Customer Ratings & Reviews

If you admire thoughtful engineering and design, and excellent build quality, look no farther than Dyson. Yes, I know vacuum cleaners are typically not much fun, but if you have to do chores, having a well constructed tool can make the job much more tolerable, and dare I day it, even enjoyable. Being a do-it-yourself homeowner with more than a passing tool fetish, there is nothing more pleasantly surprising than using a well executed device to help me with the mundane tasks of everyday life. Dyson vacuums have been on my radar for a number of years as it is hard to miss their display in retail stores because of their vibrant colors and the initially unique design (now copied by other manufacturers)…almost futuristic when compared to the other designs of the time. I have had a Dyson Hot + Cool fan heater for a number of years now and I have been very pleased with it, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to review one of their newest vacuum offerings. The Dyson V11 Torque Drive cordless stick vacuum (there is also a “V11 Animal” version with some differences, and a lower price, but I am referring to the Torque Drive in this review when I mention “V11”) arrived carefully packaged so as to prevent damage to the contents. The fit and finish are first rate. The only real “assembly” required is affixing the wall-mounted charging dock if you choose to use it. You do not have to use it as you can charge the battery without using the charging dock. Putting together the various components to use the vacuum in different configurations is no different from other vacs where the pieces click together, and with the Dyson these parts fit precisely and securely. The red-colored locking tabs are easy to see and operate, and the pieces go together with no slop to make an operating unit that has a definite high-quality feel to it. The hand grip is positioned to give good balance to the motor unit and makes it easy to maneuver without being unwieldy. When vacuuming floors, it is easy to swap the vac from hand to hand while maintaining a finger on the trigger. The charging unit is a “wall wart” style with a six-foot cord. The two electrical prongs are not polarized (one wider than the other) so it does not have to be specifically oriented to be inserted into an outlet. Dyson’s web site is extremely well done in showing how their products work and has many short videos - you wouldn’t even have to read the hardcopy owners manual that comes with the vacuum. The V11 Torque Drive comes with six different tool heads in addition to the charging dock and two of the tools are motorized. The dock has two locations where tools click into place for storage. This is in addition to a small holder that snaps onto the extension wand and allows for storage of two more tools that travel with you as you move through your home while cleaning. So with the tool that is in place on the vacuum at the moment, that leaves one tool without a “home”. This is no different from most other vacuums that do not provide a complete storage solution for all of the attachments they ship with, but better than most. The Dyson V11 is such a departure from vacuums I have owned in the past (and a couple I still do), that I would call it revolutionary when it comes to cleaning. This is especially true if all you have ever used are corded vacuums for floors, like me. I have always considered rechargeable, cordless vacuums to only be suitable for small jobs. How wrong I was. Using the V11 with the 10 inch wide Torque Drive motorized head, I was amazed at the maneuverability afforded me with this vacuum, as it is much easier to clean around and especially under things than with my traditionally styled upright. Combine this with not having to manage a cord, find electrical outlets, and a sound level that is substantially lower than a regular corded vacuum and I found this Dyson to be a real pleasure to use. I wear hearing aids and normally take them out when I vacuum. With the V11 I could leave my hearing aids in and didn’t even have to turn them down. I know, a 10 inch wide cleaning path may seem small if you are faced with massive great room, but for apartment or condo dwellers, or people with typical-sized rooms, the cleaning experience is much preferable to traditional, full-sized vacuum cleaners. If you have different levels of a house to clean, the light weight and small size of this Dyson make it so much easier to move from room to room. This is something I know I will appreciate more and more as I get older. And speaking of different levels, the V11 comes with a 5.5 inch wide motorized head that is perfect for cleaning carpet on stairs. This cordless stick-vacuum can easily replace my corded upright (for doing floors), the corded hand-vacuum (for stairway carpet), and the cordless hand-vac (for small messes and tight areas). I was also a doubter when it came to power and “suckabilty” of a stick-vac for carpet, but I was fascinated by watching the debris collect in the see-through dust collection bin - something that was always an unknown with my upright that uses bags. Emptying this collection bin is a mess-free job that would be impossible to be make any easier. That cannot be said of some bagless machines on the market and was the reason I bought a bagged upright a number of years ago. I was able to vacuum the floors in the entire house on two charges of the battery. This is for three levels and about 2400 square feet. Being able to move from carpet to a hard floor and back without making any adjustments to the vacuum was appreciated and unexpected. There is no need for me to wade through the specs and all of the features for this vacuum as that information is readily available online. If I had to go forward with owning only one vacuum, it is hands down, this V11. The only nits I can pick with this vacuum are that the rechargeable battery is not easily removable like it is with a cordless drill and there are not storage locations for all of the accompanying tools. I suspect the battery is a serviceable item by a Dyson service facility and the whole thing does not get thrown away like with many lesser appliances when the battery finally falters. Being a lithium-ion unit, I do expect a long life from the battery. After my experiences with this vacuum and the Dyson fan heater I also own, I am inclined to believe that I could buy any Dyson product with complete confidence in the product’s design, usability and the claims made for the device.

Good and easy to use but out for really thick carpet or else this machine doesn't work.

Great vacuum my wife and I love it. Cleans up dirt really good. Best vacuum ever. Love it so much I have 2 of them.

I had a Dyson already, wanted a newer one, love it!!! Bought it for my Mom to use, she wanted to take the old one.

Still figuring out all attachments but nice to be able to use in my car and great flexibility on floors.

Has some trouble getting larger items off of hard surfaces but otherwise I really like it.

I bought it for my friend and she love it. Its powerful with good design.. Highly recommend it!!

Purchased this because of dogs and dust. With all the attachments, it’s worth it for all it can do.

This is the 2nd Dyson vacuum we have purchased. First one broke after two tests. Hope this model is better

Cleans like nothing I’ve ever seen before,, clean anything and it will do the job

I upgraded from my Dyson V8 Animal to this newer model. I never had clogging occur on my V8 or my v7. The major failure point is the straight shoot connection. Whereas the V8 and previous models opened to a wide mouth to the internal canister, the v11 has a smaller opening. I actually really want to return this one but I got rid of the box.

Sometimes having problems dirt stuck inside and always clean filters

Second time purchase. Such a good vac but battery life isn't too great

I Love It . Works Great . Get The Job Done . Super Easy to Handle

Dyson two told us this was safe for all Floors and it worked really well in the store demo so we bought one. But the manual says not for all floors and conventional wisdom cautions against beater bars on hardwood so we erred on the side of caution and returned it to stick with our Dyson canister that does allow us to stop the beater bar.

The vacuum head gets messed up easily but other than that it is a fantastic vacuum

It is good but the battery does not last long this is the only inconvenience I see so far

It is a little awkward to empty since the vacuum tube has to be removed to do so

This vacuum works great and has extra features not available on the other models

Excellent my wife and I love this vacuum just what we wanted.