Nobody tells you how much of your adult life will be spent chasing dust bunnies. Keeping up with shedding pets and my own long hair seems to be a never-ending task, and with both an asthmatic human and cat (cat asthma, who knew?) in the household, staying on top of dust and debris is especially important.
For a proper clean, I have an old Dirt Devil that’s still going strong after years of use, but it’s so bulky that even getting it out of the closet can be enough to make me put off vacuuming for another day, and stooping over the short handle always leaves me with a sore back. I’ve been relying on a budget-friendly robot vacuum for maintenance between deeper cleans, but it’s never quite the set-and-forget solution I want it to be. I end up chasing it around to tackle spots it’s missed, rescuing it when it gets stuck, and trying to catch and secure all the stray cords and shoelaces before it does. And whichever vacuum I use, there’s always the inevitable moment when I have to break out the scissors to cut a tangle of long red hair and pet fur out of the brush roll.
Buying a vacuum cleaner isn’t exactly the sexiest splurge purchase, but there is something weirdly exciting about making an investment in a grown-up household appliance that might just make a tedious household chore easier. The Tineco PURE ONE Station 5 offers the convenience of a cordless stick vacuum with a docking station that empties and cleans the machine after each use. For a household dealing with a steady supply of hair, pet fur, and dust, the prospect of grabbing a lightweight vacuum for a quick clean and easily putting it away sounded pretty appealing.
My Review of the Tineco PURE ONE Station 5 Cordless Smart Vacuum
The Tineco PURE ONE Station 5 Cordless Smart Vacuum was easy to put together and even easier to work into my daily routine. The first charge took about five hours, so plan ahead, but I haven’t run the battery down to zero in a single session yet. It’s light enough that I just grab it for a quick pass after messy kitchen prep or scooping the litter box, then dock it and walk away. Compared to hauling a larger vacuum around or even the top-heavier cordless vacuum models out there, I’d say it’s a better fit for seniors or people with mobility issues since it’s very light and agile.
The headlight was a bit of a shock at first. That green light picks up every speck of dust, stray hair and escaped bit of cat litter, but it really does help you do a more thorough job. The station itself is kinda cool; it automatically empties and cleans the vacuum for you once you dock it so you don’t have to dump the canister into the garbage and send a cloud of dust into the air every time you use it. The filters are washable and reusable, there are no bags to buy, and I haven’t had to empty the large-capacity container yet.
The vacuum has three settings and is supposed to adjust its power automatically depending on the type of surface you’re using it on, but I find the eco mode a little too gentle and tend to re-adjust to the higher-suction settings. The control buttons also sit right on top of the handle, so every so often I’d bump it and shut the vacuum off or change the mode mid-clean, and there’s no battery countdown to tell you how much runtime is left. Still, those are small quibbles next to how seamlessly the vacuum fits into my daily routine. It makes keeping up with fur and dust feel manageable, and it holds its own against, or even undercuts, some of the other leading big-name models.
The Pros
- Simple to assemble and use: The three-part setup was straightforward, and the machine was easy to get going out of the box.
- Lightweight, easy to manoeuvre, and fairly quiet: It’s easy to grab, carry around, and steer from room to room so vacuuming feels like less of a production.
- Makes everyday cleaning easier to fit into the day: The cordless design and docking station make it practical for quick cleanups after cooking, scooping the litter box, or catching furballs on the floor.
The Cons
- No battery countdown: There’s no display showing exactly how much runtime is left, which makes it harder to judge when a charge is needed.
- The controls are easy to hit accidentally: The placement of the control button on top of the handle meant I occasionally switched the vacuum off or changed its setting while I was cleaning.
- The crevice tool takes a little wrestling: Adjusting its brush attachment wasn’t always as smooth as I would have liked, although it was a fairly minor inconvenience overall.