Tineco PureOne S12 Plus Review (UK)

While we put the cordless vacuums through the wringer, we mercilessly reveal all their strengths and weaknesses. Of course, we didn’t make an exception for the smart Tineco PureOne S12 Plus.

We scattered lentils, sand, and oat flakes one after the other on different kinds of carpets and laminate and then vacuumed them with the standard brush in turbo mode.

With premium devices, it goes without saying that our expectations are high, especially since the manufacturer claims 150 air watts of suction power.

That would make the S12 heads-up with the Dyson V10 Absolute review. (popular cordless vacuum in the UK)

Spoiler alert: The S12 from Tineco really did impress us with its outstanding cleaning performance.

Cleaning on High Carpet

Here you can take a quick look at our vacuum review on high carpets:

A challenge that all (cordless) vacuums fear: the dirt that hides deep down in high carpets.

But to our surprise, the Tineco S12 didn’t have any problems with it. It purred like a kitten and didn’t leave any dirt behind.

Cleaning on Low Carpets

Here you can take a quick look at our vacuum review on low carpets:

Even on a short carpet, the cleaning performance was exceptional.

The suction power of the turbo mode was too strong so we had to hold down the carpet.

In the end, we went for the automatic mode. The cleaning performance was still perfect.

Cleaning on Hard Floors

Here you can take a quick look at our vacuum review on hard floors:

Our laminate needed some cleaning, too.

We used the standard automatic brush here as well.

The Tineco PureOne S12 Plus didn’t have any problems with the sand and lentils and removed them quite fast.

It had a bit of a hard time with the oat flakes though. At first, it only pushed around the oat flakes in front of the brush and it sucked up only 85% of them. We had vacuum it two more times to get rid of all the oat flakes.

We can sing a song of this phenomenon from our past reviews: On hard floors, the dirt has nowhere else to go, but that’s not the case on carpets. Here the dirt can be pushed deep down into the fiber. This means that all the dirt has to go through the narrow slot of the brush.

If the dirt (in our case it’s oat flakes) is piled up too high, the battery vacuum cleaner can’t suck up everything at once.

But don't worry: the Tineco S12’s got another secret weapon. We put it through the same review again, this time with the soft roller. This attachment is also included in the scope of delivery and it works especially well for cleaning hard floors.

And lo and behold: a perfect cleaning result - again!

Cleaning in Everyday Life

In everyday cleaning, the cordless vacuum does a great job. Even though we have children and pets, we can easily keep our chalet clean with the S12 Pure One.

The exchangeable battery and the long runtime come in very handy here. It never happens that we can't vacuum due to an empty battery.

Conclusion on Cleaning Performance of S12

Great performance!

We had high expectations and the S12 stood up to its promises. The powerful suction (22,000 Pascal according to the manufacturer) combined with the sophisticated cleaning features led to top cleaning results and very deep cleaning.

You can buy two different models of the Tineco S12 in the UK:

• The Pure One S12

• and the Pure One S12 Plus

However, the main differences between the two cordless vacuums are the accessories included and the price.

Many manufacturers use this strategy to diversify the price and increase the product range.

Watch out: It’s often the case that a product is much more expensive, but you won’t see a big difference for your money.

We chose the luxury version that comes with more accessories for our review.

And we really got a lot of accessories!

We were amazed when we unpacked the appliance. So far, we rarely ever received so many attachments.

But is all that stuff really necessary?

We have taken a closer look at the individual parts and we’ll give you a quick overview of them now.

We’ll give you one hint in advance: we have a few surprises in stock for you.

The Accessories of the Tineco Pure One S12 Plus in detail

The Power Unit

It’s really the heart of the new S12: a great design, chic, and it comes with a lot of new extras.

Automatic brush with direct drive and LED lighting

The standard brush of the S12 has its own motor and rotates at the push of a button. It instantly starts to rotate, which is by far not standard.

With many other devices, there is a delay between switching it on and the brush starting to rotate.

The rotating brush with the lamellae-like bristles transports the dirt towards the suction tube at high speed.

