they are impressed with the huge variety of heads and tools compared to Dyson, LG, Samsung etc. While this is not the reason to buy, it helps present a compelling case.

• Power LED, hard brush (for carpet)
• Power LED, soft roller (for hard floors)
• Soft dusting brush (wide head for furniture and benchtops)
• 2-in-1 dusting brush (narrow retractable brush for Venetian blinds)
• Crevice tool (narrow spaces)
• Flexible long crevice tool (as above but bends around corners)
• Power mini brush (best for handheld use)
• Automatic pre-filter cleaning tool (to clean the prefilter – see later)
• Dual-charging wall-mountable dock (must be mounted for use)
• Extra Li-ion battery
• Flexible extension hose (for handheld use and very handy for the car)
• Multi-angle adapter (for hard-to-reach spots)
• 675mm fixed Tube (not extendable like some)

In other brands, all the tool types are generally available in either bundles or as optional accessories. The flexible extension hose is a must!

LCD readout

• Battery level
• Dust monitoring loop (Blue to red)
• Power level – manual Eco to Max
• Air channel blockage
• Dust sensor blockage
• Wi-Fi (to connect to the smartphone App)

Smarts – Average IQ – Pass

Tineco calls this a smart vacuum; it has more intelligence than low-cost stick vac.

• The iLOOP sensor detects down to 15um and varies suction accordingly.
• Battery management ekes out the most battery time.
• Noise Optimization (minimum 71dB to about 77dB).

Power Levels – Pass+

• Auto is what you should try first. The iLOOP dust detector varies the power level from Eco to Max depending on the dust and surface. It works but can be a little slow to react.
• Variable – a touch-sensitive slide panel allows you to select the power from Eco to Max. Note that if you release the trigger, it defaults back to auto – a pain. It should default to last use.
• Max – says it all, is best on long carpets and cuts battery life.

The vacuum defaults to Auto when you first press the trigger. Annoying as it does not remember the last setting.

It is advertised as 150 Air Watts. For the techy that means P = (F x S)/.85 where

• P = Motor power in Air Watts 150
• F = Air Flow in Cubic feet per Minute (CFM) 60/50 at the head/attachment tool.
• S = Water Lift 2.13

By comparison, the Dyson V11 has 185 Air Watts, 66/54 CFM, and a 3.3 water lift, so it is more powerful.

Cleaning efficiency – Pass

We use a 100g test sample of salt, sugar, pet hair, Rice Bubbles and Nutri-grain.

• Hard floors, fluffy power head: 100% recovery, but needed several attempts at the larger Nutri-grain. Significant detritus fell out of the power head on power-down. The Velcro dust collectors did their job but needed frequent cleaning
• Sisal short pile carpet, brush power head: 93%, mainly leaving pet hair and fines.
• Long pile carpet, brush power head: About 60% first pass and 70% on subsequent passes.

By comparison, the Dyson Gen5 Detect (don’t have a V11 to compare) on long pile carpet recovered 100% of the sample in one pass.

The image below is from a 5x3m shag pile feature carpet. It was first vacuumed with the Tineco (L) and used 64% battery on Max (required after the Auto setting did not collect detritus). Immediately after we used the Dyson (R) used 15% of its battery on Auto. To be clear, the right pile is what the Tineco missed.

Power head efficiency – large detritus – Passable

The fluffy soft, hard floor head has good front height clearance and larger detritus like Nutri-grain is easily sucked in. The hard, ribbed head (carpets) has almost no front clearance and cannot vacuum the Nutri-grain without lifting the head off the ground (and reducing suction).

But we discovered larger particles tended to stay in the cavity behind the motorised brush or tube. On power down, these were dumped back on the floor. We have experienced this with the similarly designed LG power heads.

Dyson’s hard floor head is a little better as it has two larger front notches, and the soft head has good clearance. Its stronger suction power means detritus generally goes up the tube before powering down.

