Dyson V11 vacuum cleaner: two-minute review

The Dyson V11 launched in 2019 and sits around the middle of the brand’s stick vacuum lineup. It’s not the most hi-tech model in the range, but when it comes to cleaning powers it’s one of the best cordless vacuums I’ve tested.

One of my favorite features is the LCD screen, which provides a ton of useful information. It’ll tell you which mode you’re using and exactly how much cleaning time you have left in that mode, and it’ll flag up issues like blockages and show you how to fix them.

The design looks and feels premium, but is rather top-heavy, which makes it a little awkward to use in handheld mode in particular. From a usability perspective, it would benefit from a lock for continual running, so you don’t need to keep the trigger pressed at all times. It’s also lacking an air intake slider on the main floorhead, which could be opened up to make the vacuum easier to push on deep-pile carpet.

Where the V11 shines is in its cleaning powers. In my group test of various cordless vacuums, it was one of the most effective at cleaning on carpet, and handled pet hair incredibly well, too. Despite being top-heavy, it maneuvers very well, and the battery life is excellent.

Price-wise, the Dyson V11 sits the in premium bracket. For some people, it’ll be worth investing a bit more to unlock the special features that come with Dyson’s best vacuums – I missed having automatic suction adjustment based on floor type, and a soft floorhead with a dirt-illuminating laser for hard flooring.

However, it’s still an excellent vacuum when it comes to cleaning powers and battery life, and an especially strong recommendation if you spot it on sale. Read on for my full Dyson V11 review, including the results of my in-depth tests.

Dyson V11 review: price & availability

• List price: from $629.99 / £429.99 / AU$1,199
• Availability: worldwide, including US, UK and Australia
• Launched: March 2019

The Dyson V11 launched in March 2019 and remains a key model in the brand’s lineup. It’s available widely around the world, including in the US, UK and Australia. At time of writing the list prices were from $629.99 in the US, £429.99 in the UK, and AU$1,199 in Australia. That puts it in the premium price bracket for vacuums.

Dyson promo codes are rare, but Dyson deals do crop up semi-regularly, and especially around major sales events like Black Friday.

There are various bundle options for the V11, with different tools included. There are also two different iterations of the main machine – one with 200AW of power, and another with 185AW of power. The more powerful option is usually called the V11 Advanced, but I have seen lots of inconsistency with Dyson vacuum names, so do check before you buy.

In the wider lineup of flagship Dyson vacuums, the V11 sits above the Dyson V8 (see how the two compare in my Dyson V11 vs V8 article). There’s a bit of a step down in price between the two – the V8 is around $589.99 / £329.99 / AU$999, but is regularly heavily discounted.

The V11 sits below the V15 Detect, which has a list price of around $849.99 / £649.99 / AU$1,449. See how the two match up in my Dyson V11 vs V15 Detect comparison.

Is it good value for money? Kind of. It looks and feels premium, features like the LCD screen are very useful, and the cleaning is generally excellent. However, I’d expect an Auto mode for this kind of money.

• Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5

Dyson V11 specs

Dyson V11 review: design

• Useful, intuitive screen provides information
• Easily maneuverable but a little top-heavy and not that comfortable to use
• Trigger-operated, with no lock for continual running

The V11 was the first of Dyson’s cordless stick vacuums to have its motor, cyclones, dust cup and wand all arranged in a straight line. This in-line configuration is designed to improve suction efficiency compared to the previous setup.

There are three power modes – Eco, Med and Boost – and you cycle between them by pressing a button on the top of the main unit. There’s a useful screen that spells out which mode you’re in, as well as how long you have left on the battery in the current mode and with the current attachment. This screen will also flag any issues and help you fix them – for example, it’ll tell you if there’s a blockage, and where the blockage is.

Testing alongside vacuums that used various symbols, LEDs and color-coding to convey information made me all the more appreciative of the V11’s straightforward setup. It’s intuitive to use and easy to understand, with minimal potential for confusion.

