This cordless stick vacuum beats my Dyson in one meaningful (and flashy) way

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Tineco Pure One Station 5 vacuum cleaner is available for $459.
• It’s a powerful cordless vacuum with a self-emptying base station, perfect for pet owners and parents.
• Some parts can be finicky, like lining up the floor brush on the base station, or its accessories getting stuck and not easily detaching.

Since I began testing the Tineco Pure One Station 5, I’ve reached for it for everyday messes over any other vacuum at home. It’s proven outstanding at picking up pet hair from any surface and debris of various sizes. It even picks up random things that my upright vacuum spits out, like lollipop sticks and juice box straw wrappers.

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When I began using the Tineco Pure One Station 5, the first thing that caught my attention was the bright green light illuminating its path. It initially seemed gimmicky, but proves invaluable the more you vacuum with it. 

The green light shows you every single strand of hair, speck of dust, and minuscule crumb on your floors — and is rather depressing, showing me each and every dent and scratch on my hardwood floors – but it works to ensure you don’t miss anything. 

I tested the Tineco Pure One Station 5 in all levels: Eco, Auto, and High. Eco is a power-saving mode that can handle easy jobs and pick up crumbs after snack time, while High is the strongest suction mode, strong enough to outperform my upright corded vacuum and pick up stuck-on pet hair from rugs and carpets. Auto mode uses the Tineco iLoop smart sensor to detect the amount of dust and debris on your floors and automatically adjust the suction power. 

This vacuum uses 175w of suction power on its highest setting, and the multi-surface brush roller spins up to 3,000 times per minute. The floor brush roller is designed with V-shaped bristles to pick up hair and debris and direct it to the nozzle without getting stuck. It also uses a dual-comb design to detangle hair clumps as the roller spins to prevent pet hair from tangling up the roller. 

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In over two months of use, I’ve never had my brush roller get hair tangled up, so the system appears to work as advertised. I have a mixed-breed dog with mostly high-shedding breeds in his DNA, so I see gray clumps of his black and white hair everywhere in my home. Yet this Tineco cordless vacuum picks it all up like it’s nothing. 

Once I finish whichever cleaning task I chose the Tineco for, I set it down in its charging dock and watch it empty its dust canister into a large, 2.5-liter dustbin on the charging station. While emptying my floors’ contents into the dock, this Tineco vacuum turns on, and the brush roller spins to clean all the tubes and the brush. This hands-free process means you don’t have to worry about emptying the vacuum’s dustbin for up to 45 days. I empty mine every three or four weeks, but that’s only because I use it daily and have a dog that sheds a lot.

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My biggest gripe is that I sometimes struggle to remove the attachments and extension tube, as it requires some jiggling rather than simply pressing the button and removing the tool. This isn’t a huge problem for me, but I can see it being a problem for people with mobility limitations.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Tineco Pure One Station 5 is the best cordless vacuum I’ve tested, and it is better than the comparably-priced Dyson V11. In fact, it’s so strong that it picks up pet hair from rugs that my traditional upright Bissell leaves behind, which is a lot to say for a cordless vacuum. The battery life lasts as promised, though I like using it in the strongest setting when going over the carpet to pick up stubborn pet hair. 

It’s light enough to use on stairs, and I love that I can attach the crevice tool to the extension tube, which not many cordless vacuums allow. This lets me easily use the vacuum to clean hard-to-reach places, like HVAC returns, air vents, and even my washing machine when my kids bring mulch home in their pockets. 

Overall, I’d recommend the Tineco Pure One Station 5 to anyone looking for the convenience of a cordless vacuum with the bonus of not having to empty it each time you use it, especially if you’re looking for a Dyson replacement.