Review: Dyson V11 Outsize Cordless Vacuum

I’m more used to reviewing cars but when I really think about it – it’s the engineering of a motor vehicle that really appeals to me.

It’s the same with the Dyson V11 Outsize cordless vacuum that we’ve been using in the house during the COVID-19 Lockdown. It is an extremely thorough vacuum cleaner with some very clever technology baked in.

We already have a Dyson DC54 ‘ball’ vacuum in the house that has been a very trustworthy machine to make the chore of cleaning the house faster and more efficient. The absence of a bag is the other very attractive characteristic of all Dyson vacuum cleaners.

We were keen to see if the V11 Outsize was a way to keep the main areas of the house cleaner so as to add a week or two between needing to do a thorough vacuum clean with the DC54.

The key to getting this most out of the Dyson V11 Outsize was to install the wall-mounted charging dock and tool station in the laundry. Thankfully when we renovated the house in 2014, our interior designer had the foresight to install a power point in the cupboard.

I knew that if we didn’t make the V11 Outsize easy to reach and use we just wouldn’t use it enough. I highly recommend doing this if you purchase any Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner.

Now that we have the admin out of the way – what was the Dyson V11 Outsize like to live with?

The V11 Outsize comes with an array of tools to ensure you can get every little bit of dust and dirt out of your home and into the the now 150% larger bin.

The V11 Outsize comes with Dyson’s most powerful cordless motor. Called the Hyperdymium motor, the core spins at 125,000rpm and has a triple diffuser to optimise the balance of power and performance while reducing turbulence and noise. Its increased efficiency generates 20%
more powerful suction than its predecessor.

Of the total of seven tool attachments, the two electronic heads are the most impressive.

The first is the Fluffy cleaner head which is geared perfectly for hard floors such as timber or tiles. This is a larger roller covered in soft woven nylon and anti-static carbon fibre filaments to remove fine dust and larger debris from hard floors. With a dog and two teenagers, our kitchen and laundry areas get a good workout!

The other cleaner head is new to the V11 Outsize. Called the High Torque XL cleaner head this is perfect for your carpeted areas where you might want to cover more ground in a single sweep as well as getting right into the pile for a DEEP clean. The head contains a digital motor that spins the brush bar up to 60 times a second. The head also features stiff nylon bristles that drive deep into carpets to remove ground-in dirt and anti-static carbon fibre filaments that capture dust from hard floors and crevices.

This cleaner head is also 25% wider than the V10 at 32cm.

One thing we did observe is that the Dyson V11 Outsize is a heavy unit. The battery pack whilst providing lots of run time also makes the V11 quite heavy – tipping the scales at 3.56kg. So, using the V11 Outsize to grab cob-webs from the ceiling or anything up high you will need two hands.

The size of the vacuum bin is also great but does make the unit cumbersome in some cases. Vacuuming the car was quite difficult with the V11 Outsize as the unit was hard to get into tight crevices.

There are three main power modes on the V11 Outsize – Eco, Auto and Boost.

Eco is ideal for a quick run around the kitchen and hallway on a daily basis. A full run on Eco will last around 40mins.

Auto increases the suction power and is perfect for carpets and doing a more thorough clean around the house. The motor automatically adjusts suction to the cleaner head you’re using and the surface you are cleaning – very clever!

The battery life on Auto is about 25-30mins and varies depending on what head you use and how much stop and start cleaning you’re doing. 

Boost works brilliantly if you’re looking for a deep clean or working with a tough surface like a chunky sisal rug or attacking serious pet hair. What you get in terms of increased performance, you lose in battery life with around 10-15mins run time.

The V11 Outsize does have the option to plug in another battery to extend your cleaning range.

Using a vacuum as powerful as the Dyson V11 Outsize means that the bin fill pretty quickly. This new bin on the V11 Outsize is 25% than on the previous model. Emptying the bin is easy with a single push of a lever under the bin to release the contents. I found that giving the bin and the motor head a quick brush with a broom made sure the V11 Outsize was clean and ready for more work.

Verdict

The Dyson V11 Outsize is a great cordless vacuum cleaner. We have only had to get the regular vacuum cleaner out a couple of times in the past few weeks.

The cleaning is peerless and with the additional bin size, improvements in the motor, and the battery capacity, the V11 Outsize is worth every penny – especially if you have pets or any member of the family is susceptible to dusty environments. The six-layer filtration captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

We even got the kids using it as it was within easy reach in the laundry!

Where Do I Buy One?

The Dyson V11 Outsize is available now through the Dyson website and all the top home appliance retailers such as Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee, Myer, David Jones and Costco from $1,299.

The additional battery for the V11 Outsize is $199.

What Comes In The Box?

Maintenance Update

We’ve been using the Dyson V11 Outsize almost daily in the house for about 8 weeks, and a couple of weeks ago the filter needed a clean. The incredible suction power of the V11 Outsize is very much on display and shows you just how many dirt and dust particles bypass the main bin and end up in the filter.

The V11 Outsize provides some excellent prompts on its screen to show you what to do.

Simply unscrew and remove the filter. Try not to be too embarrassed by the amount of dirt and dust in the filter.

Give it a rinse in cold water from the tap. When you can see the tap graphic in the filter cover you know it’s clean.

Sit the filter in the sun to air-dry for a few hours.

Then simply screw it back into the top of the V11 Outsize. Easy!