We were impressed by the first Tineco vacuum cleaner we reviewed, the Tineco Pure One S12, with its huge range of accessories and smart display. The company is back with a slightly cheaper model in the Tineco A11 Master.
While the price may be lower, the vacuum comes with a similar number of accessories, including the smart filter cleaner and dual replaceable batteries. Decent cleaning performance makes this a great add-on to a more powerful plug-in cleaner.
Tineco A11 Master – What you need to know
- General vacuuming – The light body and range of accessories make it easy to get this vacuum cleaner where the dirt is, but the cold air blowing back is a touch annoying
- Carpet test – Edge performance could be better, but a couple of sweeps picked up most of our test dust
- Hard floor test – The soft roller brush makes picking up dirt on normal power easy
- Pet hair pick-up – Requires a few sweeps on Max power to get mess out of the carpet, but all of our pet hair was gone in the end.
Related: Best cordless vacuum cleaner
Tineco A11 Master design and features – A lightweight body that comes packing a generous number of add-ons
There’s no denying that the Tineco A11 Master looks a bit more budget than its big brother. The main unit is finished in clear plastic, which makes it look somewhere between a prototype and a toy. As such, it’s Marmite: you’re either going to love it or hate it.
While there might not be much to say about the Tineco A11 Master’s main body, I certainly can’t quibble about the number of accessories included in the box. For hard floors there’s the Soft-roller brush, while for carpet you get the Multi-tasker power brush. Then there’s a 2-in-1 dusting brush, crevice nozzle, long crevice tool, mini power brush, flexible multiple angle tool, flexible extension hose and a soft dusting tool. That’s the kind of load-out we’d expect to see accompanying a top-of-the-range Dyson cleaner, not with a model costing less than £300.
Also in the box you get a charging dock that can be wall mounted. It also holds and charges the vacuum cleaner and the spare battery, plus there’s room for two to three of the accessories. It’s a shame that there’s no on-body storage for any of the tools, however.
I love the pre-filter cleaning tool, which comes with a spare filter. Rather than having to wash the filter, you stick it in the tool, put the spare one into the vacuum, then run the Tineco A11 Master on full power to suck out the dust.
The 0.8-litre bin is easy enough to empty: just pull it off the body and open the door at the bottom to let all the dirt out. You can rinse out the bin from time to time if it becomes really dirty, although remember to let it dry before reattaching it to the vacuum cleaner for use.
The Tineco A11 Master is very simple to use. Just clip in the tools you want to use, then use the trigger to turn it on. There’s a handy clip that keeps the trigger locked down, allowing you to run this vacuum cleaner in continuous mode as well as via the trigger. There’s only one more button that turns on the Max power mode.
Measuring a maximum of 1110 x 264 x 284mm and weighing just 2.49kg, the Tineco A11 Master is a lightweight vacuum cleaner that’s easy to manoeuvre. Its light body means that cleaning up high is simple, with the angle tool making cleaning the tops of cupboards and the like a breeze. Of course, the huge range of accessories that come with this vacuum result in a cleaner that can get into all manner of nooks and crannies, from hard-to-reach areas of a car to behind radiators.
In regular vacuum cleaner mode, the light body and flexible joint in the floor heads makes the A11 Master a dream to push around. You can dart between chair legs and around obstacles with ease. The vacuum can’t stand up unsupported, though, so be careful when leaning it against the wall.
I found that the exhaust of the vacuum blew out cold air over my hand, which was a touch annoying – particularly when vacuuming in colder weather.
Tineco A11 Master performance
To see how well the Tineco A11 Master performed, I put it through our usual tests. I started by pouring a teaspoon of flour over my test carpet, right up against the skirting board. This test required the vacuum to be in Max mode for the best suction, using the Multi-tasker power brush to handle the mess.
A single sweep managed to pick up most of the dust, but edge pick-up wasn’t impressive, leaving a clump of flour behind. It’s nothing that a few more sweeps from different angles, alongside the use of the crevice tool, couldn’t sort out. Nevertheless, I’d have expected slightly better edge performance at this price.
Carpet test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare
Next, I combed hair from my four cats into the carpet and then gave the Tineco A11 Master a single sweep in Max mode to see how well it did. Surface-level hair was sucked up quickly, but closer inspection of the carpet revealed some deeper hairs that remained. Again, it took only a few more sweeps to clean up.
Pet hair test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare
Moving to the hard floor, I spilt a teaspoon of rice on the floor. I swept pass with a single sweep of the Tineco A11 Master on regular power using the Soft-roller power brush. This time, the collection was excellent bar a grain of rice stuck in the grouting. A few more sweeps ensured every last trace was gone.
Hard floor test: Dirty hard floor (left) vs Clean hard floor (right) – move slider to compare
Overall, then, the Tineco A11 Master’s performance is generally very good – but some work is required when it comes to edge collection; plus you may need to use Max mode to really pick up bigger spills.
With two batteries, the Tineco A11 Master can run for up to 60 minutes on standard power, although this drops to 24 minutes in Max mode. Somewhere between the two should mean that this cordless could tackle most homes with the use of both batteries, although the level of suction and edge performance means you may take longer vacuuming than with a cleaner that offers higher performance levels.
For noise I measured the vacuum cleaner at a maximum 77.4dB on regular power and 80.4dB on Max, which is comparable with the competition.
Should you buy the Tineco A11 Master?
Given its low price and staggering number of accessories, the Tineco A11 Master is something of a bargain. Sure, it looks a little cheap, but I can forgive this at the current price. General performance is very good, with most dirt picked up without issue – although in some instances, in particular cleaning to the edge, a couple of sweeps was required.
As such, this vacuum cleaner feels like an add-on to an existing cleaner, providing you with a lightweight and flexible way of tackling specific mess both inside and outside your home. If you want whole-house cleaning, you’re looking at upgrading to a model such as the Dyson V11, or the Samsung PowerStick Jet, which has an optional mop attachment for cleaning hard floors.
That said, those on a tight budget looking for a flexible, powerful and lightweight cleaner will be impressed with what the Tineco A11 Master has to offer.
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