Your advantage: The LED lights on the front of the brush make it easier to see the dirt. No matter if it's dark or bright.

The Turbo Brush

has a soft roller and LED lighting, too.

The brush with the soft roller comes in very handy for cleaning hard floors, so it’s up to you whether you want to use it.

It does take up some time to change the attachment. But in this case, it’s worth it, because you’ll get a better cleaning result with this brush.

The Mini Turbo Brush

is the perfect tool for cleaning upholstered furniture or small surfaces. Especially pet lovers will get their money's worth here because this attachment does a great job at removing dog and cat hair from the couch.

The automatic filter cleaning tool and a spare pre-filter

We initially didn't really know what to do with it when it came out of the packaging. But once we realized what it’s for...

... we came to the conclusion that it’s the highlight of all accessories and a real game-changer.

You can easily attach it to the power unit. Then remove the filter from the power unit and put it in there.

Once you activate the vacuum, the filter starts to rotate and will be cleaned in the meantime.

Brilliant idea!

Your advantage: a replacement filter is included in the scope of delivery as well

2-in-1 Dust Brush

One invented it, all imitated it. That's the way it goes these days whenever someone comes up with a good idea. It’s a great thing for us customers because we get a multitool with the S12 that works great for delicate objects and at the same time, it’s also good for rougher work.

Simply press the button and pull back the lever and the bristles disappear...

The Crevice Nozzle

is a tried and reviewed cleaning attachment. With this tool, you can get into every hard-to-reach crannies of your couch.

The Flexible Long Crevice Nozzle

is ingenious for vacuuming out narrow, deep crevices. It’s super useful for cleaning the underfloor heating or the car.

The Hair Cleaning Tool

has been a standard feature of the best robot vacuums (internal link: best robot vaccuums) for a long time, but it also comes in very handy for maintaining cordless vacuums.

Hair wraps itself around the brush from time to time, which leads to a decrease in cleaning performance. Right about then, you’ll be very happy to have this tool at hand to remove these buggers.

The Flexible Hose

More and more manufacturers include this in their scope of delivery. But we still don’t really know what it’s good for.

From our point of view, it’s rather unnecessary...

The Spare Battery

The replacement battery is not even necessary to level up the battery life, because it’s sufficient as it is.

How long you want to vacuum at a time depends on the size of your flat or house.

In terms of environmental protection and follow-up costs, however, we think it's great that the battery can be replaced so easily. This means that you can still use the device even if the battery is defective.

The Wall Mount with Charging Station

Here you can see again that the Tineco engineers were really clever and paid close attention to detail.

As we’re used from models of other manufacturers in the UK, this makes it possible to store the vacuum on the wall in a practical and space-saving way.

You can also attach some of the accessories to it so they are well organized and quickly at hand.

Your advantage: You can use the station to charge the cordless vacuum cleaner and the spare battery at the same time.

You can store the battery in a practical compartment on the side.

Not everybody wants to hang their cordless vacuum on the wall.

Foldable Angle Tube

Being able to vacuum on the cupboard without having to get on a chair - that’s the theory...

...in practice, however, it’s quite difficult to vacuum on the cabinet without seeing anything.

The Suction Pipe

comes in white and grey colors, which give it an elegant touch.

Its appearance is sturdy and of premium quality.

Some manufacturers suggest that cleaning performance depends solely on suction power.

Dyson has even invented a new measurement for this: The Airwatt.

The manufacturer states that the S12 reaches up to 150 air watts, which is a very good value.

But there’s a lot more to a very good cleaning performance.

Caution: Time and again, customers are being lured into a trap by “great suction power” and “high Pascal measurements”.

The suction power of the S12 is very good, but Tineco UK has come up with a few extras to lift the cleaning performance to an even higher level.

The ILoop Dust Sensor

The auto mode, or as Tineco calls it: the ILoop dust sensor, comes in very handy. Only one other manufacturer in the UK included something like this in their model so far: We noticed a similar technology in our Dyson V11 review.

