Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, 760 milliliters, Blue

Product Information

Once again, the battery has a handy rubber pad on it so that the V11 doesn’t fall over when you stand it up against a wall. It’s a small thing, but great for anyone who’s watched an older Dyson cordless cleaner fall to the ground. With the Dyson Cyclone V10, the vacuum cleaner company announced the end of its development of corded models. This year, Dyson continues to move forth with that promise by launching the Dyson V11 Absolute, the next-generation cordless model. A more significant change is the new V11 motor, which Dyson claims is 20% more powerful than the V10, delivering 185 air watts (that’s better than a lot of corded vacuum cleaners). The improvement in suction comes via the more powerful motor, but Dyson has made some improvements to airflow, too. These include a more efficient diffuser design that straightens airflow thus reducing turbulence, and a new impeller design. That said, when the filter needs cleaning, a message will appear on the Dyson's LCD screen, so there's no danger of leaving it so long that you ruin the motor – something that Alison has unfortunately done in the past. The battery is designed to last for an hour in Eco mode, operating with or without a motorised brush. That’s the same as the V10, because the V11’s larger battery has the more powerful motor for increased suction.

V11™ cordless vacuum cleaner – Overview | Dyson V11™ Overview Dyson V11™ cordless vacuum cleaner – Overview | Dyson V11™

With around an hour of run-time, you should have enough power to whizz round an entire house. After all, with the trigger action, you’re only using battery power while physically vacuuming. Those with larger houses may find that the run-time isn’t quite enough. With 4.5 hours for charging, some people may need to change their cleaning schedule a little to get a full clean. This is a powerful vacuum and, as a result, one of the noisier machines we tested. In eco mode it comes in at 71 decibels, on standard mode it's 74.6 decibels, and on boost mode it reaches 84.6. The heads are both extremely manoeuvrable, letting you sweep the V11 under sofas and navigate with ease. All vacuum cleaners should be this easy to use. The V11 Absolute builds on the design of the V10 range with some new headline features. It adds a substantial 45AirWatts extra oomph on its highest power setting (now a class leading 185AW) and extends run-time to over 60 minutes on its lowest.

Alison appreciated the amount of tools included with the V11 Absolute – something for every eventuality – which she didn't always see with other vacuums on test. In comparison, the cordless Hoover H-Free 500 only came with an integrated two-in-one dusting tool, and the similarly-designed Bissell Icon 25V only a two-in-one brush and crevice tool. The Dyson V11 has excellent battery life, with even its lowest setting delivering excellent results, while its High Torque head balances battery life and performance automatically. You should not buy it if… Large debris (rice, spilled cereal and dried leaves) were whisked away in no time, and smaller debris (toast crumbs, washing powder and sugar) vanished in just a couple of swipes.

Dyson V11 Absolute Review | Trusted Reviews Dyson V11 Absolute Review | Trusted Reviews

The instructions are in diagram form and our tester, Alison, found them clear and easy to follow despite not really needing them for set-up. Our tester couldn’t fault the Dyson’s performance on carpets. The main head allowed her to reach the very edges of each room, and there were plenty of tools to make this even easier. If last year’s model signalled the death of corded models, the V11 gives them that final push over the edge. In addition, the cordless vacuum cleaner is also available as the cheaper V11 Animal. If you plug in the new High Torque cleaner head, the Medium mode becomes Auto mode. Here, the V11 uses its Dynamic Load Sensor (DLS), which monitors brush bar resistance up to 360 times per second, to adjust the suction power between carpets and hard floors. This is useful, since who really wants to mess around trying to choose the right power mode anyway? Weighing in at 3.3kg with the wand and soft roller cleaner attached, the Dyson V11 Absolute feels light in use, despite weighing a little more than the V10 models – the position of the battery means the cleaner feels perfectly balanced when you’re using it, and the extra weight is barely noticeable. The V11 moves around easily on both carpets and hard floors, whether you're using the High Torque cleaner head or the soft roller cleaner head, and the articulated design of the heads makes cleaning under furniture a breeze.Elsewhere around the house, the long extension pole and range of accessories make cleaning of all sorts simple, whether that’s high-up cobwebs, or simply cleaning up a spill on a counter.

Dyson V11 Absolute Review | Mumsnet Dyson V11 Absolute Review | Mumsnet

For most uses on the lower power modes, you can actually hear other people over the V11’s powerful motor – and it isn’t a distracting noise. The only real issue she experienced during testing was having to continuously hold down the power button. This is to preserve charge so that you’re only using power when you’re actually vacuuming. While we can see the point of this, Alison has arthritis in her fingers and holding the switch down became uncomfortable after a time. It’s easy to get to the filter to remove and replace it for cleaning, but you do need to rinse it thoroughly before leaving it to air dry, which could potentially leave you without the use of a vacuum for up to a day. As with all cordless vacuum cleaners, the V11's bin capacity is small (Alison needed to empty it after only two rounds), but Dyson claims it's actually 40% larger than those on its V8 machines. Turn on the V11 Absolute and you’ll find that it isn’t as loud as you might have thought. From head height, measured with the motorised brush in Eco mode, the vacuum comes in at 71dB. On standard mode it’s 74.6dB, and on Boost it’s a whopping 84.6dB.

Is the Dyson V11 Absolute good value for money?

Her house also boasts a variety of floor types – tiled flooring, carpet, wooden floors and lino, all of which the Dyson cleaned beautifully. There’s no loss of suction as the battery depletes either – something that was an issue with the cordless Gtech HyLite during testing. The Dyson's Radial Root Cyclone™ technology also flings dust straight into the bin so as to not clog the filter. Nevertheless, the V11 Absolute is easy to empty and to clean. To empty, you simply push the bin lever to sweep everything out – and we mean everything. Dyson calls this ‘point and shoot’ emptying and that describes it exactly.

V11 Absolute review | TechRadar Dyson V11 Absolute review | TechRadar

The display also rids another problem: battery anxiety. While the old V10 had only a basic display on the battery to show a rough level of charge, the V11’s screen shows a countdown timer, so you know exactly how long is left. This model ships with everything you’ll need, including a soft roller for hard floors and a mini motorised brush for upholstery.

How easy is the Dyson V11 Absolute to keep clean?

For starters, it’s easier to choose the mode you want to use, especially now that Dyson has renamed them so that they make more sense. Low, Medium and Max are replaced with Eco for better battery life, Medium for general use and Boost for those times you need a short burst of extra power.