Dyson V11 Outsize

Shockingly bad vacuum at a ridiculous price – Shocking quality. The first machine that I received cannot even switch on after I receive it, so Dyson replaced a new one for me straight away. Second one lasted about 3.5 years and now completely unusable. It's shocking build quality for a $1.3k product to last only 3years. Customer support also never offers consistent messaging. When I… Read more

contacted them, they tried to persuade me into buying a new machine from them because this one is out of warranty. Disgusting service and have no compassion to customer's experience. I'd expect a Kmart vacuum to last more than 3 years. My machine was regularly cleaned. It won't stop pulsating now and Dyson just told me that the main body broke down. After I questioned them why is there no repair service, they then offered to repair the machine at $249/$399. Have a look around you Dyson. Have a look at how much stick vacuum costs these days and why would i pay $399 to fix something which has 1 year warranty and could just break down again?

This vacume is 4 years old and the coil/pipe in the head has already deteriorated and made the vacume useless. There is no suction. Also, the red clip on the main secion used to open and release the dirt and dust has cracked and broken off. Paid Good Guys Concierge 5 year Gold Service - advised not vaid and contacted Dyson and told out of… Read more

warranty. Be aware.. the Dyson vacume does not last. I've had cheaper vacumes and they have lasted10-15 years. This is the first and last Dyson I will be buying.

Powerful, super size vaccum to clean bigger houses quicker; great filter – This seismic giant was at one time Dyson’s top gun vacuum. With 225AW, it’s a powerhouse--the torque head and gate easily sucks up almost anything in its path. To this day, while Dyson’s biggest and brightest have upgraded in many ways from floor heads to power output, the V11 Outsize innovated mightily in many ways, including: + First in the… Read more ·  1

Dyson range with a click in battery. + Easy access to the floor head for cleaning via a smart red tab (Outsize models only). + Dyson's biggest HEPA filter, bin and floor head on a cordless vacuum. If you don't swoop for a Gen 5 Outsize and can still find one, this machine has still got a point to prove.

MY OUTSIZE STORY My go to choice after a V7, I (safely) ploughed through bond cleans sporting all floor types with powerful results. + While heavier, I found the wider surface areas allowed you to clean quicker; the floor head was brilliant at picking up on all surfaces and as a massive bonus, was easier to clean as a part due to a click out red tab that removes the roller. + A click in battery allowed me to easily rotate with another spare battery if on a cleaning marathon. I overused boost mode in the early days which Dyson educated me against (it's for intensive bursts only, otherwise the battery runs hot and deteriorates more rapidly.) + Fortunately, with the Auto mode, you don't have to worry about what mode is needed where. Meaning, the machine does it for you. + It's rare that you will cross the max line on the big bin quickly. + I was also majorly impressed with the HEPA filter; and the option to upgrade to a green/blue ones improves the machines filtration even more (trapping 99.7% of allergenic particles down to 0.1 microns, the standard purple filter does 99.9% down to 0.3 microns). In true cyclonic vitriol, everything was just bigger and better, more powerful and easier.

THE VIDEO https://youtu.be/0ZCNtHMEZmg?si=GNCADoNVnnWxHlyq Wow. For the record, from what i can see I never even got to + mode on the gate and Boost Mode and the V11 Outsize impressively ploughs its way through all those 100s and 1000s. What is exceedingly impressive about this is on this surface you would traditionally use the soft fluffy roller head for best results. Even more startling is the fact the brush bar hadn't been reset, meaning the debris you see it collecting (Auto mode, neutral setting on the gate) is with a roller that is not even spinning!

V11 VS V11 OUTSIZE + With a 125% bigger bin, 25% bigger floor head, a bigger filter and more power than the V11 (185AW VS 225AW), the Outsize suits bigger houses and larger spaces better. + At the time of the Outsize being launched, V11 machines only had a screw in battery; these days, there is a click in battery option. + The general floor head roller is easier to remove via a click out red tab rather than the regular tab that is removed by twisting a coin. This makes cleaning much easier. + Soft fluffy roller head for hard floors included as standard; only available on selected V11 models such as the Absolute. Be sure to view it and try it if possible, as there's a niche for this vacuum, but if it's too grandiose, a standard V11 may be more your thing.

DIGITAL SCREEN The V11 Outsize offers a digital screen, with the following benefits; + Eco auto and boost mode. + Alerts you to any blockages or if the filter needs cleaning. + Tells you how much battery power remains. + Multiple language options.

