While most gadget aficionados are interested in typical consumer devices such as smartphones, audio products, wearables, and computers, I seem to have a slightly strange obsession with vacuum cleaners. It started out with an interest in cleaning robots, but now that I’ve successfully deployed artificial intelligence for the critical task of keeping my floors clean, I’ve looked at ways to take that further. After all, there’s only so much a robot can do before a person needs to step in and apply some good old human judgement.
If you’re willing to put in some manual labour, the most effective tool at your disposal is a good vacuum cleaner. For anyone with an idea of the segment and how it works, you’ll know that Dyson is widely considered the ‘Apple’ of the vacuum cleaner market. Although expensive, there’s just something about a Dyson vacuum cleaner that makes it appealing to adults over a certain age.
The Dyson product I’m reviewing here is the V11 Absolute Pro, which is the most powerful and well-equipped vacuum cleaner in the company’s product range in India. Priced at Rs. 52,900, the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro works cord-free and comes with plenty of accessories and fittings. It promises to offer a thorough cleaning for your entire home, and more. Is this technologically advanced but rather expensive vacuum cleaner worth the asking price? Find out in this review.
Although cord-free and easy to use for the most part, the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is heavy
Dyson V11 Absolute Pro design and usage
As the most expensive vacuum cleaner in the company’s product range in India, the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is also the largest and most powerful option you can buy in the country. The numbers are quite impressive as well: the device generates 185 Air Watts of suction, with its Hyperdymium vacuum motor spinning at up to 1,25,000rpm to power the 14 ‘Cyclones’ that pull in dirt. Although these stats might sound a bit hyperbolic, they essentially mean that the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is among the most powerful cord-free vacuum cleaners you can buy right now.
The Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is an impressive-looking machine, resembling a large, science-fiction-inspired gun of sorts, and made almost entirely of plastic with a big see-through dustbin. A trigger controls the power, and in effect, the suction, making this device fairly easy to use. It doesn’t have a power switch; it’s always on and ready to go, assuming the battery pack is affixed and it’s charged enough to work. You simply pull the trigger – hold it to start the suction, and release it to stop.
At the back of the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is a small round colour screen. A button right below it can be used to choose the suction power mode, cycling between Eco, Medium, and Boost. I usually used the vacuum in Medium mode, but you can select one of the others to either improve battery life at the cost of slightly less suction power, or use the full power of the motor while significantly reducing battery life.
When the V11 Absolute Pro is running, the screen displays an estimate of how much time the vacuum cleaner will run at its current battery level, which naturally counts down as you use it. This also depends on the fittings connected to the vacuum cleaner, as some of them have moving parts that draw power from the vacuum cleaner itself.
The suction motor pulls in dust and dirt particles, including larger impurities such as food crumbs and scraps of paper, and then ejects them into the sealed dustbin. This is a transparent chamber, so you can see how much dirt has accumulated in the bin at any time, with an indicator line to let you know when it needs to be emptied.
The see-through dustbin lets you know when to empty out the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro
Cleaning out the dustbin is quite easy; you simply hold the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro with the suction intake facing downwards, and push on the red handle at the bottom. This opens the lid of the bin and pushes the entire bin downwards to eject most of its contents, so you’ll need to make sure you do this directly over a disposal container to avoid dirt falling in an area you’ve just cleaned. To close the bin and get the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro ready to work again, you just need to push the lid closed and slide the bin back till it clicks into place. Be careful to not operate the trigger while the bin is open.
The back of the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is the filter, which cleans the air sucked in of tiny dirt and dust particles, before exhausting it out the back through small slits. The filter can be removed and cleaned by rinsing it with water under a tap occasionally, and it’s recommended by Dyson that it be replaced every six months if you use your vacuum heavily.
Dyson V11 Absolute Pro fittings
A key advantage of the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is the number of fittings and accessories that come in the box, including multiple vacuum cleaner heads for different surfaces or purposes. There is also a detachable metal pipe, called the ‘Wand’ by Dyson, which is used to conveniently clean the floor or reach high places with the device comfortably. The Wand is about 75cm in length, and has the same head fitting as the device itself. Also included in the box is a small wall-mountable hook with a space to attach the charger, so you can dock the V11 Absolute Pro to charge when not in use.
Dyson accessories are not interchangeable across the company’s product range, so accessories made for the V11 Absolute Pro won’t work with other Dyson devices such as the recently launched Omni-Glide or vice versa. This is the case with the Wand as well, since it has to both fit into the main suction port of the V11 Absolute Pro, as well as allow the vacuum heads to be fitted into it.
