Dyson V11 Advanced review: the perfect middle-of-the-road Dyson cordless vacuum

The Dyson V11 has come in several different guises since it was first unveiled in 2019. Alongside the standard model came the Outsize, Torque Drive and Animal versions. Now we have the V11 Advanced that, just like the others, is a very capable cordless vacuum with three different suction modes. Like all the best vacuums out there, it has bells and whistles to dig into, but the overall cleaning performance is thorough both on carpet and hard floor. It comes with the Dyson price tag, so there are cheaper alternatives out there, but if you’re set on a Dyson this is a far cheaper option than the likes of the Dyson V12 Detect Slim.

It bears pointing out here the Dyson V11 Advanced is only available in the U.K., where I’ve been testing it for a couple of weeks. In the USA, you’re limited to the “regular” Dyson V11 which, as far as I can tell, is only differentiated by an ever-so-slightly-less powerful suction. Dyson rates the V11 at 185AW (Air Watts) while the Advanced is bumped up to 220AW. Spend any time on vacuuming forums and you’ll realise the difference is negligible (as is the bona fides of using Air Watts as a metric, as it happens).

Regardless of which model you pick up, there’s the familiar Dyson styling, quick-release mechanics to make emptying the dust bin a cinch and a clear and bright LCD screen that lets you know useful things like which mode you’re operating in and how much battery power is left. The Auto mode will sense which floor type you’re cleaning and adjust suction accordingly. I found this worked well when you’re frequently moving between hard floor and carpet.

Some of the features you don’t get are the particle sensor found on later Dyson models or any front-facing lights on the main vacuum head to give a bit of extra visibility. This does work to keep the price down and I’ve already noted several timed discounts on this particular model that are likely to keep coming back around retail events like Black Friday.

To see if this particular cordless vacuum is worth the asking price, I tested it out for several weeks in my home. I came away impressed overall but there’s still a few things you’ll want to consider before pulling the trigger on this purchase yourself.

Dyson V11 Advanced review: Price and availability

As indicated above, the Dyson V11 comes in different flavors and prices depending upon your location. The V11 Advanced version I’ve tested is available now at Currys for £429 (with frequent discounts to £359) and Australia (where it costs AU$1,199 from Amazon) while the model available in the U.S. is the regular Dyson V11 for $569 at Amazon. Like with the U.K., you can often find this model discounted to about $399 during sales events.

To make things more fun, you can opt for the Dyson V11 Extra which is the same machine but with a few more included tools. That’s currently available in the U.S. for $599 at Amazon and in the U.K. for £499 at Currys.

You can also buy these vacuums directly from Dyson for the same price.

Dyson V11 Advanced: Design

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The Dyson V11 Advanced doesn’t deviate from any of Dyson’s other V-devices in terms of the look and feel with its grip, dust bin, wand and attachments. There’s a bit of metal, but for the most part it’s constructed from plastic with a color mix of regal purple and silver. The bin is transparent (obviously) and the trigger and release catches are a bright red.

The vacuum feels premium and has a reasonable amount of heft. It’s actually heavier than the 5.7lbs (2.6kg) V10 at 6.6lbs (3kg). But despite the nice looks, it does feel like it might crack or shatter if it fell too hard onto a solid floor. Out of the box assembly is simple and I was up and running within ten minutes of unboxing this vacuum.

Inside the main body of the vacuum is Dyson’s “Hyperdymium” motor that spins at 125,000rpm which, Dyson says, generates 60% more power than the Dyson V8 Absolute and 20% more than the V10.

On the back of the model is your LCD screen that gives you a readout of the power modes (Eco, Boost and Auto) as well as battery runtime that gives you a clear picture of how much of the 60-minute battery life you have remaining. The LCD screen will also flag up when there’s a blockage that you need to clear.

That 6.6lbs of weight is manageable but does start to feel heavy after a while. In addition, I wish there was a way to lock the trigger down so you don’t need to keep it squeezed the entire time you’re cleaning. There’s also no forward-facing lights on the vacuum head that run along the surface of the floor to really highlight dust and debris.

Thankfully, emptying the 0.2 gallon (0.75 litre) bin couldn’t be simpler. All you need to do is slide the red catch on the side of the bin down and the entire mechanism opens seamlessly — letting you quickly drop the contents into your trash. However, this isn’t without its problems (more on that later).

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One of the great things about this design is how easy it is to store thanks to the tall, thin design. The vacuum’s dimensions are 45.28″ (115.0 cm) in height, 9.84″ (25.0 cm) in width and 11.81″ (30.0 cm) in depth. It comes with a wall mount included in the box so you can put it somewhere out of sight without it taking up too much room.

Finally, the V11 Advanced includes a filtration system designed to capture 99.97% of particles down as small as 0.3 microns. Which is probably going to be much appreciated by anyone with allergies.