POWER & BATTERY + Click in battery running up to 60 mins in Auto mode. + In Eco mode, the V11 Outsize can run up to 70+ minutes, which will prove a real asset to your cleaning and charging schedule. + Boost mode offers up to 7 mins cleaning (use for spot cleaning in intensive bursts if you choose to operate manually.) + Intelligently adapts to your floor type in auto mode and conserves battery power accordingly. E.g., where there is less dust and debris on tiles, the machine will go into Eco mode. For more intensive fine dust and debris, the machine will go into Boost mode). With these features, the V11 Outsize helps you clean your house without compromise. HEADS Whether their cars, houses or vacuums, some people just want bigger. + Dyson's 25% wider torque drive head with an adjustable gate (3 settings gives the people what they want; superbly powerful and a great all rounder.) + This size matches the machine best; the fit of the smaller floor heads are, while effective for dust and debris, awkward to handle. + The gate allows for better pickup options on different floors, and for bigger debris, which reduces the need for using the fluffy roller as much (limiting changing heads from floor to floor.) + For the sake of improved tackling of pet hair, the new motorbar adds hair detangling vanes (which remove caught up hair from the brush bar.)

CHARGER/STAND + The plug is the same as that for the V11 Outsize, V10 and V15. + There is also a Dyson standing floor dok available as an optional extra for your machine.

FILTER + The advanced filtration captures 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. Bigger is cooler, and better still, its taking care of all those nasty allergens from pollen to pet dander, safely sealed, and then putting out HEPA filtered clean air.

NOISE The test of how quiet your vacuum is can always be determined by how far you can get towards the dog or cat without them sprinting off like Hussein Bolt... + Super quiet in eco, super noisy in boost; but you will rarely use that mode as a general rule of thumb as this is a powerful vacuum. Auto will sometimes switch to boost mode. James Dyson was always more concerned with suction than sound, and that's what makes him one of the technological greats, as this is the right sacrifice for better performance. The Eco mode is one of Dyson's finest creations; Boost mode, one of their noisiest (don't use past the 9'o clock curfew...)

WEIGHT + The V11 Outsize weighs in at 3.5kg compared to 3kg on the standard Dyson V11.

SUMMARY If you are super keen on the bigger bin, prestigious power and best battery option, start from the Outsize range (the other machine is the Gen 5 Outsize) as your first Dyson port of call. If you aren't keen on (literally) cleaning Dyson heads, then the good news is that the general floor head on this machine will be your easiest cleaning experience since the earlier V6 heads. If you want the convenience of changing floor heads less, the 25% wider head with its gate will suit you down to the ground. You also have upgrade options; spare battery, better HEPA filter etc; so if you need a vacuum to take on the world if you have bigger spaces and places to play with, then this is the sucker for you. If you are put off by bigger vacuums then it would be advised you handle this first, as it is humongous. The big flip slide of this is that is it does 'glide' when you are vacuuming which makes it feel much lighter than you expect from the frame. Handheld vacuuming is possible (as with all Dyson's) but you will feel it. Finally, the soft fluffy roller head is one of Dyson's finest hours for fine dust and debris on hard floors (and getting more of it) but as it is a smaller size, it feels awkward to control. For some, this will be the vacuuming daddy: for others, the rave will be centered around the standard V11, which for the long haul and wider audience offers more versatility.

Yep this is the one! – We’ve had 2 vacuum cleaners for a while now; a Dyson v6 slim for the small jobs and a Vacuum-Maid for the full house clean. The hope was our new Dyson v11 Outsize would be good enough to do both jobs and replace them. After using the Outsize for a month ... we reckon it can; but with a few conditions. Firstly, did the Outsize have as much suction… Read more

as our Vacuum-Maid which is a ducted system with a powerful motor and dust collection bin located in the garage? We’d say yes to that. Not scientifically compared but the Outsize had extremely powerful suction and cleaned just as thoroughly. It had a couple of advantages over the vacuumaid too. We didn’t have to drag the 8m hose behind us, grinding it against our newly painted skirting boards around corners, then plugging and unplugging into different outlets around the house. The Dyson is cordless! It’s the main reason we selected it to replace what we have. Sooo much easier to vacuum the house cordless/hoselessly.

The 25% larger head also makes a big difference; less sweeps to complete the same job than with the smaller head of our old vacuum ( and of other Dysons). Our 4 bedroom, office, 3 living area house ( big but not massive ) was vacuumed with the Dyson about 10 minutes quicker than before. The manoeuvrability of the big head is also better but a bit harder to get under chair legs.

The intelligent nature of the Dyson, detecting the type of surface, is an impressive time saver in our house. We move from thick brand new carpet to timber floors to hall runners to tiles in very close quarters. The Outsize detects this and you can hear and feel the motors and head changing to suit the surface automatically. It’s very cool and works.

The dust bin is much bigger than any other cordless vacuum out there and I guess for a really dirty huge house you might need it, but we will struggle to ever fill it from vacuuming our house. Easy to empty though. Our v6, one of the first Dyson cordless models, can be a bit fiddly to empty at first; the v11 Outsize has a much improved easy push trigger system so happy with that.