The included fittings, as well as the Wand pipe tool, slot into place at the front of the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro
The fittings in the box include the Torque Drive, Soft Roller Cleaner, Crevice Tool, Combination Tool with a brush, Mini Motorised Tool, Mini Soft Dusting Brush, Mattress Tool, Top-Up Adapter, and Extension Hose. Different vacuum heads work for different purposes. I’ve explored how they work in more detail in the next section of this review.
The base of the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is a large removable battery, with a proprietary charging socket. The charging adapter in the box plugs into this socket, and it takes around 4.5 hours to fully charge the device from empty. It weighs around 3kg, and can therefore be a bit unwieldy when used over long periods of time. I was usually able to use it for around 10-15 minutes at a time before needing to give my hand a break; fortunately, this was often enough to thoroughly clean as much as I needed to in a single session, or for one moderate or large room at a time.
Dyson V11 Absolute Pro performance and battery life
Dyson sells a wide range of cord-free vacuum cleaners, and the V11 Absolute Pro sits at the top of its product range in India. The cord-free form factor, hand-held usage style, and sufficient battery life for household use make this an all-rounder. I found that it works quickly, efficiently, and conveniently. It also isn’t as loud as traditional drum or dirt-container vacuum cleaners.
The various fittings and the powerful suction mean that the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is well suited to cleaning just about any household surface, including hard and carpeted floors, sofas and beds, the tops of tables and shelves, and more. I even used it to clean my car, and for all of the tasks I put the Dyson to, I was impressed with the results.
My personal favourite fitting was the Soft Roller Cleaner. It was the most effective for cleaning my hard tiled floors, but the fluffy rollers on this head did need to be kept clean since dust and small particles got stuck in the fabric. Small wheels at the bottom of the Soft Roller and a flexible pipe allowed for a reasonable range of movement, letting me quickly adjust the cleaning angle as needed.
A small round screen at the back tells you how much longer the V11 Absolute Pro will run based on its charge level, when in use
I often also used the Crevice Tool and Torque Drive attachment (which has a motorised roller and brush to rapidly sweep the floor and dislodge dirt particles) for specific requirements, such as reaching in between the gaps in my car’s seats and to clean up after an accident that involved a broken glass bottle, respectively.
The Soft Dusting Brush came in handy to clean on top of furniture, while the Mattress Tool helped give the mattresses in my home a thorough clean. The Top-Up Adapter was useful to angle the vacuum head for tricky spots, including the tops of cupboards and ceiling fans. While the variety of vacuum heads and accessories was confusing at first, I quickly got the hang of which ones I needed to use the most and which worked best for what specific purpose. I didn’t find it hard to switch between them to suit the cleaning task at hand.
I found that the rate at which the battery level dropped during use varied every time I put on a different fitting, so it’s difficult to say which ones are the most power-hungry.
No vacuum cleaner is truly silent, but the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is considerably less noisy than most other consumer-grade devices that I have used, because of the way the motor works. The hum of the suction motor and the whoosh of air being exhausted don’t sound unpleasant, and aren’t loud to the point of reaching unsafe levels.
Battery life on the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is decent enough, given the cord-free form factor and the power of the Hyperdymium motor. It’s rated to run for 60 minutes (when using the Eco mode), and I usually got around 40 minutes of runtime when mostly using the Medium mode with occasional uses of the Boost mode. I also usually had the Wand and Soft Roller or Crevice Tool attached. Continuous use of the Boost mode will drain the battery in just about 10 minutes and will also make the device a lot louder, so it’s best to use it only when absolutely needed; the Medium mode works just fine for everyday cleaning.
Verdict
The Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is an absolute pleasure to use. It’s powerful, effective, and has accessories that let it adapt to most dry household cleaning use cases. Although a bit heavy, this cord-free vacuum cleaner has enough battery life to make it very useful around the house – if you have the budget for it.
Priced at Rs. 52,900, the Dyson V11 Absolute Pro is the most expensive cord-free vacuum cleaner the company sells in India, and it’s admittedly difficult to wrap your head around paying this much for a vacuum cleaner. However, the overall package, ease of use, and thorough cleaning capabilities make this a desirable option for anyone looking at an efficient solution for home cleaning.
Rating: 8/10
Pros:
- Powerful suction motor, easy to clean and maintain
- Lots of vacuum heads and accessories
- Convenient cord-free use, good battery life
- Can clean just about any surface in a typical household
Cons:
- Very expensive
- A bit heavy
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