Has the Samsung Jet 95 Pro got what it takes to compete with the Dyson Submarine? We tested it to find out

Since most of us have shunned carpet in at least half of the rooms in our homes, mopping floors is a familiar, but additional chore we could do without. So it makes sense that in the race to get noticed in a crowded market, some of the best vacuum cleaner brands are launching vacuums with an additional wet mopping head.

The Samsung Jet 95 Pro is one of the new multi-purpose cordless vacuums that can also mop. We recently reviewed the new Dyson V15 Detect Submarine which is a similar concept, although the design of the mop head is quite different.

While I didn’t write the above Dyson Submarine review, I have tried it and reviewed it, so it’ll be interesting for me to see how the Samsung Jet 95 Pro fares in comparison. Especially given that the Samsung is almost half the price of the Dyson.

Samsung Jet 95 Pro specs

• Max. run time: up to 60 minutes
• Bin volume: 0.8 litres
• Weight: 2.7kg
• Dimensions: H93 - 113.5 x W25 x D20 cm
• Modes: min, mid, max, jet
• RRP: £479

Unboxing, setting up and first impressions

I expected a global brand like Samsung to have more environmentally conscious packaging. So I was disappointed by the two huge, chunky pieces of polystyrene that were protecting the vacuum inside the box.

When I unpacked everything, I was surprised by the number of parts and accessories. But the freestanding charging station accounted for some of the pieces and once I’d assembled it, the tools could be stored on it and it all immediately felt neat and organised.

I’m in two minds about the charging station and I'd say it’s worth considering whether you have somewhere appropriate for it. On one hand it’s great to have a one-stop storage and charging station that can house everything and prevent clutter, without having to be screwed into a wall. On the other hand, it takes up floorspace and prevents you from hiding the vacuum in a cupboard.

I love it when vacuums have a telescopic pipe, this one makes the height of the vacuum adjustable by 20cm, which is a useful feature. Plus, there are four power levels to choose from, and they’re easy to cycle through using the + and - buttons on the screen.

The small tools include a small turbo pet tool, a combination dusting and upholstery tool, and a crevice tool that’s extendable up to 43cm. The really handy flex tool is essentially an elbow that’s connected between the vacuum or wand and the tool you’re using, it bends up to 90 degrees to make it easier to reach into awkward areas.

The spinning sweeper is an additional floor cleaning tool for wet cleaning. It spins two microfibre pads, and houses a small water tank that will spray onto the floor when triggered. My initial impression is that this will work best for light cleans, and I suspect it’s not going to cut it for muddy boot rooms and big kitchen spills.

As well as the two microfibre cleaning pads there’s also a pack of disposable cleaning pads included in the box. From an environmental standpoint, I’m personally not a fan of using disposable options for cleaning, plus if you do use these, there’s the ongoing cost to consider.

There isn’t a dirty water tank, the dirt is instead held in the pads. This means the pads have to be removed and rinsed frequently. But having had the displeasure of an electric mop with a permanently smelly, dirty water tank, I’m okay with not having one of these.

What is it like to use?

Floors

The first time I used this vacuum, I was immediately struck by how comfortable the handle felt. However, my husband, who has much bigger hands, had the opposite reaction when he picked it up. He said the handle was too small and it felt uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, there’s no trigger to worry about, which will please a lot of people. I was also impressed by how lightweight and manoeuvrable it felt when vacuuming floors.

When switched on, it always defaults to the ‘mid’ power. I found this to be perfectly adequate for most day-to-day cleaning of hard floors and rugs. Jet power is the highest suction level, and this left my bedroom carpet beautifully clean.

I was impressed with the vacuum's ability to remove dust and debris from the edges and corners of rooms with hard floors. When I sprinkled similar debris on carpets, it didn’t quite manage to collect everything from right up against the skirting boards, but when these areas needed a thorough clean, I used the crevice tool, which collected anything the main floorhead had left behind.

Stairs are easily tackled with either the main floorhead or the small pet tool. When using the main floorhead, I found that reducing the height of the telescopic tube made it much less cumbersome. For carpeted stairs I preferred to use the small pet tool, as this is more effective at getting into all the nooks and crannies for a thorough clean.

Despite my long hair often tangling around vacuum roller brushes, I noticed that after a couple of weeks of use, there were none whatsoever tangled around this one. All-in-all the performance was good across all floors, and it wasn’t too noisy either, which is a bonus.

Mopping

Setting up the mop is straightforward, the pads have velcro backs so they’re easy to attach. The manual doesn’t state that you must wet them before attaching, but it soon becomes obvious that you need to do this.

The water tank is so small it fits in the palm of my hand. Water is sprayed out only when you trigger it by pressing the + button during mopping. It sprays the water in front of the cleaner, in a similar way to how the spray button on your iron works.

The water tank needs refilling pretty frequently, but the amount of mopping time between refills varies depending on how often you press the spray button. I found that on average it lasted for 10-15 minutes of mopping.

There’s no dirty water tank, the microfibre pads cling on to the dirt and they have to be rinsed to remove it. This means that in situations where floors are very dirty, you have to rinse them clean frequently so that you don’t just spread the dirt around.

It’s nice and quiet when mopping, there’s just a gentle whirring from the movement of the pads. I usually use a flat microfibre mop, so this is essentially an electric version of that. It doesn’t leave floors very wet, and despite being similar, it quickly became obvious that it was removing more dirt than my usual manual mop. My floors looked cleaner and shinier than usual after mopping.