The cradles the Dysons come with are perfect for storage and the recharger connects every time you put it back in the cradle. The Outsize has a seperate battery unlike most Dyson models that have them built in. I guess if you had a second battery you could replace the flat one and keep vacuuming. But with about an hour of vacuuming time with the Outsize, you’d have to have a huge house or love vacuuming to keep going for that long. Our battery will probably stay connected and get it’s recharge whenever we put it back in the cradle.

There are heaps of accessories, as there should be with a vacuum cleaner you invest $1200+ in. Haven’t used them all but have the little brush head and crevice tool connected to the stick / great idea because we use them the most.

A couple of suggestions to Dyson though. The trigger. Why do all Dyson cordless have a trigger that has to be held down the whole time? I have that on my circular saw and hedge trimmer as a safety precaution but don’t see why there can’t be on/off on the vacuum handle. My wife said she actually got finger cramp from holding it on for over 30 mins. And the weight. Yes it is quite heavy but that really wasn’t an issue for me; it seemed well balanced but my wife said it was an issue for her lifting it at certain times. She said somewhere to grip or a handle on the dust bin would have been helpful.

The overall verdict though is a big thumbs up if you are happy to spend that sort on money on a vacuum cleaner. For me, I’ll be using only the V11 Outsize. It’s so powerful and easy to handle; I just love it. My wife still grabs the Dyson v6 slim for small jobs and anything up high. It’s much lighter. But neither of us have touched the Vacuum-Maid since we got the new Outsize. It really is good enough, in fact better than our old ducted machine.

And the photos and video: one photo shows how we store the vacuums in the charging cradles. A second shows where my wife would like a handle to lift the Outsize when necessary. The video is just a quick run across a few surfaces. You can hear the motor change. Then you see how easy it is to store ..... with a bit of a bobble .... it’s actually very easy.

Good for small jobs, not a big clean – I was sent this product by productreview.com.au to test and write a review on it. The only Dyson experience I have previously had is for one of the little hand held Dyson’s that’s good for quick small vacuuming jobs. With the Dyson V11 Outsize, I was surprised at how big the box was, and how many attachments there are. However, I was… Read more

disappointed that there wasn’t any real instructions with it, other than two pages of safety information, an extra document with instructions on how to install the holder, and another document with information about the battery. There were no instructions for all the various attachments and what they are used for. I haven't used all the attachments as yet as I haven't found a need for all of them.

There is an attachment which is good for tiled areas and wooden floorboards, however, I found the attachment wobbles a lot and is quite hard to get used to using (after having used a 'normal' vacuum cleaner). The wobble factor is built in by design but I just found it distracting as the thing moved of it's own volition and wasn't going where I was trying to push it.

When it came to carpeted areas, wow, you get a really good core body workout, as it is very difficult to push this vacuum on longer pile carpet. In fact, when my partner used it, he didn't bother trying to 'push' it on the longer pile carpet, he just 'pulled' it towards himself.

We live in a very small cottage, and have two dogs with very long feathered fur. I didn't try to vacuum the entire house in one go as I found that holding the Dyson with the trigger on to power it, exacerbated an elbow injury that I have (tennis elbow). I also don't think the battery would have lasted trying to vacuum the entire house, as we have a number of different surfaces, and the battery indicator kept chopping and changing for how much battery time it had left, depending on where I was using the vacuum. On carpet and the rugs, etc it kicked into higher mode to try to suck up as much stuff as possible, which meant the time left on the battery dropped significantly. In the one room that has much longer pile carpet, it was very hard to use. I don't think the battery lasted for longer than 30 minutes at any one time when I was using it, before the warning light went to red and said it needed to be plugged in (at least, that's what I was assuming it meant, as I didn't get instructions). I also wasn't sure if I should keep using it until the battery went completely dead, or if I needed to plug it in to recharge as soon as the red warning light came on.

I also didn't like the fact that I had to pull the attachment I was using off it, in order to empty it. And trying to empty it into a garbage bin inside the house created mess, as if your bin isn't empty enough to put the entire vacuum body into the bin, then it just drops the contents of the vacuum everywhere.

You also can't use carpet deodoriser products with a Dyson (which we like to use given the dog situation).

The attachment for use on furniture such as lounges, and furnishings worked well.

The vacuum head for use on carpet and rugs is very low to the ground, so it was good for getting underneath things, such as a chest we use as a coffee table in the lounge room. Normally if I want to vacuum under it with our other vacuum, I have to move the entire chest.

I found it impractical for use in the car to try to clean the footwells, etc as it is just way too big and bulky and you couldn't reach everywhere that you needed to get to.