Runtime – Pass+ on Auto but Passable on Variable/Max

The two swappable batteries are 21.6V/2.5A/54W (6INR19/65/A12NA-02 Li-ion), claiming 50 minutes per battery in Auto mode with unpowered tools. If you use a powered tool, it reduces to approx. 35-40 minutes per battery.

Max mode reduces this to approx. 5/10 minutes non/powered.

Battery recharge is between three and four hours. But the Catch 22 is that you can only charge one battery at a time – the vacuum battery first, then the second battery. If you exhaust the vacuum battery and the second battery is not charged, you must wait 3-4 hours before you can use it. By comparison, LG allows simultaneous dual charge of the vacuum battery and spare.

Tests: On a mix of hard floors, sisal carpet and long pile feature rug using the appropriate powered head

• Auto use averaged 20 minutes per battery, with most energy used on the feature rug (which did not clean well).
• Auto using the non-powered crevice and dusting tools gave approx. 37 minutes per battery.
• Max 5-6 minutes per battery. Max is necessary on longer pile carpets.

Noise – Pass+

Typically noise varied between 71dB (Auto) and 78dB on MAX with a powered head.

Dustbin – a little small and messy to clean – Pass

The 600ml dustbin fills fast. It was unable to accommodate a reasonably clean 100m2 area requiring two empties. However, it is no worse than the LG A9, which has a Kompressor lever to compress detritus and give a longer clean time between empties. The Dyson V11 has a 760ml dustbin.

Like the LG, it has a bottom-opening trap door. Most hair and larger particles are in the upper section, so the filter must be removed to empty it. The 2-part filter design encourages dirty hands and errant dust everywhere on removal.

We will discuss filter cleaning under maintenance.

Edge clean – Pass

Edge cleaning, especially smaller dust particles, required several passes – in fact, we ended up using the crevice tool for most edges. The soft power head has a 210mm brush in a 260mm wide body, and the hard head has a 230mm brush in a 260mm wide body. This brush-to-body gap means it does not ‘suck’ to the edge.

The heads max out at 65mm high and fit well under cupboard overhangs and doors.

Hair – Pass

There were no issues with shorter dog hair, but longer human hair wound around the brush. The cleaning tool is to manually cut longer strands and remove them from around the brush. Other brands use anti-tangle technology to avoid this (Dyson V15 and Gen5 Detect).

Ergonomics and wrist weight

The unit is 112.5 x 26 x 23cm (h x w x d) x 1.7kg (LG 1.55kg and Dyson 2.07kg) but 2.9kg with a power head.

The tube length is 675mm (like Dyson, but LG has an extendable tube offering about 100mm more).

However, dual wheels on the power heads are harder to manoeuvre (swivel) than the Dyson or LG requiring more hand pressure and movement. It also only folds partially flat under furniture.

Use as handheld – Pass+

It is the second lightest after LG and has a flexible extension tube. It is fine for in-car, dusting, and general handheld cleaning. The long crevice tool also is great for getting behind furniture.

Arthritis sufferers should note that the entire weight is in front of and on top of the wrist (as in LG), where Dyson has some weight distributed over and behind the wrist.

Wall mount – Mandatory – Passable

If you don’t screw the wall mount to the wall (adjacent 240V power point required), you cannot charge the vacuum. Renters should be aware of this. Also, we found that the spare battery cannot charge while charging the vacuum battery as the total charger output is 26V/.7A/18.2W.

Maintenance – Pass if you keep it clean

Too many stick vac owners neglect maintenance and suffer power loss, overheating and suction issues. Like all others, you must thoroughly clean it between uses.

We used it over four weeks, and you need to keep cleaning the filters, or it quickly loses efficiency.

