Why I ditched Bissell for the Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser

I’ll admit it — I’m pretty new to the carpet life. Having spent most of my adulthood in apartment buildings, I just accepted laminate and tile as ways of life. Now that I live in a house, though, I have a couple of new surfaces to worry about. I have rugs from room to room and carpet throughout my living area, and I’ve quickly learned that a weekly pass with a vacuum is like trying to fight a fire with a teacup.

So, I decided it was time to venture into the wide world of carpet cleaners. I started where everyone does, with a Bissell Big Green. After all, it was a name I grew up knowing and always seemed like the best in the business. At least, it was until I got to try Tineco’s CARPET ONE Cruiser and learned how much more I could get out of a carpet cleaner. Here’s how I put the two to the test.

I’ll be honest — if I lived entirely alone, I don’t know if I ever would have ditched my Bissell Big Green. It’s a perfectly fine carpet cleaner that gets the job done, so I probably would have just rolled along none the wiser. However, as a proud dad of two cats, I tend to shy away from anything that stresses out my kids. And, when I’m fumbling to pull a 40-pound carpet cleaner out of my closet, it tends to send them scurrying.

So, when I first saw Tineco’s cleaning lineup back at CES 2025, I was intrigued by the idea of something a little more portable. At just 9.98 kilograms, the CARPET ONE Cruiser weighs about half of the Big Green, and I don’t feel like I’m stumbling to get it out and set up nearly as much.

I realized how much of a difference a little careful design can make as I unboxed the two cleaners and found myself straining to pull out the Big Green compared to the CARPET ONE Cruiser. Sure, the Big Green is a little easier to put together since it only has one removable part — the hose — but I’m not sure simplicity is always best. I greatly appreciate that I can pop the CARPET ONE Cruiser into pieces, making it much easier to clean or unjam if something goes through the brushes and the filters.

Not only is the CARPET ONE Cruiser far lighter than the Big Green, but I also feel it’s easier to control. Whereas the Big Green is somewhat of a brute-force, on-or-off cleaning tool, the CARPET ONE Cruiser has three cleaning modes you can easily toggle between right from the handle.

I’ll admit that I’ve spent most of my cleaning sessions in Auto mode, trusting the iLoop sensor to figure out how dirty my various carpets and rugs are. However, it’s nice to have the option for Max power and Accessory support without jumping through too many hoops. When you’re done with the various cleaning modes, you can flip the CARPET ONE Cruiser into Drying mode with a quick press of the Power Dry button.

Sure, the Bissell Big Green tries to flip around and dry my rugs and carpets, too, but it’s not quite the same. Where the CARPET ONE Cruiser has 167-degree Power Dry technology, the Big Green is more comfortable leaving my carpets just slightly damp so that they finish air drying. I might not mind the temporary dampness without my pets, but nothing attracts cat hair as efficiently as a slightly damp surface.

And, as if multiple cleaning settings weren’t enough, the Tineco app is surprisingly helpful too. I’m only surprised because I never expected a carpet cleaner to need smart capabilities, but now that I have them, I’m beginning to see the light. Essentially, the Tineco app pairs my CARPET ONE Cruiser to my phone, letting me check how long I have spent cleaning and drying my carpet, and it gives me a quick overview of the cleaning modes, should I need to swap between them.

Of course, if the Tineco app only gave me insights into my cleaning habits, I probably wouldn’t use it a ton — it would mostly remind me that I should clean more. However, it also lets me flip a few quick settings on my CARPET ONE Cruiser without ever touching the device, and that’s a convenience I can’t say no to. Whether I need to flip my cleaning method from Clean Water to Solution or tweak the speed at which the wheels turn, I can do it right from the palm of my hand for the next time I need to clean.

Bissell’s app? Well, there isn’t one — at least not one that lets me change how the Big Green runs. It’s either on or off, and any cleaning is left to me and my own devices.

If my current apartment were covered in just a single layer of rugs or carpets, I might never have given my carpet cleaning setup a second thought. I mean, it’s easy enough to roll a vacuum from laminate flooring to carpet, and you’d hope something like the Bissell Big Green would be the same way. However, I have multiple layers of carpets and rugs, making life tough.

Instead of gliding seamlessly from one level to the next, I’ve found that the Bissell tends to hit the edge of my fringed oriental rug and stop, or worse, fold it over on itself. Without any propulsion or assistance, I have to muscle it backward and lift it over the edge to start cleaning — and again, it’s a heavy piece of equipment. Tineco’s CARPET ONE Cruiser, on the other hand, has just enough oomph in its studded wheels that I can change surfaces without issue.

That oomph comes from its SmoothPower Tech wheels, which have bidirectional assist, making it easier to push or pull with less effort. The CARPET ONE Cruiser also lets you swap between High, Medium, and Low assistance so you’re not flying too quickly across low-pile surfaces.

Unfortunately, as I quickly learned after setting up my Big Green, carpet cleaning doesn’t stop when your floors are finished. Yes, your floors look great, but then you have to take on the more challenging task of cleaning your carpet cleaner. At least, you do with the Bissell. Pretty much as soon as you’re finished with the Big Green and you drain off its hefty 1.75-gallon tank, you’re then left to clean the rest of the carpet bits out of the brushes and filters, making two jobs for the price of one. The process is decently simple thanks to Bissell’s large components, but I won’t say I love getting messy as soon as I’ve cleaned.