So I wasn't a big fan of the Dyson V11 Outsize, but my partner loved it. He found it easier to use as he's over 6 foot tall and it seemed to be just the right size for him to use without having to bend too much. He's usually the one who does the vacuuming as well so it will be interesting to see if he continues to use the Dyson, or if he switches back to the other vacuum.

I think this product would be good if you are the type of person who does a quick vacuum on a daily basis, as it would be handy for that. But we generally do a big day of cleaning on a weekend, and this product doesn't have the staying power for a big job of cleaning when there is significant amounts of dog hair, dirt, long hair, etc to be removed.

Finally a Dyson Cordless that I would consider buying – Dear Reader; I will declare that I did not purchase this vacuum cleaner. It was sent to me by Product Review to use, test and review. This is not my first Dyson. I purchased a Dyson V8 Absolute Plus back in 2018, and I sent it back under the satisfaction guarantee. You can read that review here. … Read more

https://www.productreview.com.au/reviews/60750d49-74b2-3ef4-8c74-1409602004c7

Unboxing: Dyson products are amazingly well packaged, and it takes a huge amount of effort to repackage if you ever want to return one. (You tube videos of unboxings are very helpful in this regard, watch in reverse!). The manual was scant, but perfect for me, (No big manual in my box) but please pay attention to the instructions stuck to the unit for emptying the dust bin etc. It's all simple, logical, the unit will tell you when you wash the hepa filter, move on.

They really managed to pack a lot into the box with this Outsize version of the 11. The first thing that stands out is the size of the motor unit, especially the dust bin. Way bigger the older style machines, ie v6 and v8 and 50% bigger than the V10 and base model v11. This is a good thing. The main torque drive vacuum head is also 25% bigger. Finally making it the same size as most corded and ducted vacuum cleaner heads, with the added benefit of motorhead, (a motorised rotating brush that is key to the Dysons ability to pick up dust, dirt and especially hair from floors and carpet). The other sensation is of quality. Every part feels solid, well-engineered and very well made. There are very few cordless vacuum cleaners that you can say that about.

Note: A majority of my house is tiled, main lounge is floorboards, 4 carpeted double bedrooms, and one big 3.6m x 2m long pile rug makes it 2/3rd’s hard floors and 1/3rd carpet.

First usage. Colour screen tells me to fully charge the battery before first use. Aww. Had to have a quick play, and check out the 3 modes. ECO (low), AUTO (read review), BOOST (OMG this thing sucks!).

OK 2+ hours later, first vacuum on the long pile rug was interesting. The amount of dust and dog hair it pulled up, (despite being recently vacuumed by a ducted vacuum cleaner, that lacks the rotating brush head) was amazing. You can see the carpets long fibres being sucked up and brushed by the rotating brush through the clear brush head. Then when you look through the clear canister dust bin, there is no doubt that this thing can suck! When testing I left the vacuum in the middle Auto power setting. Auto mode is clever enough to adjust the vacuum strength higher (less run time) and lower (more run time) as necessary.

Refer to my Video to briefly see it in action.

But there was an immediate issue, pushing the vacuum cleaner forward, no problem, pulling back, against the wide rotating head, would cause the motor head to stop spinning. Fair enough, but pushing forward again would not restart the motor head. Hmm, this is rather annoying as it stops your ability to vacuum a rug quickly. (This problem mostly went away with regular use, maybe the long pile rug become less knotted, not sure. It may also be a safety feature!). Note the head has a physical button with 3 suctions settings, it was on the default middle setting, the low setting stopped this issue, but you can feel the loss of suctions as its far easier to push. The high setting made it almost impossible to push, that’s a testament to its sucking force.

Let’s talk about boost, do you need to use boost, not for every day. 8 to 9 Minutes of boost and the battery is flat. The suction is so strong it becomes very difficult to push on carpet, (medium pile), and Impossible to push (totally stuck!) on a long pile rung. Backing off the suction by adjusting the Torque drive head to the Minus setting, thereby letting more suction enter through the gaps at the front of the floor tool, defeats the purpose. Why circulate air at the expense of battery time! Leave this on auto, vacuum carpets, rugs and tiles and you can easily vacuum an entire house, bathrooms and all on one charge, 30 squares, 30 to 40 minutes run time easy! I was impressed, very impressed. The V8 was unable to do this, even on ECO! Note: as the Countdown changes as suction changes it impossible to know exactly how long it lasts. I tried to time myself, but as I stop and start constantly it was well over an hour.

Initially I didn’t bother with ECO mode, auto’s ability to change suction on the fly made sense, it increased suction on carpets and reduced on tiles and floorboards. You always felt the suction, and it never made it too hard to push on carpet, although the Long Pile Rug needed a Torque Drive Head adjustment to minus. (Refer photo).

