When Tineco started releasing carpet cleaners, we were eager to get our hands on one and see how it would fare in our tests. We bought the most expensive one, the Tineco Carpet One Pro, and put it through all kinds of tests over the course of a week.
Below we’ll review the findings from our tests, the pros and cons, and all the similarities and differences between the Tineco iCarpet, Carpet ONE, and Carpet ONE PRO carpet cleaner models.
Tineco iCarpet, Carpet One, and Carpet One Pro
Tineco has no less than three carpet cleaners to choose from. From least to most expensive, the models are the Tineco iCarpet, Carpet One, and Carpet One Pro.
iCarpet vs Carpet One vs Carpet One Pro
Tineco’s carpet cleaners are well-built, easy to use, and great at cleaning stains and carpets. Our choice for the best Tineco carpet cleaners is the Tineco iCarpet. It has the same cleaning capability and specifications as more expensive models, which have features we aren’t sold on.
iCarpet
Carpet One
Carpet One Pro
Similarities
All three Tineco carpet cleaners have the same basic specs, including the same suction power, tank capacity, cord length, weight, hose length, and water recovery scores.
All three have heat wash technology that uses a PTC heater to maintain the water’s temperature at 104 degrees for better stain removal. They also all have a unique dry-only mode which blows 167 degree air on the carpet to dry it faster.
Differences
The three carpet cleaners differ mostly in where special features are concerned. For example, the iCarpet model does not have an LCD screen on the top. The Carpet One does have one, and the Carpet One Pro has a better LCD screen with “vivid 3D animation,” according to Tineco.
Additionally, the Carpet One and Carpet One Pro have an auto suction adjustment feature, meaning that they sense how dirty the carpet is and adjust the suction power and water accordingly. The cheapest model, the iCarpet, uses a trigger to dispense water manually, much like more traditional carpet cleaners do.
One last difference is that the Carpet One and the Carpet One Pro have an optional mobile app and can respond to voice prompts.
| iCarpet | Carpet One | Carpet One Pro | |
| Suction Power | 130 AW | 130 AW | 130 AW |
| Clean Water Tank | 2L | 2L | 2L |
| Dirty Water Tank | 1.5L | 1.5L | 1.5L |
| HeatWash | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dry Only Mode | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Water Dispensing | Manual | Automatic | Automatic |
| Water Recovery Rate | >= 80% | >= 80% | >= 80% |
| Cord Length | 21 ft. | 21 ft. | 21 ft. |
| Hose Length | 8 ft. | 8 ft. | 8 ft. |
| Display | No | LED | LCD |
| Portable Spot Cleaner | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Voice Assistant | No | Yes | Yes |
| Where to Buy | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
What we like
Cleaning Performance
Starting off with the pros, we were very impressed when we tested the Carpet One Pro on both wet stains and dried-on stains. We compared The Carpet One Pro’s cleaning ability to its most likely competitor: the Bissell 2x Revolution, and we couldn’t tell a significant difference. This is really saying something because the Bissell is really good, too.
We should say that the cleaning tests we did for this review are by far the most difficult tests Vacuum Wars has ever set up. We usually just paint the stains on, but this time we worked the stains to the very bottom of the carpet and then let it sit there for two weeks.
Despite the more difficult tests, the Tineco carpet cleaner did really well.
The hose attachment was also a pro. It connected easily to the base and had an excellent feel. The sprayer was really good, too.
Related: See our Bissell Revolution HydroSteam Pet review
Suction
We measured the Tineco Carpet One Pro’s sealed suction at the hose and it was significantly above average. In the stain test it did really well, even with those deeply embedded, weeks-old stains we mentioned earlier.
We always like having the option to scrub stains manually, especially for cleaning upholstery or stairs or on really tough stains.
Heated Drying
Probably the biggest pro with the Tineco carpet cleaners is their heated drying, which blows hot air on the carpet to promote faster drying times. As far as we can tell this feature is always on in every mode, which is a good thing. There is also a heat-only mode where you just run it back and forth to heat the spot that you just cleaned.