With the CARPET ONE Cruiser, on the other hand, cleaning is as easy as pushing a button. Yes, you still have to empty the dirty water, but a quick tap on the handle sends the Cruiser into a two-minute self-cleaning mode. It shoots water through the brush roller, suction opening, and brush cover, making sure that they don’t hold onto any remaining mess from your floors.

When finished, the carpet cleaner shifts seamlessly into a three-minute drying cycle, pushing 131-degree air over the brush to dry it and prevent mustiness. You don’t have to worry about making a mess of the self-cleaning process either, since the CARPET ONE Cruiser comes with its own docking station that pushes the sprayed water right back into the dirty water tank for easy disposal. The cleaner also comes with a simple hair removal tool that slices through tangles so you can easily remove whatever gets caught, perhaps the only part of the cleaning process that involves getting a little dirty.

It’s easy to sit here and point out different specs that put the CARPET ONE Cruiser ahead of Bissell’s Big Green, but let’s face it — nothing beats a real-world test. So, I let my living room carpet and rug take the brunt of a stormy week here in Baltimore, and then set the two cleaners up head-to-head. Here’s how they handled my home:

I’m nothing if not patient in my day-to-day life, and I’d like to think that extends to cleaning, too. In reality, though, if I have to fill and empty a tank of any kind more than once, I’m probably going to call it a day. So, in this sense, the Bissell Big Green actually comes out on top. Its 1.75-gallon capacity is massive, ensuring that I never really have to return to the sink once I’ve started my task. It does require a lot more solution during the setup process — two large caps (about 5oz.) to the CARPET ONE Cruiser’s two small caps — but I have to remember that I’m adding them to a lot more water.

The Cruiser’s smaller 2-liter capacity means I get much closer to needing a refill in the middle of the process, which isn’t my favorite. That said, it’s much easier to heft a 2-liter tank than over a gallon, and I’m thoroughly convinced that I can stretch the included cleaning solution much further.

I also mentioned it above, but the Bissell Big Green is a very set-and-forget tool. It’s either on or off, and it approaches every carpet the same way. It’ll use plenty of power, but sometimes that’s more than you need. I guess it does take some of the thought out of the job, though I’d much rather be mindful of the health of my hand-me-down oriental rugs.

To that end, the CARPET ONE Cruiser’s Max and Auto cleaning modes offer much more peace of mind, and I’ll admit I’ve stuck with the Auto setting more times than not. I trust it to approach my surfaces with care and pick out the difference between relatively new carpet and a much older, more delicate rug. It doesn’t hurt that the Cruiser shows the active soil level with an easy-to-read red-to-blue ring, either, where red indicates more debris and blue indicates a nice, clean surface.

Along the same lines of manual vs automatic, I appreciate that the CARPET ONE Cruiser takes all the guesswork out of applying its cleaning solution. I can simply push it forward and pull it back and know that it’s sending out suds, usually because I can still see them after a first pass. To me, it feels like a more consistent application of cleaning power, which is just what I need as a fledgling carpet cleaner.

By comparison, Big Green’s approach to cleaning solution feels just a little dated. Any time I need to apply solution, I have to pull a hardware trigger on the handle. According to Bissell, it’s best to spray as you push forward and a spray as you pull back, followed by another pass without applying more solution. It’s not a hard technique to get used to; it just requires more manual thought than I’d usually like.

I’ve also mostly focused on the cleaning techniques for my floors so far, but both the Bissell Big Green and Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser come with spot cleaners and hoses to clean areas like your couch or carpeted steps. I don’t currently have steps to worry about, but I’ve taken both cleaners to task on my couch and come away decently impressed both times. The Big Green’s Tough Stain tool is slightly larger than the Cruiser’s at six inches, but I sometimes find it a bit too big for the tighter creases on my couch. Tineco also added a clever touch of putting brushes on the sides of its spot cleaner, so I’ve been able to use it in corners without feeling like I’m missing a spot or needing a second pass.

I spent a long time assuming that Bissell was just the best in the business when it came to carpet cleaning. It’s like trusting Nike for running shoes or Goodyear for tires — you go with the name you know. Now, though, I’m coming around to the idea that Tineco might have a better idea of what it takes to make a modern carpet cleaner.

Sure, the Big Green and the CARPET ONE Cruiser do the job well — they offer multiple cleaning attachments, convenient tank capacities, and long cables so you’re not stretching from one outlet through your house. I also appreciate how easy they both are to set up and start running, and the Big Green’s foldable handle makes it just a little bit easier to store out of sight.

However, all of the finer points favor the CARPET ONE Cruiser. I don’t feel like I want to hide its modern design away in a closet, and the Tineco app makes it much easier to monitor my cleaning habits from one week to the next. Mix in helpful features like the self-cleaning mode and propelled wheels with multiple speeds, and I’ll probably keep coming back to the Cruiser as I keep making messes throughout my apartment.

Right now, the Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser is the more expensive of the two cleaners, retailing at $699, but I think the extra power and flexibility are worth the cost. Also, the CARPET ONE Cruiser will be available for 30% off during Amazon’s Prime Day event, dropping its final price to $489 from July 8 to July 11, but you can use the code TIN25PDPR for an extra 5% off to get it all the way down to $454. The Bissell Big Green currently costs $411.