On ECO it was easier to push, almost too easy giving the impression it wasn’t sucking hard enough. Personally, I feel these modes are great for advertising. 60 minutes run time (Eco on hard floors), 220 air watts power (Boost ONLY mode, 8 minutes!). But after using ECO in my basement on polished concrete and low pile felt backed carpet tiles, (think industrial). ECO mode worked a treat. Cleaned the carpet and concrete easily with amazing run time. Another cool thing about ECO, is when the vacuum motor pulses to warn you the battery is low, and you have more to clean, flick it to ECO and to have 10+ more minutes! For normal houses, auto is perfect, ECO is not a gimmick, it has its place, and BOOST, well I’m sure one day I’ll find a need for it.

The V11 Outsize comes with the fluffy cleaning head, perfect for wooden floor boards. This is great addition as there is no chance of scratches on floor boards, and it visually picks up the fine dust in a single pass, but please Mr Dyson, Outsize it! Why is it so small compared to the full-sized torque drive motor head, disappointing! It also lacks the ball joint for manoeuvrability and has no soft edges to avoid damaging skirts. When it comes to floorboards and tiles, its quicker and easier to use a large microfibre static dry mop, end result looks the same, and takes far less time. (Then use the Dyson with the mini head to clean the mop, the spinning head does a great job).

Other Issues: Thanks to UPSIZED powerful 220AW motor and larger bin, this unit is heavy in hand. All of the weight is at the top, not the bottom. Vacuuming the rug was hard sweaty work, and my wife could not do it without setting the Torque head to minus or using ECO. Also try using this in a car, it's too big! Mr Dyson, please include a flexi hose so you can leave the unit on the floor outside the car, or on the seats while you clean the nooks and crannies, (You can purchase a 60cm extension, is it long enough, Hmm). The tool clip that holds 2 attachments to the wand, might be good in principle, but don’t vacuum with it on. The tools vibrate like crazy. https://youtu.be/s011AcvJODo The screw in wall stand hanging / charging stand needs to accommodate all of the bits for proper storage, It’s a bit mickey mouse for $1299 dollar unit. Too big and heavy to use on furniture with the tiny attachments in handheld mode, Just look at the size with one little tool attached.

In Summary:

The BEST Dyson cordless to date. Would I buy one, If this was available in Australia at around $700. Absolutely. I still think the price is prohibitive for many people, and I won’t really use it on tiles or floorboards unless there is a big dry spill. For carpets, it has now replaced my ducted vacuum for convenience, and results. Dyson has successfully addressed battery life, bin size and vacuuming speed by upsizing the Torque drive head. The increased weight is acceptable for vacuuming with the stick and floor attachment, but not for single handed use. I don’t know why Dyson do not include the flexi hose in the box, maybe they should make a longer one with a solid section at the end to hold the attachments.

PRO’s: Excellent for carpets, pet hair and fine dust. Cleaning ability is excellent on all surfaces, no question. Dust Bin is a good size for large home usage. Auto mode is ace, just leave it up to the torque drive head, ECO is actually Useful. Quality construction, and the bin mechanism is smooth compared to the V8 and older models. Battery life is finally acceptable / and with clickable (removable batteries) you can always buy a second and swap for non-stop cleaning! Maybe Dyson will bring out other tools that can share this battery! (Power tools, lawn mower, blowers. Huge market!!) Suitable to replace a corded unit. Manoeuvrability is excellent on Torque drive head tanks to the ball joint; right angle vacuuming is a cinch.

CONS: Expensive, eventually the price will become acceptable. When you slide the "Bin" compartment down some hair and dust is stuck to the stainless-steel motor section that’s now exposed, needs some brushes to push it down into the bin. Need an OUTSIZE fluffy head for floorboards with same articulated ball joint as Torque drive. Timber Floor fluffy head lack of width and manoeuvrability limit usage to hmm I won’t use it. Potential skirt damage from hard plastics. Why no soft edges around the heads, (Torque drive has a thin felt strip on the front, nothing on the sides, fluffy head is all hard). Heavy, you feel the weight on this unit, and vacuuming carpets becomes a slog. Single handed use for furniture is now difficult (due to weight). Need to include a long Flexi Hose for using small attachments in tight spaces like in a car. Lack of storage on wall hanging mount

Proposals: Maybe it’s time the Dyson went on your back, with a hose and wand like the professional’s use? Maybe Dyson could add a handle that attaches to the rear of the motor and have the floor cleaning unit directly below. This way the motor weight ends up directly above the vacuum head with a handle on top, less weight on arms, more weight on the carpet, like the old style ball vacuum cleaner Dyson were famous for!

