If you want a Dyson vacuum, but don't want to splurge, this is the best model to buy

The Dyson V11 might not be the newest cordless vacuum out there, but it's still one of the most popular models sold by the brand. I took it for a spin around my house to find out some more.

Investing in a Dyson is a true treat. There’s no debating that the brand makes some of the best vacuums of all time, but they can be expensive and all the different models seem to offer special extras for different homes.

After doing some research, I settled on the V11 as the perfect balance of new technology and price. If you want a simple, affordable vacuum, this is the one that cleans up.

Specifications

Who would it suit?

The Dyson V11 is a great mid-market offering from the brand. If you want a Dyson cordless vacuum, but you’re not ready to part with the hefty sum that a V15 demands, the V11 offers you most of the same features and cleaning power, you just lose a few accessories and the laser.

As a cordless vacuum, it’s well suited to people who don’t like being tied to a plug socket. It may be that you have big rooms that a cord wouldn’t reach across or a small flat that would require a lot of plugging and unplugging. Cutting the cord can be really useful for lots of people, but not perhaps if you have pets or if you need a lot of power.

Unboxing

Dyson is the best vacuum brand for packaging. Not only do they manage to pack a lot of vacuum into a very slim box, but they also keep all the protective bags and boxes firmly recyclable. You can pop everything in the recycling and feel good about yourself.

There are quite a few neat bits and pieces that come with the Dyson V11, as you can see in the picture. You’ve got your dock, which you attach to the wall, your charger, your main floor head, and a crevice tool. It’s a pretty standard offering, but Dyson executes it well. All the accessories feel well made and they clip into place with a very definite and satisfying click.

I’m a renter, so I haven’t installed the wall dock, but the Dyson comes apart into small enough pieces that I can store the V11 in a cupboard. My mum, who bought this before me, leans hers against a wall, preferring to skip the appearance of a dock. The choice is yours, but note that it’s never going to look particularly pretty.

What is it like to use?

My vacuum came with some charge on the battery. Dyson are generally good at sending out their models with some juice so you can have a play around, but it’s not guaranteed. Nonetheless, it charges quickly, so yours will be up to full power in no less than four and a half hours. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to click three parts together. Your top, which has the bin, controls, and battery integrated; the tube; and your floorhead. This is always a very easy process, so the set up is one of the easiest out there.

Then, you’ve got your screen on top. This will give you notifications about which setting your vacuuming on (Eco, Auto, Boost); how much time you’ve got left on the charger; and any maintenance issues that might crop up. It’s as simple as that. Once the parts are in place, you’re ready to get testing.

Test 1: flour

The first test that I run on all of our vacuums is how well they can suck up sugar on carpets, hardwood floor, and linoleum. It’s inevitable that you’ll spill these exact ingredients on your floor, so that’s a good reason to test them, but they’re also great for emulating all sorts of light dust and debris that gathers very naturally on the floor over time. In essence, this is my fine particles test.

As you would expect from the brand, the Dyson V11 cleaned up. I could see each pass that I made over the area really clearly. The floorhead picked up the flour and sugar without scattering or blowing any fragments across the room. It didn’t take any back and forth either. If you wondered where the phrase “one clean sweep” came from, I’d imagine it had something to do with Dyson.

Test 2: cereal

For the next test, I scale things up. Scattering cereal on the floor is a great test for how well a vacuum can pick up bigger bits of debris, such as pet kibble, cereal, stones, and mud. It’s heavier than the flour and sugar too, which is another great way to test the suction power of the vacuum. The V11 has a well-sized gap between the floorhead and the floor, meaning that I didn’t end up ploughing and spreading the muesli that I scattered. Even on the hard floor, I didn’t push any large oats or nuts in crazy directions, although I did need a couple of passes on the carpet. All in all, it was a clean and easy result from the Dyson V11.

Test 3: whole home and hair

If you have pets or long hair (I have both) you’ll know what a grim job vacuuming can become. Dyson claims that the rollers have anti hair wrap technology, so I put that to work, scattering hair extensions around the house. I also let the family dog roam around for the weekend, so we could see how well the vacuum picks up everyone’s hair. To the V11’s credit, when I did a whole home vacuum, there wasn’t really a strand of hair wrapped around the roller. When I was emptying it, I could see that the V11 was picking up all the pet hair, hair extensions, and my hair really effectively. Having lived with it for a little while, there has been times when some hairs have ended up wrapped around the roller, but this hasn’t been problematic or grim to clear out. Its only ever needed a simple pull it a snip from my scissors. It’s nice to have a clean job.