The sensor detects the amount of dirt or the surface of the floor and automatically adjusts the suction power accordingly.

Your advantages: In total there are two advantages:

Firstly, the battery lasts longer because the device is not permanently vacuuming at full power.

Secondly, you don't have to regulate much by yourself. That saves both time and nerves.

The electronic brushes with LED lighting

The standard brush also helps to improve the cleaning result. It picks up the dirt and flings it into the suction tube.

The brush is well made and works perfectly.

We particularly liked the LED lighting. With this, you can see every speck of dust, especially on laminate.

On hard ground, the soft roller was extremely useful. It’s perfect for picking up coarse dirt from the hard floor.

The Tineco Pure One S12 cordless hand vacuum

One of the most important features of cordless vacuums is the 2-in-1 function.

Your advantage: You can convert your vacuum into an S12 cordless hand vacuum.

You can do this super quickly in just a few steps with the Tineco.

This makes the vacuum even more versatile so you have more cleaning possibilities. You can easily vacuum your furniture and objects in no time.

The maintenance of the Tineco is very user-friendly and simple.

It includes the following tasks that have to be done on a more or less regular basis:

• Emptying and cleaning the dirt container

• Changing the battery

• Cleaning the brush

• Cleaning and changing the filter

How to empty the dirt container of the S12

The emptying of the dirt container is the standard procedure, just like it’s done for almost all cordless vacuums. The dirt container is installed vertically in the power unit.

You just have to hold the power unit above the trash and press the front button. The lid pops open and the dirt falls out.

That already works very well. Sometimes, however, some dirt gets stuck between the wall and the filter. Then we had to use our finger.

Attention allergy sufferers: To make sure that no dust comes back into the house, we’d advise you to empty the container outside above the trash.

You can also remove only the dirt container, that way you don't have to carry the entire device to the trash.

Your advantage: The capacity of the S12 dirt container is 600 ml. This is above average and ensures that you don't have to empty it that often.

How to clean the dirt container of the Tineco S12

Cleaning the container didn’t give us any trouble either.

You can take it off and then remove the filter with a twist.

You can wash it under running water.

Attention: Do not use it again until it’s really dry. Better safe than sorry...

How to change the battery of the S12

Your advantage: The spare battery is very useful because you can easily double up your run time.

There is a drawer at the back of the power unit. You can simply pull out the battery and insert the other one.

It’s a huge advantage that you change the battery so easily. That really sets the Tineco S12 apart from most of its competitors.

Good to know: The battery also comes with a two-year warranty.

How to clean the brush

Our insider tip: Clean the electric brush regularly from hair and dirt. This helps to keep up the performance of your device and you save precious time and effort.

You can use the tool that’s provided or a sharp kitchen knife.

For stubborn dirt, the brush can also be removed in a few easy steps. Then it’s even easier to clean it.

Tip: Stubborn hairs occasionally get caught on the edge of the roller.

The cleaning and changing of the filter

The S12 has two different filters:

• The prefilter

• and the HEPA filter (high frequency particulate air filter)

You should clean both on a regular basis. At the lareview when the notification appears on the display or the app tells you to do so.

The S12 can only live up to its full potential if it has a clean filter.

Simply tap out the HEPA filter from time to time. To do this, you just have to pull it out of the filter compartment at the back.

You can clean the pre-filter with the filter cleaning tool that we’ve mentioned before.

To do this, you only have to pull the filter out of the compartment in the dirt container, and then you’re good to go to vacuum it.

Attention: It’s pretty obvious that you have to insert the replacement filter beforehand.

When the filters run out, which is going to take quite some time, you can buy new ones without any problems.

Customer Service: To contact Tineco UK directly, please write an email to: support.uk@tineco.com.

Tineco calls it "intelligent noise optimisation"....

...and we’ve got to give them the credits: it works.

At 69 dB in turbo mode, the S12 is very quiet compared to the competition.

There are worlds between the volume of the S12 and that of some other vacuum cleaners.

At the lowest level, we measured just 59 dB.