Game changing cordless vac that performs better than a corded vac! – I’ve been using this vacuum for a couple of weeks now, having previously owned the Dyson V7. Out of the box (which was well packaged and a bit like a game of Jenga) the vac was super easy to put together. The massive size of the head was a surprise as was the sheer amount of accessories - they have thought of everything! With the bulk of my… Read more

home having bamboo flooring I was most keen to try this out on my hard floor. I also have a Dyson V7 which struggles with picking up crumbs on the hard floor unless a fluffy head is attached.

The V11 Outsize also comes with a fluffy head, but to be honest I’ve had such excellent results with the outsized head that I haven’t bothered to try it.

Let’s talk about the outsized head. It evenly picks up dust for the entire length of the head. Cleaning time and energy is saved due to the ability to clean a room in just a few sweeps. The suction is very strong too.

Although the unit is heavy in comparison to the V7, Dyson have made sure that the unit is well balanced. The weight is also helpful as the unit sits squarely weighted on the ground and does not skip. It skims easily across both hard floors and carpets.

On carpets the outsized head really shines, backed up with strong suction. Floors that I ‘thought’ were clean sucked up a concerning amount of dust.

The size of the dust canister is huge! I can vacuum for ages before I empty it which is certainly an improvement over the V7 which I sometimes have to stop mid-vacuuming to empty. The run time is also perfect - I can vac my 5 bedroom house in one go!

We have two dogs, one that sheds hair and I’ve noticed that the V11 does an excellent job of ridding surfaces of these fine hairs.

Take a look at my video to see the unit up close and personal. I had a bit of fun making it whilst in isolation in the crazy COVID-19 situation we are in right now.

If you are looking to replace a corded vacuum I would recommend this unit whole heartedly. I do not see the need to own both as this does an equal, if not better job.

If you have a large house or apartment, this product will save time and you will find it so convenient to use as it’s cordless.

I’ll be giving my old Dyson upright and my Dyson V7 Absolut away to relatives as I simply have no need of them now I have this beast.

Oh and I’m a bit tight with money too and tend to purchase items on sale / second-hand, or an earlier, discounted model. However, I am happy to purchase something more expensive if it does exactly what it claims to do.

The Dyson V11 Outsize delivers in spades. Convenient, effective and actually a lot of fun to use.

Not small, not cheap, but an excellent vacuum – Am social distancing due to COVID-19, so have had plenty of time to do a detailed review! Everything came in one large rectangular box, and the various pieces were very securely packed, so unboxing took a little while, but afterwards assembling it was very quick. Most of the packing material was paper based, so close to 100% recyclable which is a… Read more

nice touch (just a couple of stickers and cable ties that would not be recyclable). I had a quick play to make sure it worked, and on pressing the trigger a message appeared on the screen showing it had 35% charge with a recommendation that it be charged first before use - so I then plugged it in and left it to charge. The charger plugs directly into the battery pack - if you use the wall mount, the charger cable is simply clipped into to the wall mount itself.

When on charge the colour screen on the back of the vacuum goes off after a while, but pressing a button under it lights it up again briefly. It had fully charged from 35% in about 4 hours. As a bonus, you can easily swap the battery in a couple of seconds, so if you have a larger house you could always buy a spare battery so you could swap mid clean.

Whilst it was charging I hunted through the packing material in case I'd missed anything. The box contained a small information leaflet for the battery and charger, a larger regulatory and compliance booklet, and another small leaflet with instructions on how to install the wall mount. Taped to the barrel was a leaflet with some basic info and colour photos on the auto, boost and eco modes, how to empty the bin, and a link (and barcode) to access more info online.

There are two connectors on the wall mount to hold two of the accessory heads. The remaining accessories will need to be put in a drawer for safe keeping. My vacuum came complete with wall dock, charger, wand (extension pole), XL cleaner head, mini motorised head, standard head, combination tool, crevice tool, soft dusting tool, dirt brush, and a 'wand clip'. Most of these are fairly self explanatory, although the wand clip (only discovered the name after reading the online manual) was slightly mysterious as there is no picture showing how it might be used. Some quick google searches shows it lets you clip one or two tools to the wand itself - I think that could be annoying (it's heavy and awkward enough as it is) so might leave that in the drawer. Frankly, we'll probably only use the larger head, and just maybe sometimes the crevice and perhaps the soft dusting tool.

It would have been nice to have in the box a little more info on what each tool is for, rather than having to consult something online, but that's not a negative comment just a suggestion.