• Separate the motor from the dustbin – nice idea, but it is a shame the dustbin cannot be rinsed under water as the iLOOP sensor is there and cannot get wet. A spare is about $60.
• Washable mesh filter. Removing this can be very messy, leaving dust on the surroundings and hands. $24.95.
• HEPA Filter – wash and replace annually. $29.95.
• Motorised brushes are removable but not washable. It is essential to keep these clean and the throat area that attaches to the tube.
• Pre-filter cleaning tool – don’t wash. Uses 10% battery. Replace every six months. $19.95.

I am confused about the process. You remove the dirty pre-filter and replace it with a clean one. Then you run the cleaning head, which cleans the dirty one, and deposits the dust in the clean one, which then looks almost as dirty! It does not make sense. Owners have commented on this; many now prefer to pressure air clean (if you have an air pump).

Best use

It is suitable for carpet (good on a short pile and correspondingly less efficient on medium and long pile), Hard Floors, Stairs, Tiles, Upholstery and general cleaning.

Battery life may be an issue for larger homes.

Is it as good as a Dyson?

There are many people that won’t buy Dyson as they consider them too expensive. Price is what you pay, value is what you get.

You cannot compare it with the price nor tech in the V12 Slim Detect ($1399), Dyson V15 Detect vacuum – sees dust you can’t (2 models $1399/1499) or Gen5 Detect (2 models $1549/1599). These have laser light, soft heads and far higher tech. The V10 is almost gone, and V11 (the most comparable) is on special for $799/899 on run-out.

The  LG CordZero A9 with an all-in-one Tower (most similar in tech) starts at $699; similar accessory bundles see it up to $999. It also has an optional motorised mop head that may be useful.

Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot AI+ robovac VR50T95 series starts at $799, including a power mop.

And a left field is an uber-cheap sucker; the $350 Ultenic U11 Pro Stick vacuum – amazing power and budget buster that boasts a huge 380 Air watt motor. It is very good in the right home.

CyberShack’s view – Tineco Pure One S12 Platinum smart stick vacuum is a viable, premium, alternative

I was impressed with the number of included tools at the price. Tineco (Ecovacs) is a well-known brand, and overall it performed as expected.

Having reviewed all Dysons since V8, this is the same class as V10 or V11. Cleaning power is not as deep as the Dyson V12/V15/Gen5 Detect – again, an unfair comparison for the price.

While Godfrey’s has been around since 1931, you need to research backup, service, warranty and support as this brand is exclusive to them. We are not saying LG, Samsung or Dyson are any better, but you are dealing directly with the manufacturer.

Rating Explanation

• Features: 90 – it has a large range of heads, tools, and accessories. The iLOOP feature works reasonably well, but it is not really a super smart vacuum, even though it has an App (not necessary for use).
• Value: 85 – It has a fixed RRP from one retailer. We cannot compare it to the major brands with event-related sales, value bundles, etc. The price seems fair, not excellent value.
• Performance: 80 – It is comparable to older Dyson V10/V11 tech. While 150 Air Watts is sufficient, its cubic feet per minute air suction is less powerful than a 2018 LG A9 (200W) or the later Dysons.
• Ease of Use: 85 – It is light, but the two-wheel power head design is not as manoeuvrable as the Dyson/LG/Samsung. It also has almost all weight forward of the wrist, which can be an issue for arthritis sufferers.
• Design: 80 – It has a pretty standard stick design like the hundreds of generic stick vacuums on Alibaba. I was looking for something a little different, especially with Ecovacs heritage,

Pro

• Swappable batteries and accurate battery percentage indicator
• LCD screen tells you all you need – forget the App
• Lots of tools, including the invaluable flexible hose
• LED headlight

Con

• Auto does not really give enough suction on medium-to-longer pile carpets – more often used in Max manual mode.
• Swappable batteries cannot charge simultaneously, and you must wall-mount the charging dock.
• Edge cleaning requires several passes – care.
• Not as manoeuvrable.
• Battery life is nowhere near the advertised claim.
• Can drop detritus from the power head on power down.
• Difficult dustbin clean and small capacity.
• Privacy and Terms and Conditions are different in the App and website.
• Some parts are ‘delicate’.