Dyson V11 Absolute Full Review: The Porsche Taycan of Vacuum Cleaners

When it comes to cars, V12 engines lord it over all other engine types. But in Dyson’s world of high-tech vacuuming, a V11 reigns Absolute. 

But forget internal combustion engines in V formation. Dyson vacuum cleaners are the high-performance electric vehicles (EVs) of household appliances—hence the pure-electric Porsche Taycan analogy.  

The P49,500 V11 Absoluteis Dyson’s most powerful cord-free cleaner ever and is the result of more than a decade of cord-free vacuum and Dyson digital motor development. No less than 315 engineers were involved in the project, with over 32,500 parts prototyped.

All electric cars derive their power and performance from the motor and battery. Dyson is no exception. Dyson’s most powerful battery pack ever has seven larger, high-capacity cells with nickel-cobalt-aluminium cathodes to help deliver more suction power for up to 60 minutes of fade-free cleaning. The battery and monitoring system work together to gauge how much runtime is remaining. The system measures the cell capacity and uses an AI algorithm that learns how the user’s machine works over time to calculate remaining runtime. The time displayed even takes the cleaning mode, tool and floor type into account. From a fully drained level, the battery usually goes back to full charge after being plugged in for about three hours.  

And like a high-performance electric car, the Dyson V11 allows three driving modes: Auto Mode (default), Boost Mode (for maximum power), and Eco Mode (for longer battery life). The High Torque cleaner head automatically adapts to different floor types when the machine is in Auto mode. The soft roller cleaner head is engineered for hard floors. It sucks up fine dust and large debris simultaneously.

The V11 has an onboard screen that shows current performance, including selected power mode and remaining runtime. The screen also reminds the user when to clean filters for optimum performance, and informs them of any blockages and how to clear them. Thanks to sensor magnets embedded in the filter assembly, the screen can even tell the user when the filter isn’t connected properly. You’d find this kind of device-to-user feedback in a BMW, but never before in a household appliance.     

Dyson engineers took the already powerful digital motor from their Cyclone V10 vacuum and completely reengineered it to generate 20 percent more suction power for the V11. The V11’s digital motor spins at up to 125,000rpm and uses a triple diffuser. The first two diffusers straighten airflow and reduce turbulence, helping to increase suction, while the third diffuser further reduces noise and improves acoustics.

The impeller – the part of the motor that actually drives the air – has redesigned blades that are longer and thinner to increase the area in contact with the air, without increasing the impeller’s mass. This creates a reduced loading on the blades per unit area, reducing air leakage and increasing the efficiency of air movement.

The impeller blade profile has also been redesigned, with each blade forming an ‘S’ shape to match the shape of the shroud in which the impeller sits. This enables a clearance of a fraction of a millimeter between the blade tips and the shroud, thus reducing air leakage and increasing efficiency. A mini motorized tool tackles hair and ground-in dirt in tight spaces, which I found perfect for cleaning crevices inside a car. 

Aerospace materials are found in the motor, including phenolic compound casing which is used in satellites and provides a high strength-to-weight ratio. The motor’s ceramic impeller shaft is cured at 1,600 degrees Celsius to make it three times stiffer than steel, but with half the density. 880 layers of paper-thin laminated steel generate the magnetic fields to spin the motor, while the motor’s impeller is made from Polyether Ether Ketone and carbon fiber composite found inside high-intensity pistons.

A pressure sensor within the Dyson digital motor V11 reports information back to the microprocessor. This enables the on-screen blockage reporting as a sudden, sharp drop in pressure indicates a blockage. And if a slower decline is detected, it indicates the filter needs washing.

In this age of new viruses, you can’t be too clean. Exposure to dust and allergens can affect wellbeing. The Dyson V11 vacuum’s fully sealed filtration system captures 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns, expelling cleaner air. 14 cyclones generate forces of more than 79,000g to fling microscopic particles – such as pollen and bacteria – into the bin. A ‘point and shoot’ system makes bin emptying easy and hygienic.

Three microprocessors on board the V11 bring a new level of intelligence to vacuum cleaning, monitoring performance up to 8,000 times a second. The microprocessors are located in the Dynamic Load Sensor inside the High Torque cleaner head, inside the V11’s digital motor, and inside the battery. This design means that suction power automatically adjusts depending on floor type, and lets you see how much runtime is remaining.

The Dynamic Load Sensor system, unique to the V11’s High Torque cleaner head, intelligently detects brush bar resistance up to 360 times a second and automatically communicates with the motor and battery’s microprocessors to change the suction power between carpets and hard floors. It’s almost like the electronic stability program of high-end cars that lets a car corner confidently even if the two wheels are on gravel and the other wheels are on asphalt. The V11’s DLS enables carpets to be deep cleaned and runtime to be extended on hard floors.

The High Torque cleaner head features stiff nylon bristles that drive deep into carpet to remove ground-in dirt, and anti-static carbon-fiber filaments that capture dust from hard floors and crevices. An integrated digital motor spins the brush bar up to 60 times a second.

Dyson engineers also devised a way to seal the High Torque cleaner head to the floor, by using a sealing bellow made of elastic polyurethane.

Best of all, the freedom of having no cord and the ability to switch from stick to handheld mode with one click makes it easy to capture dust and allergens from all around the home and the car. Without a doubt, the Dyson V11 Absolute is absolutely the finest vacuum cleaner money can buy.