First impressions once it was charged. Damn this thing is big. And heavy. Our first Dyson hand held was the original DC16, then over the years we got a DC30 and a DC58. These were/are great hand held vacuums (had to bin the DC16 after the power supply died after many years, but still have the DC30 and DC58, just have had to replace the batteries) - nice and powerful, but compact enough to use in fairly tight areas. Great for quick touch ups when stuff spills on the floor, doing stairs, car interiors, etc. This V11 Outsize however is not like that, so should not be compared to them. At a pinch you could just have this, but I'd suggest - if you can afford it - that you'd also want one of the smaller hand held vacuums for spot cleans. When carrying this around, in particular with the crevice tool attached to the extension pole, I kept thinking it was like carrying around the BFG in Doom. This is one big stick vacuum, and is something that is definitely more for vacuuming the entire house. Compared to a standard floor vacuum though, which is a more appropriate comparison, it's actually pretty compact and light.

So it is a serious alternative to one of the larger floor vacuums. Yes, we still have one of those - an ancient DC11 'Allergy' which still works well although has not been used much since we got a floor vacuum robot (not Dyson) a few years ago. To my amazement this new vacuum is surprisingly ergonomic when using one of the roller heads, and is much easier to use than lugging around the old floor vacuum. I'd note that on shaggy carpet, the smaller roller head is probably better as friction makes the bigger head harder to push. The tools connect to the extension pole (they call it a "wand"), or can connect direct to the barrel. When using something like a crevice tool however unless you're Dwayne Johnson it would normally require two hands - again, one of the smaller units would be easier to use for that sort of work, but although it looks like an oversize hand held I keep having to remind myself it is unfair to keep comparing it to those when it should be compared to floor vacuums.

On normal mode, sound levels are impressively low. Surprisingly on eco mode, the noise doesn't change much - most likely because when in auto mode it just lets it spool up *only* if it needs to (and for us it never has). On boost mode it is much noisier, and it starts to pump out a fair amount of heat. Suction is excellent on auto, so we normally use that. The bin is much larger than the small handhelds, and at 1.9l bin it is equivalent or bigger than many other Dyson vacuums (the 'cinetic big ball' for example is smaller at 1.6l - heck our massive DC11 with dual bins holds 1.8l). Emptying the bin is easier than our old hand held models - you just need to remove the wand or tool, then push the red release lever to enable the barrel to move forward and the front lid to flip open. Simple.

So overall. The battery easily lasts long enough to do our large double story house which has a mixture of floorboards, tile and carpet, and the bin is also large enough to not require constant emptying. It is impressively quiet when in normal mode. It is also usually more than powerful enough in normal mode, but at the expense of more noise and a much shorter battery life can go into 'turbo' mode where it is even more powerful. It is easy to use for the main task - vacuuming floors - and as there is no cord you don't have to keep plugging/unplugging it. It *can* be used for small spot cleans, in the car, etc - although the physical size means it is not as easy to use for that compared to the smaller hand held Dysons. It recharges fairly quickly, but if necessary extra batteries can always be kept on hand. It comes with a wall mount enabling it to be stored out of the way whilst on charge - although be aware the vacuum sticks a good 30cm out from the wall when in the mount.

What could be improved? Well, not much. Maybe some means of wall mounting all the accessories would be nice. If doing a whole house, having to keep the trigger down all the time is slightly annoying - the claim is using the trigger can increase runtime 'up to 30%' but the option to lock the trigger would be good. There seemed to be a little more tolerance than needed with the fittings ie when clipping in an accessory, it still had a bit of movement - this may be intentional, but made me wonder if in time it might get even more loose and start to impact on efficiency... it's pretty thick plastic so I am fairly confident it will be fine though. And as I noted maybe an extra leaflet included in the box describing what each tool was for would be nice.

As an Ambassador I was asked to provide a review, but assured it should be unbiased and genuine, positive or negative. As much as I obviously like Dyson, I really wasn't sure about this vacuum when it arrived. It looks like a hand vac, but is way too big, and using what looks like a hand vacuum to do an entire house just seemed wrong. But actually using it changed my mind. Basically, I really like it. It works well on all surfaces. The battery easily lasts long enough to do the whole house. The bin holds a lot. It's big, but not awkward to use. Although it's not perfect, this is a quality device that, if you can afford it, I am certain you would not regret having. I know that, after my initial shock at seeing how big it was, I quickly got over that and am more than happy to finally retire our old floor vac and continue to use this at my home.

** Update ** It's 2 months now since we first got the vacuum, and it's being used most days and still doing well. Only one additional comment to make: The wall mount is secured by two screws. The holes the screws go through are an elongated conical shape, no doubt to try to suit screws with countersunk heads and to allow some adjustment should the mount be crooked. The issue there is all the weight is being taken by a small area on two sides of each screw. This is probably ok with the standard hand vacuums, but the outsize is much heavier, and in my case after a month I noticed the mount getting loose. This was caused by the top screw actually working its way *through* the hole itself. I replaced the screws with ones with larger heads, but would suggest Dyson consider changing the mount so it uses washers to spread the load over a larger area, and maybe just make the lower hole a slot to allow angle adjustment.

