Ultenic U20 mopper review: "A great vacuum, but the mop is more of a quick wipe”

RRP: £130 | Check price at Amazon

My verdict

With four children and two guinea pigs, the floor between my kitchen and dining area rarely stays clean for long. Crumbs appear after every meal, muddy footprints arrive with the school bags and hay somehow travels much farther from the guinea-pig cage than seems physically possible. I normally vacuum and mop as two separate jobs and have to store a vacuum cleaner and a mop and bucket, so I was hoping the Ultenic U20 Mopper would save me some space and time.

I used it every day for four weeks across the hard floors downstairs as well as the carpets elsewhere in our home. As a vacuum, it was impressively capable for £130. It collected dust, hair, mud, crumbs and hay, with the hay travelling into the 1.5-litre bin more successfully than it has with several other cordless vacuums I have tried. Cereal and larger pieces sometimes needed a few passes, and the noise changed when they entered the floor head, but they did disappear.

The mop is useful as long as you understand what it is. This is not a wet-and-dry cleaner that sucks up spilled milk, separates dirty water or scrubs a dried-on stain with a powered roller. Ultenic supplies a removable water tank and microfibre pad, giving you a light maintenance mop after the vacuuming is done.

A 230ml capacity water tank is underneath the Ultenic U20 mop pad

I got the best results by vacuuming first, then attaching the tank and going over the floor again. Footprints and everyday food marks came away well, the tank lasted for my downstairs clean and the floor was lightly damp rather than soaked. We could walk across it after about five minutes, which was considerably less disruptive than getting out my bucket and manual mop.

The flexible tube was another highlight. It folded low enough to reach beneath furniture without asking my increasingly stiff back to join in, while the anti-tangle brush remained free from wrapped hair, which is impressive given that myself and my two daughters have long hair.

It has limits. A few cereal pieces needed chasing, the main floor head cannot get into every corner and the mop will not replace a proper scrub for large or stubborn stains. The pad also needs rinsing afterwards, which is still the least glamorous part of mopping, so it’s not something to buy if you don’t like getting your hands dirty at all.

If I was in need of a new vacuum cleaner, I would pay £130 as it’s a very good vacuum with a light mopping function. Doing a light mop every day meant there was less to do on my weekly deep cleans and my back was happy that I didn’t need to manually mop as much. However, it’s not something I would buy if I was after a mop replacement.

How I've tested the Ultenic U20 Mopper

I tested the Ultenic U20 in my family home on crumbs, footprints and general mess

I used the Ultenic U20 every day for four weeks in my family home. Its main test area was our kitchen-diner, living room and downstairs hall, where four children and two guinea pigs provide a regular mixture of crumbs, cereal, hair, dust, dried mud, footprints, food marks and hay.

For the vacuuming tests, I watched how it handled naturally occurring mess and carried out repeated passes over cereal, crumbs and guinea-pig hay. I recorded whether the debris disappeared immediately, needed another pass or became caught in the floor head. I also checked the roller regularly for wrapped hair from me and my two daughters.

I used the U20 on hard floors, rugs and carpet, then tested its flexible tube beneath furniture and converted it into a handheld cleaner for edges and corners. I paid attention to whether its light weight affected stability, how the noise changed with larger debris and whether the GreenEye light helped me spot fine dust.

For mopping, I tested everyday footprints and food marks. I looked for streaks, checked how evenly damp the floor felt, timed how soon we could walk on it and noted whether one tank lasted for the downstairs area.

I emptied the dustbin, removed and refilled the water tank and cleaned the microfibre pads after use. I washed a pad once on a gentle machine cycle, then mainly rinsed it by hand with warm water and a small amount of Woolite laundry detergent, which was rated best for delicates in our best laundry detergent buyers guide.

What's in the box?

I liked that there's a quick set-up guide printed on the box

The U20 arrives with in a compact box with the main parts separated, but assembly is simply a matter of clicking the floor head, tube and motor unit together. 

The water tank and mop pad are only attached when you want to wash a hard floor.

• Ultenic U20 main unit

• Flexible tube

• Motorised floor head

• Removable battery

• Water tank

• Two microfibre mop pads, including one already fitted

• Long flat nozzle

• Two-in-one brush

• Wall mount

• Two HEPA filters, including one already fitted

• Cleaning tool

• Charging adapter

• Instruction manual

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Design and set-up of the Ultenic U20 Mopper

Setting up the Ultenic U20 was reassuringly quick. Having already assembled the Ultenic U18 in under five minutes, I knew what I was doing this time, but it’s fairly obvious even if you’ve never used an Ultenic before. The floor head, flexible tube and main unit simply click together, with no tools or patience for DIY required. The water tank clips onto the floor head when you want to mop.