To switch the V11 on and off you use a trigger. In newer models, Dyson has swapped this for a one-press button. The trigger means you don’t have to have a free hand to switch the machine on and off, although it can be annoying to have to keep it compressed during longer cleaning sessions – it’s frustrating that there’s no lock for continual running.

Thanks to the in-line configuration, you’ll now need to remove the wand to empty the bin, which is a bit of a hassle. Once removed, you push down the big red lever to open the bottom hatch and eject the contents of the bin. This works well, although I did on occasion have to go in with my fingers to pull out clumps of hair or dirt.

There’s one main floorhead – the Motorbar floorhead – which is suitable for use on either hard floor or carpet. The version that came with my test model did not have a slider to adjust how much air can get in, but other V11 models we’ve tested have included one of these. A slider can be extremely useful on deep-pile carpet, to release some of the pressure and make the vacuum easier to push around.

Newer Dyson stick vacuums (the V15, Gen5detect and V16 Piston Animal) have the ability to sense how dirty your floor is and bump up or reduce suction as required, but that’s not included here. If you want to maximize battery life, you’ll need to switch modes manually.

(Note: it looks like a previous version of the V11 did have an Auto mode. Our original V11 review mentioned sensors in the floorhead that measure brush resistance as an indicator of floor type, and the ability to increase suction for carpet and lower it for hard floors. I’ve also spotted some press photos that show the vacuum with ‘Auto’ on screen. However, my review model has no such capability, and I can’t see any mention of it on the various international Dyson sites.)

Like pretty much every modern stick vacuum, you can reconfigure the V11 to turn it into a handheld. Exactly which detail tools are included will depend on which bundle you go for, but expect a Mini motorized tool, Combi tool and Crevice tool at a minimum. I found the tools easy to add and remove, and everything felt secure once clipped on.

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In terms of ease of use, the V11 isn’t the best. The main body of the vacuum is rather heavy, and the in-line configuration means this part is rather elongated. So while the overall weight is acceptable, it doesn’t feel that balanced and is especially unwieldy in handheld mode. (This issue is worse in newer Dyson vacuums.) There’s no padding or shaping on the handle to improve comfort or grip. However, the floorhead maneuvers well and pivots easily, and can lie nice and low to the ground for cleaning under furniture.

• Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Dyson V11 review: performance

• Excellent cleaning on carpet, but would benefit from an air intake slider
• Strong cleaning on hard floor but other models more specialized for this
• Superb at cleaning up pet hair

During general use, I was very impressed with the V11’s cleaning powers. I missed having an Auto mode, though – these are now fairly common amongst the vacuums I test, and it’s reassuring to hear the suction amping up and down as I move around the house. I tended to default to Med mode, which probably means I was wasting battery life when cleaning my hard floors, as these don’t really need much suction.

To gain a more objective view of the V11’s cleaning performance I ran a series of standardized cleaning tests. For these, I used a mix of dry rice and lentils to represent chunky debris, and dry, loose tea to represent fine particles. I also used dog hair from a friendly local dog groomer. I tested all the particle types on medium-pile carpet, deep-pile carpet, and a vinyl floor.

Carpet

The V11 performed extremely well on medium-pile carpet. It cleared every speck of tea in one forward pass in Med mode, earning a perfect score in this test. It handled the chunky rice and lentils almost as well – a few stragglers were left in the fibers, but the vast majority disappeared in one forward pass.

This vacuum is not quite as well suited to deep-pile carpet, but not because of a lack of suction. The V11 picked up both fine and chunky particles very efficiently on my deep-pile test carpet, but it was a bit hard to push, and there’s no air intake slider to lessen the strain.

Switching to Eco mode did help, and pickup was still very effective in this mode. If you have mostly medium-pile carpet or are happy to manually switch modes as you move onto deeper-pile carpet, the V11 is still a very solid choice. (For other options, head to my guide to the best vacuums for carpet.)