** Update ** It's 9 months now. My fix for the mount seems to be holding. Negatives? Well, removing the main tube to empty the barrel is a little awkward due again to the size of the overall vacuum, but I can live with it. Once it's out, emptying it is so much easier than the other 'gun' style Dyson vacs I've had. As I expected, we still normally use the smaller vacuum(s) to pick up small spills, with this larger unit used with the roller head on to do larger areas of floors/carpets etc. So the only gripe I have is the power trigger button - as it's used mainly for large areas of flooring/carpets, it means you have to continually hold the trigger down which is an ergonomic nightmare. The option to lock that power button down is definitely missed.

*UPDATE* Halleluiah - I worked out a hack to holding down the trigger. All it takes is a rubber band and a clothes peg. It's insane to have to do this on a vacuum that costs so much, but basically take a decent sized rubber band (I got a giant bag from Officeworks) and pretty much any clothes peg. Wrap the band around the pistol grip and button and clip it using the peg. When you aren't using it, the band and peg can be clipped to the barrel. Note that if you hunt on the likes of Amazon, you may find a guard that is designed to fit some Dyson hand held vacuums. They look interesting, but I suspect if you have large hands like me they may be uncomfortable over time as they eat into the space available in the grip area.

Dyson V11 Outsize - Scratches my timber floors – I have contacted customer service on numerous occasions and sent the vacuum away to be looked at (leaving me weeks without a vacuum). They gave me a new head, but the head still scratches/gouges the floor. It is well-kept, cleaned and washed regularly. I don't get any answers, other than this is the head for timber floors. I really cannot use this… Read more

vacuum any more; it's so disheartening to see the scratches on the floor. Huge outlay for a terrible result.

Dyson isn't carrying the replacement spare parts I need – While happy with the machine performance on carpet, I can't get a replacement roller brush or motorhead from Dyson, or other spare part suppliers in Australia. There appears to be a world wide lack of these parts for the v11 outsize, a very poor outcome for such an expensive machine. Dyson spare parts don't know if or when the parts will be available. Show details

terrible v11 outsize vaccuum – , vaccum i bought in feb v11 outsize performance was good but in 3 to 4 months start playing contacted customer service first they told me i will get email of courier label but after 2 days haven't got anything contacted again then they sent courier label. its been in service centre from last more than 3 weeks and i am getting only answer waiting… Read more

for parts from overseas, getting tired of this. Rating 0 to cust. service and dyson product never buy or wait months if it needs repair they holding no parts only false excuse. Request you to see attached message, i got after 3 weeks.

Very hard to use – When using on carpet or rugs it is very hard to push ( even when it is on ECO mode and outsize head is on any of the 3 options ). My wife can't use it at all and I struggle with it. When pulling it backwards it jumps and does not clean on the backward stroke. We have had Dyson vacuums only for 30 years and have recommended them to family and friends over that time. Unfortunately I cannot recommend this model at all. Show details

Heavy and clunky piece of rubbish – I have owned my Dyson V11 Outsize Pro for nearly 2 years and in that that time I have experienced a number of issues: • the wand has broken (snapped) off the rubbish barrel twice; • the display works intermittently meaning you can't always change the power setting; • the roller stops rolling in the head and you have to stop & start the machine a… Read more

few times to get it to start going again • the vacuum pushes rubbish around instead of vaccuuming it up - you have to lift the head and place it on top of the rubbish to clean it up (sometimes still the rubbish is just shot out the back of the head);

The vacuum feels really heavy, clunky and cheap. Only positive is that when it is working the suction on high setting is really good.

I would not recommend buying this vacuum.

Scratching my hard floor – I bought this vacuum cleaner about 6 months ago. It was suppose to be the best on the market for hard floors. Unfortunately after 6 months use ( I only use it about 1-2 times a week) the ‘cushioning’ at the bottom of the vacuum head has worn off and it has started to scratch my wooden floors. I am very upset. Dyson has offered to replace the part-… Read more

but what is the point if it will just wear off again. I am very disappointed as I paid a lot of money for a product that does not do as it says. I will never buy Dyson again

Great handheld vacuum made more practical with click in battery – Great vacuum with good suction. The swappable battery means you can not worry about running out juice before you finish your vacuum (provided you have a spare). The fluffy brush is great on picking up loose dirt from hard surfaces while the wider brush is great on carpets. All the other attachments are easy swap and use as well. The container is… Read more

large and can handle several vacuums (of our small place) before requiring emptying. Be warned that the 1hr of run time is with low suction (handy when vacuuming when the toddler is alseep due to the lower noise level). The high vacuum is strong but significantly reduces run time. The only downside is that it's a bit heavier than other hand held vacuums.