Dyson V11 Advanced review: Performance

I used the Dyson V11 Advanced for two weeks across thick carpet, a plush rug and a vinyl hard floor. I don’t have any pets, so wasn’t able to test it on pet hair, but I put it through its paces with human hair, dust particles and larger debris like oat flakes.

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The hard floors in my house comprise the kitchen and dining areas so there’s plenty of crumbs that find their way in hard-to-reach areas like along the sides of cabinets and under tables. This is where I found the V11 Advanced, like other stick vacuums, came in really handy. The ball-style articulated design at the end of the wand meant I could easily maneuver the vacuum around table legs and into corners without having to contort myself.

Using the V11 Advanced on the Auto setting means it adapted to the hardwood floor by decreasing the amount of suction to give me as much battery power as possible. There’s no need to pull things out from deep carpet fibres and I’d rather prolong having to plug back in for as long as possible. The overall pickup was extremely good on oats and when I ran the V11 Advanced over a particular segment of flooring, it picked up 100% of the spillage on the very first pass.

Moving onto the rug, and a spillage of human hair, I found the performance to also be on point, although this time it did take two or three slow passes to pick up everything. The Motorbar cleaner head boasts 43 de-tangling vanes that, Dyson says, automatically clear wrapped hair from the brush bar as you clean. Now, that’s a lofty claim but, sure enough, I was amazed to find there was almost no hair left wrapped around the brush head after a cleaning session. Totally unlike the mass of hair that clogs up my ageing Shark upright vacuum.

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When I swapped over to the regular carpet in my living room, the Dyson V11 Advanced gave a thorough and even clean. I mainly used the Medium setting, again to preserve battery, and I found it was more than capable at picking up dust and the kind of tiny plastic debris that often falls off decorations or children’s toys.

Although pickup was impressive, I can’t say the same about emptying the bin. While the majority of the dirt easily fell down into the trash, there was a large amount of dust and hair that stubbornly clung to the inside of the bin and the interior of the vacuum — as you can see in the picture above. Most of the time, I had to reach in and dislodge this by hand.

That puts a bit of a dampener on cleaning experience because, overall, the Dyson V11 Advanced gave as good a performance as I could have hoped from a cordless vacuum.

Dyson V11 Advanced review: Battery life

Dyson claims that the V11 Advanced can run for up to 60 minutes on eco mode per charge. This was borne out by my testing and when using the Eco setting I always finished my clean before I ran out of battery. Especially since after forty minutes of cleaning, the vacuum starts to get heavy.

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There’s a very useful readout on the LCD display that gives you a countdown to when you need to charge so you don’t ever get caught out. Charging itself is also quick and efficient. The battery comes away from the bottom of the handle with a click and plugs easily into the provided power cable.

I did most of my cleaning in the Medium mode to tackle the plush rug and carpet — switching down to Eco when I moved to hard floor. So if you know roughly how long it takes you to clean your house or apartment, you’ll be able to tell if the V11 Advanced has the longevity you need. Finally, you can buy additional batteries at Amazon for (at the time of writing) $72 each.

Dyson V11 Advanced review: Comparison

The Dyson V11 Advanced sits somewhere in the middle of the Dyson’s V-range so, to my mind, it’s a bit of a Goldilocks device. It’s more powerful and has a longer battery life than the 40-minute Dyson V8 Absolute ($469 on Amazon) but it’s also $100 more expensive. Meanwhile, the Dyson V15 Detect ($749 on Amazon) offers you more bundled components and features like dust illumination alongside being lighter — but it’s obviously more expensive.

If you’re not set on Dyson, then you could make your money go further by opting for the Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty Vacuum. That model will intelligently detect your floor type and adjust accordingly and boasts an auto-emptying base. It has a longer battery life at 70 minutes and, at $499, it’s cheaper too. But it’s also bulkier than the Dyson and comes with only a year’s warranty rather than two.

For those looking for a sub-$200 option, we recently tested the Ultenic U12 Vesla cordless vacuum which comes in at $149 at Ultenic. It’s a super-budget entry and clearly takes design inspiration from Dyson’s efforts with a battery readout on the screen and dust-finding green light on the vacuum head. But ignore the copycat antics and it’s a capable enough to give a good clean and won’t break the bank.

Dyson V11 Advanced review: Verdict

Anyone looking for a powerful cordless vacuum that wants the security of buying into the Dyson brand should seriously consider the V11 Advanced (or, regular V11 for that matter). It handles cleaning on hard floors and carpet with aplomb and offers several useful features for everyday vacuuming.

The price is higher than you’ll find on comparable non-Dyson cordless vacuums, but this is comfortably in the middle bracket for the brand itself. You don’t get heaps of features but as a result the price isn’t as high as it could be.

A few potential drawbacks to consider: the amount of included components is limited to just two and the top-heavy design (as with any cordless) can become tiring after long cleaning sessions.

Still, the V11 Advanced (or regular V11 in the United States) is an excellent purchase for anyone that wants a Dyson on a budget. It’s far from the brand’s top-tier vacuum but it’s a good investment that gets all the basics right.