I like that the vacuum stands upright by itself. I could leave it in the kitchen ready for the next cereal spillage, and pause halfway through cleaning to move a chair or sort out one of the children without having to balance it precariously.

I could stand the Ultenic U20 up on the floor and it would stay upright

At 3.3kg, it’s light for a vacuum that also converts into a mop. I initially wondered whether that would translate into something a little flimsy, particularly once it met the hay around the guinea pigs’ cage. However, the parts stayed securely connected and nothing loosened during four weeks of daily use.

The controls are straightforward too. The LED screen shows the power mode and remaining battery, while a filter symbol reminds you when the HEPA filter needs cleaning, making it easier to maintain the machine rather than being surprised when it stops vacuuming because the filter is blocked.

There’s also a GreenEye light on both the floor head and handheld unit, which automatically turns on when you power on the appliance. It illuminates the dust and crumbs you might otherwise miss, which is useful when you’re getting under the sofa. It also gave me a morale boost, making me feel like a super hero, charging around with my illuminated vacuum cleaner and mop.

How well does the Ultenic U20 vacuum?

I put the Ultenic U20 through a guinea pig hay test and it sucked it all up

The U20 pulled up plenty of dirt and was powerful enough to use as my main everyday vacuum. Ultenic claims up to 60kPa of suction from its 550W motor, which is a massive amount of suction power, although kPa can be a fairly unreliable figure to compare. A brush, airflow and floor-head design have just as much influence on what actually comes off the floor.

In my tests, dust, hair, crumbs and dried mud generally disappeared in one or two passes. Cereal and other larger pieces sometimes needed another run because the lightweight floor head pushed them forwards before sucking them up, but I never had to abandon the job and fetch my Shark Stratos.

My Shark has a slightly more sophisticated DuoClean floor head, which maintains close contact with the floor and handles mixed debris particularly well. The Ultenic doesn’t feel quite as polished, but it still collected an impressive amount of dirt for a vacuum costing considerably less.

I used the lower power setting for routine cleaning on hard floors and increased the suction for carpets and messier patches. Larger pieces made a rather dramatic clattering noise as they travelled through the head, but the noise stopped as soon as they reached the bin.

How well does the Ultenic U20 mop hard floors?

The U20 is best for the sort of light mopping that stops everyday marks building up. I used it on footprints and food smears across our kitchen-diner, living room and hall, and it lifted these without leaving the floors soaking wet.

The removable tank feeds water onto a microfibre pad, which wipes the floor as you move the vacuum. There is no powered scrubbing roller and it doesn’t collect dirty water, so this is closer to running a damp cloth across the floor than giving it a proper deep clean.

My living room floor before and after using the Ultenic U20 mopper

You can only fill the tank with water, too. Ultenic advises against adding detergent or floor cleaner, which wasn’t quite enough for me. With four children and guinea pigs, I sometimes want the reassurance of cleaning solution rather than water alone, especially around the kitchen table or anywhere food has been dropped. It left the floor looking cleaner, but I missed that freshly mopped feeling and scent.

The machine must not vacuum liquids either, so you’ll still need to deal with spilled drinks separately before bringing out the U20.

On the plus side, the light layer of water dried in around five minutes. That’s genuinely useful in my house, where somebody always needs to walk through the kitchen as soon as I’ve cleaned it. One tank lasted through my downstairs floors and the pad stayed evenly damp throughout.

For footprints, light food marks and a quick freshen-up, the U20 did a good job. For sticky spills, stubborn stains or the sort of mess that makes me reach for disinfectant, I’d still use a proper floor cleaner and manual mop.

Should you vacuum and mop at the same time with the Ultenic U20?

Although the attachment allows the U20 to collect dry debris while wiping the floor, I got a cleaner result by treating it as a two-stage job. I vacuumed first, then clipped on the filled tank and clean pad for a second pass.

That order stopped cereal and hay reaching a damp pad and turning into something I then had to peel away. It also meant the pad concentrated on footprints and food marks rather than dragging loose crumbs around the room.

This is still quicker and tidier than finding the bucket, filling it and then waiting for a much wetter floor to dry. Just do not expect the U20 to provide the same one-pass wet-and-dry cleaning as a machine with separate clean- and dirty-water tanks.

Does the Ultenic U20 clean edges, corners and underneath furniture?

The main floor head cleaned reasonably close to the skirting boards. I tested it along the kitchen units, underneath the dining table and around the hallway, where crumbs and dust seem to settle almost immediately after I’ve vacuumed. Most disappeared within one or two passes, although I needed to switch to handheld mode and use the long nozzle for tight corners and narrow gaps.

The GreenEye light was particularly useful underneath cabinets and furniture. It highlighted fine dust and hair I hadn’t noticed, along with enough hidden debris to make me feel slightly guilty about how long it had been there. I measured its reach and found that it illuminated far enough beneath my sofa to reveal dust right at the back, rather than only lighting the area around the front edge.

