Gtech Orca Hard Floor Cleaner Review: Hard Floors Made Easy

Price upon review

Not yet available in the US

There are a number of models on the wet and dry vacuum market that are very similar. Gtech’s Orca joins the ranks of cleaners from Tineco, Ultenic and Eureka, all of which have a similar build and feature set. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: they are built to do their job well.

You can find out how they all compare in our overview of the best wet and dry vacuum cleaners. But to find out what the Gtech Orca is like to use and decide if it’s the right purchase for you, read on.

Design and construction

• Cordless mop
• Two water tanks
• 300 ml cleaning solution

Open the box and you’ll see the main body of the Orca in high-gloss black and white: this consists of the motor, a 25V battery, the attached vacuum head/mop roller and the two transparent water tanks.

The clean tank at the back has a capacity of 0.8 liters and the waste tank at the front has a capacity of 0.7 liters. A roller cover is also included that you can place over the mop roller. Controls are located on the handle with a color digital display above the trigger, the on/off button below and a button to start the self-cleaning process on the rear.

After mounting the handle on the body, the device weighs approximately 4.1 kg and is 115 cm high. The vacuum/mop head is approximately 28 cm wide and 22 cm deep.

The other key component is a square charging base, approximately 32cm by 28cm, with an accessory holder, charger, a tubular brush and the 300ml bottle of cleaning solution, which has a scent reminiscent of cologne, daisies and white linen.

When opening the box the Orca seems complicated to put together, but it really isn’t. You simply slide the long handle into the main body of the device until you hear a click. You then place the charging stand somewhere relatively close to a wall socket, in a place where there is room to keep the Orca upright while charging, and connect the charger to the stand and to a wall socket.

The Orca’s battery comes partially charged, but Gtech recommends that you fully charge it before using the device for the first time. This will take about five hours. This will give you about 20 minutes of mopping time or 40 minutes of vacuuming time.

One of the most interesting features of the Orca is the voice assistant that tells you what it’s doing at any time – for example that it’s charging when you put the device back on its stand – and this voice has an accent that’s so British, it is the same even though someone has teleported a Sandhurst sergeant into your kitchen.

When you are ready to use the Orca, fill the water reservoir to the maximum level and add three caps of cleaning solution if desired. Then you simply tilt the handle, press the power button until the blue lights on the front of the Orca illuminate and the display lights up, and you’re good to go.

The Orca has three functions – four if you count the self-cleaning mode. You can choose between the vacuuming and mopping functions via the digital touchscreen.

Sterilizing water is the mopping function. In this mode, the Orca distributes and collects water while the mop roller spins. Eco Vacuum is the suction-only function, where the Orca does not release water, but does collect it. You use this to clean up spilled liquids or dry the floor. Because it is an eco mode, it runs at a lower power and has a longer run time than the Max Vacuum mode, which does the same as Eco Vacuum, but at a higher power and with a shorter run time.

The self-cleaning function is not automatic. You activate it with a button on the handle and it cleans the Orca mop roller while it is on the charging station.

Features and performance

• Fast
• Easy to maneuver
• Electrolyzed water

We started by testing the Orka’s mopping ability. It’s a small thing, a bit like aiming a mop at roller skates – and there’s no significant strain on the forearm as the device weighs just 4.1kg. The hinged joint between the body and the roller head has a good, smooth 45 degree angle of movement from right to left and is very easy to push.

We covered a large area of ​​floor very quickly – about 50m2 in less than 15 minutes – and the mopping was even and the result was not streaky. There’s only one problem to be aware of: if you pull the Orca back up, it will turn off. This can be a problem in smaller spaces, or until you get used to it.

For the second mopping test, we added some of the cleaning solution to the water and began mopping a tile floor. The scent was pleasant, not too strong, and added a delicate, clean scent to the air. You cannot use any other detergents with the Orca; you’ll need to use the Gtech solution, which doesn’t seem to be readily available when it comes time to restock.

The Orca also has a built-in electrolysis process to purify water, eliminating bacteria, viruses, spores and odors. We must say that even if we accidentally left water overnight, there was no smell of stagnant water the next day, so it seems that the technology works.

We turned to vacuuming up spills using the Eco Vacuum feature. The Orca absorbed the excess water very quickly, leaving a slightly damp floor.

The Orca isn’t a vacuum cleaner per se, but we wondered what would happen if we put it to a flour test. We were amazed to find that the Orca on Max Vacuum picked up all the flour with just one pass over the area. So we can say with certainty: the suction and absorption are good.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Cleaning the waste water tank afterwards was a bit messy, but the tank can simply be pulled apart and can be rinsed under the tap and left to dry outside.

After use, you can start the self-cleaning function. Ensure that the clean water tank is filled at least to the minimum fill level, place the Orca in the charging stand and press the self-cleaning button, marked with three stars. You get the choice of a standard clean or a deep clean, and the Orca dispenses water and spins the mop roller to clean the fabric.

This process is a bit noisy, with a similar noise level to a hairdryer on low power, and you get a bit of spit at the front of the mop roller, but it does remove a lot of wastewater from the mop roller.

Price and availability

At this time, the Gtech Orca is not available in the US. In the UK you can buy it from Gtech, Robert Dyas, B&V And AO.com. There’s no price advantage to buying from either of these retailers – it costs £349.99 across the board and it’s more expensive at Amazon.

The price puts it in contention with the Tineco Floor One S3, which has a very similar feature set but has dropped from its launch price of £399 and is now available from Amazon for £339. At the time of writing there is a even better deal on the Tineco Floor One S5 Extreme, which is on sale on the Tineco website for £279, down from £399.

All of these models are highly effective hard floor cleaners and it is best to check what is on offer at the time you want to buy them.

You can compare models and see all our top recommendations in our overview of the best wet and dry vacuum cleaners.

Should you buy the Gtech Orca?

If you have a lot of hard floors that need to be mopped regularly, and don’t have the budget to spend on an expensive modular wet and dry vacuum like the Dyson V15s Submarine, or if you struggle with a heavy vacuum, then the Orca is the perfect choice. is an excellent option. It does the job and is well worth the price.