What we found in our comparative testing is that at every stage the area being cleaned was much drier than the carpet we cleaned with the Bissell. The Tineco constantly has that dry air blowing on the carpet where the Bissell doesn’t, and the difference was really noticeable.
We would say that this drying system is the real value proposition of the Tineco carpet cleaner models. Carpets will be drier faster, even if you don’t use the dry-only mode.
Display and dirt sensor
We did like the LCD screen on the Carpet One Pro, which has all the alerts and sensors you could want, including a sensor that tells you how dry the carpet currently is.
The Carpet One Pro has Tineco’s iLoop sensor where the red part of the circle tells you how dirty the carpet is and how much the suction is being increased. It is the same screen seen on the Floor One S3 as well as several Tineco cordless vacuums. We’re not sure how useful that feature is for the price, however (more on that in the cons section).
Ease of Use
The ease of use on all three Tineco carpet cleaners was another check in the ‘pro’ column. They can be used just like a vacuum, working on both the forward push and the backward pull. We also noticed that they’re also lighter than average, making them very easy to maneuver.
Their front covers were easily removable, which made them easy to clean. This is actually more of a rare feature than you might think! The final positive point to mention is that the dirty water tank was much easier to empty completely than other tanks we’ve used.
All you need to do is open the top and dump it all out. If you’ve used more than a few different carpet cleaners you probably know that that is not always the case
Automatic vs manual dispensing
Before moving on to things that could be improved, we wanted to talk about how the Carpet One and Carpet One Pro are automatic water dispensing carpet cleaners. Most carpet cleaners have triggers that dispense the water.
Automatic water dispensing units like these dispense water on the forward push and use suction on the backward pull. Tineco carpet cleaners have two water dispensing modes: Auto and Max. The Auto mode uses far less water to cover larger areas. This also leads to it having faster drying times. The Max mode uses a lot more water, but it is great for tougher stains.
Automatic water dispensing takes the guesswork out of carpet cleaning, and some people love it. We personally prefer to have control over the water flow with a trigger, like on the Tineco iCarpet.
What could be improved
Price
Moving on to the cons, the Tineco carpet cleaner prices are really high. In fact, the one that we bought, the Carpet One Pro, is the most expensive carpet cleaner that Vacuum Wars had ever tested, costing even more than the prosumer ones like the Bissell Big Green.
Even the cheapest Tinco carpet cleaner is still more expensive than the typical premium carpet cleaner, such as the Bissell 2x Revolution Pet Pro.
Water tank size
Another con was its half-gallon water tank size, which is half the size of the typical premium carpet cleaner. To be fair though, in the coverage test this didn’t appear to affect performance, and the Tineco covered areas similar to other premium carpet cleaners.
For example, we covered the same basic square footage in Max mode with the Tineco as we did with the Bissell 2x in its Max Water Mode. In its Auto Mode, where as we said the Tineco uses a lot less water, it could cover a much larger area than its competition in some cases.
So you could say that even though the Tineco Carpet One Pet Pro has a smaller tank, because it uses less water, it just doesn’t matter all that much.
iLoop Sensor and auto suction
With regard to the iLoop sensor and the auto suction adjustment feature, which Tineco uses on pretty much all of its products these days, we have to say that we don’t see the value. We would actually just prefer the cheapest unit, the iCarpet, that doesn’t have it.
Since we are such big fans of automatic suction adjustment in our cordless vacuum reviews, we wanted to clarify why we aren’t when it comes to carpet cleaners. Auto suction adjustment is great for cordless vacuums because you need to conserve power to optimize battery life.
But, with corded products like this one, we see no value in conserving power based on how dirty the floors are. We would rather have the carpet cleaner operate with full power all the time.
Verdict
So, our take on the Tineco carpet cleaner lineup is that they are well built, very easy to use, and great at cleaning stains and carpets both in their standard mode and with the well-designed hand tool.
We especially like the carpet drying feature that comes with all three models. In fact, we think that it may be the best carpet cleaner design out there with regard to keeping your carpets drier than other carpet cleaners.
While we like a few of the extra features that come on the two more expensive models, we didn’t find that they add anything to the performance. So with all things considered, our recommendation is that the most inexpensive one, the Tineco iCarpet, is the best option.