Hard floor

The Dyson V11 performed well in my hard-floor suction tests. It cleared most chunky and fine debris with a single pass in Med mode, but did cause debris to pool when the floorhead was pulled backwards over the spillage. This is a common issue with vacuum cleaners, although Shark has come up with a solution that improves things considerably (the Shark PowerDetect Cordless features this pull-back technology).

The V11 is a solid choice for hard floors, but there are other models that are more specialized for this floor type. The best vacuums for hard floor have a separate, soft floorhead that’s equipped with a laser to illuminate dirt that might otherwise be missed – examples include the V15 Detect and Dreame R20.

Pet hair

The Dyson V11 is one of the best vacuums for pet hair that I’ve tested. It cleared all the hair from the medium-pile carpet with a single pass in Med mode, and was very effective on deep-pile carpet too – I had to shift down to Eco mode to make the vacuum easier to push, but it cleared almost everything in one pass, leaving only a few hairs.

My review sample didn’t come with a small motorized tool, which is what you’d usually use on upholstery (there are two options in the Dyson range: the older Mini motorized tool or newer Hair screw tool). I used the Combi tool to remove pet hair from a velvet cushion, and it was incredibly effective, clearing everything in a single pass in Med mode.

The downside of the Combi tool is that it has a relatively small suction area, so it would take you a while to cover, for example, a whole sofa. Mini motorized tools are included with some V11 bundles, and available to purchase separately if not. However, note that I ran the same test using Dyson’s Mini motorized tool with the Gen5detect, and it was decent but not as effective as the Combi tool.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Dyson V11 review: battery life

• 15 mins in Boost mode, 33 in Med mode, 65 mins in Eco
• 4 hours and 30 mins to recharge
• Battery removable and swappable

Officially, the Dyson V11 will last 60 minutes in Eco mode, but on test I managed 65 minutes. That’s an excellent maximum runtime. As ever, more powerful modes will drain the battery much more quickly, but the V11 is much better than most on this front.

I think it’s more important to pay attention to is the runtime in ‘medium’ mode, because that’s the one most people will be using most often. In my test, Med mode gave me 33 minutes of cleaning; as a rule of thumb, 30 minutes or longer is good.

In the most powerful Boost mode I managed 15 minutes of cleaning, which is also very good. This mode is designed to be used only occasionally, for the toughest dirt, and not for general cleaning.

The battery is removable and swappable, which is good news because this is often the first thing to fail on a cordless vacuum. Charging is on the slow side, at four hours and 30 minutes for a full charge from empty.

You’re unlikely to run out of juice unexpectedly because the V11 will spell out on its screen exactly how much cleaning time you have left – and it’ll adjust that time depending on which tool you have attached and which mode you’re in. (The timer doesn’t just count down, but can jump about a bit.) If you press the mode button while the vacuum is plugged in, you can also see how much charge it has, as a percentage.

• Battery life score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy a Dyson V11?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Dyson V11 review: alternatives to consider

How I tested the Dyson V11

For two weeks, I used the Dyson V11 as my main vacuum cleaner. I used it regularly, in both handheld and floor mode, in a four-story home with a mixture of carpet, tiled and engineered wood floors. During this period I focused on usability, assessing how intuitive and comfortable it is to use. I also got a general feel for its cleaning performance on different floor types, as well as how effectively it handles hair (both my own and that of my black cocker spaniel).

To get a more objective view of this vacuum’s cleaning powers, I also ran a series of tests in our testing studio. For these, I used loose dry tea to represent fine particles, and a mixture of dried rice and lentils to represent chunky debris, as well as dog hair from my local groomer. I tested the V11’s pickup on medium-pile carpet, deep-pile carpet and vinyl flooring. I also used the detail tool to remove hair from a velvet cushion.

These tests formed part of a wider group test, where I compared multiple cordless stick vacuums side by side. This group test included the Dyson V8 Cyclone, the Roborock H60 Ultra, the Dreame R20, the Dyson Gen5detect, Dyson V16 Piston Animal, Shark Detect Pro and Shark PowerDetect.

• Re-reviewed: October 2025
• First reviewed: 2019