In the kitchen I’ve got slate tiles that have an uneven undulating texture. I’ve yet to come across an electric mop that can get into all the grooves or the grout lines. But it did a pretty good job. However the undulations in the tiles meant it didn’t manoeuvre around the floor quite as smoothly as on wood floors - it developed a mind of its own on this floor.

I tried out the disposable pads in the kitchen, they have been treated with a biocide, so they’ll leave the floors hygienically clean. The pads stood up to the slate floor and didn’t tear. When I triggered the water spray, they created a bit of foam on the floor.

The foam gives that reassuring sense of a detergent cleaning the floors, although it tended to settle into the grout lines. Once dry the some of the grout lines looked grubby from where the dirty foam had dried on. In general though, the floor looked beautifully cleaned.

I tried it on some tougher stains like a blob of ketchup and some splashes of mint sauce that had been left to dry overnight. It did eventually lift them, but I had to go over the area several times and wet the stains with the water spray.

I noticed there were no specks of mint stuck to the pads, so I went back to inspect the area after it had dried. Instead of being removed, the mint pieces had been pushed into the grout lines, so I had to grab a cloth and remove them by hand, which was a bit annoying.

Small tools

The small tools are really useful and well designed. I found the extendable crevice tool brilliant for lots of hard-to-reach areas. Whether it was getting down the sides of the car seats, or into the awkward gap between the washing machine and the wall. It has a really long reach and numerous uses.

Like any vacuum it can become heavy if you try to use it overhead for more than short bursts, but it’s definitely not as heavy as some I’ve tried. Plus the adjustable wand length, coupled with the flex tool mean you can set it up so that it’s perfectly adjusted to tackle the task at hand.

The dusting brush is a great size for dusting shelves and collecting cobwebs. It’s supposed to double as an upholstery tool, but I much prefer to use the pet tool on my upholstery. It’s far more effective and gets the job done faster.

This vacuum performed well in the car, the combination of tools meant I could easily reach and clean the whole interior. In particular the flex tool and dusting brush meant I could reach parts of the dashboard that I can’t normally reach with a handheld vacuum.

Battery:

On the highest suction level on carpet, the battery lasted nine minutes. Whereas on the ‘mid’ level, which is the default suction, I was able to vacuum for 26 minutes across hard floors and carpets. This was long enough to tackle all the floors in my two bedroom house.

There’s always an estimated run time displayed on the screen, this feature completely takes away the guesswork of figuring out how long you can vacuum for. Plus, this information allows you to choose to reduce the suction level in order to prolong battery time if needed.

Using the non-motorised handheld tools such as the crevice tool and dusting brush doesn’t drain the battery as fast. Neither does the mop head, 15 minutes of mopping only used 15% of the battery power.

Recharging took under three hours on average. And while it’s charging, the screen displays the exact battery percentage, so you can easily see if it’s got enough juice to get cleaning again.

Maintenance

To empty the vacuum there's no point-and-shoot action. Instead you have to remove the dirt bin, and then remove the filter section, before you can tip the dust and debris out. If you don’t disassemble the filter section whilst holding it above your rubbish bin, you risk dropping dust and fluff around the house.

According to the diagrams in the manual, the microfibre pads for the spinning sweeper should be hand washed. And while you can buy disposable pads, I don’t understand why there’s no machine wash instructions for the reusable ones. This feels like a huge oversight and makes mopping the floors with this cleaner much less convenient.

The design of this vacuum includes so many thoughtful and considered elements that it almost makes it even more disappointing that the dirt emptying process is a faff and the microfibre pads are not machine washable.

Thankfully the filters are washable. I couldn’t find any information in the manual to suggest how often they need washing, but the screen will display an alert when it’s time to wash the micro filter, which is a helpful reminder.

How does it compare to other vacuums on the market?

If you’re looking for a cordless vacuum that also has the ability to mop, there aren’t that many around. The most notable is the Dyson V15 Detect Submarine, but given that it’s around double the price, cost alone will play a huge factor in which one you choose. The Dyson is a fantastic vacuum, but it’s also bulkier and heavier than the Samsung. However, since the Dyson mop includes a bigger water tank as well as a dirty water tank to collect up mess, it’s arguably a better design.

Alternatively, if you think you’ll get just as good results with a manual mop, then you could save a little and instead invest in one of our top rated cordless vacuums, the Shark Stratos IZ420UKT. It’s a great all-rounder, with a useful selection of tools. And if you’re lacking space, you’ll be pleased to hear there’s no big bulky charging stand to find space for, so you can tuck it out of sight when not in use.

Should you buy the Samsung Jet 95 Pro?

As a vacuum, I really liked the Samsung Jet 95 Pro. It performs well, is comfortable to use and not too bulky. In contrast, I found the Dyson Submarine quite heavy and bulky, and the trigger switch can become uncomfortable.

For me, the charging station is too big, I don’t have anywhere to put it where it’ll be out of sight. But if you’ve got a spot, like a utility room, it’s a useful station for keeping all the accessories in one place.

The mop head works well for light day-to-day cleaning. But the lack of a dirty water tank means if you’ve got a lot of muck on your floors, the pads will quickly become clogged, or you’ll go through a lot of disposable ones. So I would suggest this attachment will work best in smaller, less busy homes.

It’s reasonably priced given all the accessories and the performance, but I couldn’t quite give it 5 stars because the messy-to-empty dust canister is a big downside for me.

About this review and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Helen used the Samsung Jet 95 Pro in her own home for two weeks. She used all the attachments, cleaning floors, upholstery, hard surfaces, and her car. She had the vacuum on loan from Samsung and returned it after the review.