Under furniture, the flexible tube was excellent. It bends in the middle so the floor head can lie almost flat while the handle stays within reach. I used it beneath the sofa, dining table and other low furniture without kneeling, stretching or moving anything heavy. I’m not becoming more flexible with age, so I appreciated the vacuum doing the bending for me.

The Ultenic U20's flexible hose helped my back, while the light illuminated dust

The mop attachment benefited from the flexible tube too. I could wipe underneath the dining table and sofa without crouching down, although the shape of the floor head was less effective in tight corners and around furniture legs. It covered the open floor and straight edges well, but I still needed a cloth or traditional mop for the most awkward spots.

How long does the Ultenic U20 battery last?

Ultenic claims up to 60 minutes of runtime, with the exact result depending on the power setting.

I used the U20 every day between high power and normal power and got around 20 minutes in turbo mode and 40 minutes for the default (medium) setting. The LED display shows the remaining battery while you clean, which is more useful than waiting for a warning light when you are halfway through the hall. When it was completely empty, it needed just over four hours to get back to a full charge.

If you’re looking for a longer battery life, I found that the Ultenic U18 had more power from a single charge, although it doesn’t have mop functionality.

Is the Ultenic U20 easy to empty and clean?

Having tested a lot of vacuum cleaners, I’ve become very particular about their dustbins. Good suction is important, but I also want to empty the thing without reaching inside and pulling out a dusty clump of hair with my fingers.

I’m aware this makes me sound incredibly boring, but I adore the U20’s bin. It holds 1.5 litres, so it didn’t need emptying after every quick clean, and an external sliding button activates a scraper inside. This pushes hair and fine dust away from the filter instead of leaving everything wedged around it.

The Ultenic U20 has one of the easiest-to-empty bins I've ever experienced on a vacuum cleaner

I could hold the bin over the kitchen bin, release the contents and move the scraper to dislodge any stubborn dust. I didn’t have to put my hand inside once during testing. It was quicker, cleaner and involved considerably less sneezing than some cordless vacuums I’ve used.

The water tank was also simple to remove, fill and clip back into place. The mop pad was less delightful once it had collected a floor’s worth of grime, but there isn’t a mop in existence that can make that part glamorous.

I washed one pad in the washing machine on a gentle cycle and it came out clean. Running a separate gentle wash for two small pads felt a little extravagant, though, so I usually rinsed mine under warm water with a little mild, non-foaming detergent or soap. I then left it to air-dry completely before using it again.

The HEPA filters can be removed for cleaning, and Ultenic includes a spare in the box. The brand also sells replacement filters, batteries and brush rolls

Is the Ultenic U20 Mopper good value for money?

At £130, I think the U20 offers very good value for a home with plenty of hard flooring. It costs only £10 more than Ultenic’s U18 PowerPro at the prices I checked, yet adds the water tank, two mop pads, a larger stated dustbin and stronger claimed suction.

The trade-off is shorter  battery life. Also, the mop is just a simple water-fed pad, not a powered wet roller with separate clean- and dirty-water tanks.

That distinction explains why the U20 costs so much less than something such as the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine. The Dyson can pick up liquid and debris with its dedicated wet roller head, while the Ultenic must only vacuum dry dirt and then lightly mop.

Compare cordless moppers: Ultenic vs Shark vs Dyson

Final Verdict

The Ultenic U20 Mopper survived four weeks of crumbs, hair, mud, cereal and the guinea-pig hay that seems determined to cover my kitchen. It picked up most mess quickly, handled hay better than several other cordless vacuums I have used and kept its roller free from wrapped hair.

Its mop is best seen as a time-saving extra rather than a replacement for a dedicated wet floor cleaner. Vacuuming first and mopping second gave me the best result, removing footprints and everyday food marks while leaving the floor dry enough to walk on after around five minutes. Tough stains and large spills still need another approach.

For £130, the U20 makes most sense for families with plenty of hard flooring who want one cordless vacuum for the whole home and a quick way to freshen the downstairs floors. It will not wash away every disaster in a single pass, but it was easy to use daily to keep on top of things. I would not buy the U20 specifically to tackle major stains. I would buy it because it is a capable cordless vacuum that also saves me getting out the mop bucket for footprints and everyday food marks. 

About the author

Zoe Griffin is a mum of four and Mumsnet content writer specialising in home essentials and appliances. She has 15 years’ journalism experience and has written for The Daily Telegraph, Mail Online, the Sunday Mirror and The Independent. When she's not on a laptop, she enjoys long-distance running, karate and cheering on Brentford FC.

About Mumsnet reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of hands-on testing. We never accept payment for coverage, and our verdicts are independent and honest. We may earn a small commission through affiliate links, which helps fund our work, but it never influences our opinions.

All prices are correct at the time of writing.

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