Cleaning

This brings me, very naturally, onto the maintenance aspect of the Dyson V11. The bagless dust bin can take 0.77 litres of dirt and debris, which is enough for me to clean two floors of the house, if I’m staying on top of maintenance. When I had a new carpet put down, I could only manage one room, but it’s an open plan living room and kitchen, so it has a lot of traffic and mess, which is only enhanced by all the fibres from the carpet.

Enjoying the bin is easy: you pull on a lever and everything empties directly into the bin. You’ll need to be careful not to overfill the bin, as this can create problems fully emptying the bin and it’ll clog up the filter too. If you’re good with your maintenance, this won’t be a problem, but it’s worth flagging if you like to push the limits of your vacuum.

I have to remove and hand wash my filter about every six months. This is very easy: the top twists off, you run the filter under the tap, and then leave it to dry. For a vacuum, it’s very low maintenance. My only other word of advice would be to keep an eye on the charge. I make a habit of always charging mine after use, so that I never come to a clean up job to find my vacuum sleeping. I’d recommend the same for you too.

How does it compare?

I’ve pitched the V11 as Dyson’s mid-range model, so what about the latest Dyson V15? Well, I actually tested the two alongside each other and the differences were interesting. The most obvious one is that the V15 comes with lots more attachments: you have a floorhead for hard and soft surfaces, a fabric cleaner, and another crevice tool. In my day to day cleaning, I make use of the different floorheads, but the others don’t actually count for much. The biggest bonus of the V15 is the laser, which shows up the dust and dirt that your naked eye can’t see. It’s pretty horrifying and very effective when you’re cleaning under sofas and on hard floors. I actively found myself turning lights off in different rooms to get a better clean with the V15.

When passing over the different debris, I’d have said that the performance was pretty similar. The V15 takes the edge for thoroughness thanks to the different floorheads, these let the V15 vacuum pick up bits that the V11 needed a second pass for, but it was a close call overall.

I can’t just compare the Dyson vacuums though. I know you’ll be screaming at the screen ‘what about the Shark?’ Well, I tested two Shark vacuums against the V11: their newest PowerDetect Clean and Empty Cordless Pet Vacuum and their DuoClean Powered Lift-Away Upright Vacuum Cleaner. The DuoCleant has lots of accessories and a slightly different design. It’s better if you don’t like constantly having to hold down the trigger on the Dyson, but I found it more cumbersome to move around. The PowerDetect on the other hand, is a similar price and it’s really impressive. It can stand independently (the V11 can’t) you can bend the vacuum to reach places that the V11 can’t and it automatically adjusts suction in more nuanced ways to the V11. For example, the V11 can detect floor types, but the PowerDetect will notice when it’s near a skirting board and increase suction on that side of the floorhead to lift dust out of the crevices. Overall, it gives a more thorough clean, but it demands more space and comes with more clutter too.

Should you buy it?

If you want a Dyson, but you’re not sold on their toppy price tags, this is a great way to compromise. You get all the essential, impressive Dyson technology and, whilst you miss some of their extra special features, they’re not ones that you’d notice unless you had them on other models. I’m happy with the V11. It’s the one I’d buy.

How we test

At woman&home, how we test vacuums is nothing short of top-tier. I have a series of standard tests that I use when reviewing a vacuum: how well they clean different debris off different surfaces, but I also do full house cleaning so you get a good idea of how this fares in both the long and short term.

You'll see that each test is designed to emulate different dust and debris varieties in your home. The flour and sugar test emulates small particles (like typical dust), the muesli is a lot like kibble and bigger mud chunks, and the whole house will pick up on the long and short hair that the family and dog and I leave around the house. I'll scatter hair extensions around too, for an extra challenge.

I make notes on the different settings, the weight, and what the vacuum is like to charge, clean, and empty, so you get a really good idea of what this is like to live with. I'll also compare it to similar models, so you know everything you need to before buying a vacuum. If you still have questions, send me an email. I'm always happy to chat about all things vacuuming and cleaning.