Dyson V11 Torque Drive Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, Blue

My V11 Torque Drive vacuum arrived without issues. I had no problems with the floor brush like some customers have experienced. PROS Appearance It looks nice with its metallic blue color. Plus because of its compact size, it isnt an eyesore if you have to store it in a visible location instead of a closet. LCD Display Its so great knowing how much power is left rather than having to guess how much time I can vacuum before the battery dies. The display also assist in troubleshooting issues like blockages or improper attachment of filter and accessories. Powerful cleaning This vacuum sucks in the good sense of the word. Sensible Accessories There is no unwieldy accordion hose in here. The set of included accessories are stuff I actually would want to use. Im more partial to the combination brush, the motorized brush for upholstery, and the crevice tool, but the whole accessory set seems well thought out. Easy to empty The dust bin is easy to empty, with only one caveat explained in the cons below. CONS Its Heavy! The V11 Torque looks more lightweight than it actually is. As someone with a medical condition, pushing the V11 around takes much more effort than I was hoping for. And the problem isnt resistance from the floor/carpet brush head. Even when used as a handheld vacuum, you will feel the weight. Trigger-happy This vacuum is operated with a trigger that you have to keep pressed for as long as youre using the vacuum. I wish there was a way to lock it in the on position. The trigger doesnt require much pressure to activate though, which is fine while youre vacuuming, but pure evil when youre emptying the dust bin. Long recharge time Battery life is okay for a cordless vacuum, but the 4.5 hours of charging time is too much. I wish this thing had a quick charger, especially considering the size of the power adapter. Speaking of which... What is it with Dyson and incredibly huge power adapters?! I have their hair dryer, the V11 Torque vacuum and the TP04 air purifier, and its like their engineering teams competed for who could get away with using the biggest power plug they could make. The AC adapter for the V11 Torque is not as huge and unwieldy as the power adapter for the TP04 purifier, but its still big and may fall off from outlets with weak grip or outlets mounted sideways. CONCLUSION Dyson products are typically regarded as pricey. Im not sure the V11 Torque is worth the asking price but unlike with their hair dryer, Im not ready to say this vacuum is overpriced. Im torn on whether or not to recommend the V11.

I love the power and the versatility of using the V 11. I wish it would’ve come with a buffing head as well. That had cost $98. But, I will eventually end up buying one.

My vacuum arrived less than two months ago. It had strong suction, a good assortment of accessories and a good display. I quickly gave up using my built-in vacuum. The battery lasted through most of the house cleaning and the waste compartment was easy to unload. I was totally impressed with the device. Up to about a week ago I would have given it five stars plus. A week ago, the vacuum motor started surging and the display indicated that the filter needed cleaning. The display even had an animation of how to remove the filter and clean it under a faucet. It then showed how to reinstall the filter. I did what I thought the device was telling me to do. I rinsed the filter under the kitchen faucet and shook out the excess water. The filter even shows a faucet on it. After the filter was reinstalled, the motor continued surging and then the vacuum shut off completely. Thinking that maybe the battery needed charging, I put the vacuum on the charger and took out the filter to let dry further. After a couple of days, I reinstalled the filter which was still slightly damp and tried to run the vacuum. It was still dead. The Dyson web site had some suggestions of what to do, which I tried, but to no avail. There was a video that showed how to clean the filter, but it added a step of letting the filter dry for a day before reinstalling. Eventually I contacted Dyson’s customer support. I told her what had happened and she told me the warranty was voided because the machine had got moisture in it. I mentioned that a cell phone can be dropped in water and it will still function. She confided that she had dropped her cell phone in the toilet and it still worked. She said I could buy a battery or take it to the Dyson repair facility 70 miles away. It did not seem like a batty problem to me. I told her I am an electronics engineer and cannot imagine a consumer product that would be that sensitive to moisture. She said I could talk to her supervisor which I said I would like to do. After a pause, she told me that the supervisor was on a phone call and would call me back. It has been 24 hours now and no phone call. My company builds electronic products and they get exposed to rain, snow and many other sources of moisture. If our products failed when they were exposed to moisture, we would be out of business. I though I was following the instructions on the screen. It seems like normal use could expose their electronics to moisture; for example, a wet rug or a small puddle of water in the bathroom or kitchen. The Dyson literature says it is good for pets. Pets can have accidents and if the vacuum goes over a wet spot in a rug, the machine will fail. If exposure to moisture is all it takes to kill the vacuum and void the warranty, then I see major issues with it. Standard coatings can protect the electronics from water and most electronic products have such coatings. The vacuum seems like a great concept, but still in the beta development phase. It just went to market too early without sufficient real-world testing. Incidentally, I looked at the repair facility’s web site and they are closed because of the COVID-19 virus. There is no way to fix my vacuum, so it is a $700 paper weight. I certainly cannot recommend buying one. Update: The supervisor never called back. Dyson did email me and offered a 20% discount for a new main body/cyclone. When I tried to purchase the part, I spent one hour on hold on the phone. After reaching a customer support person, he told me he would call me back if the line dropped. The line dropped and he did not call back. Before the line dropped he said there was no stock on the part, but he would check further. My vacuum remains a paper weight since there is no schedule for the service centers to reopen and apparently Dyson does not stock the part I need.

So, needed a new vacuum cleaner. Had a Shark brand vacuum. I believe the model was called Navigator. Had it for a good number of years (maybe 15?). Now, it ironically blows more than it sucks. So, needed a new vacuum. After years of hearing about the wonders that are dyson vacuums, I decided sure. They are expensive but better things often are so figured if people are buying it at that price and are giving it good reviews at that price, it must be good. I was wrong. This is a textbook case of form over function. It looks fancy. They use fancy words for the technology inside. They use fancy ads to sell their product. But at the end of the day, its a vacuum cleaner. It has one job. And this one doesnt do a great job at it. It picks up loose fuzz and dust well - but so did my cheaper Shark Navigator. Really, the only good thing about this is that it is light enough to be easily moved around the house. Is that worth the price? Id say no. I literally could have bought 3 good-enough vacuums that cleaned just as well so I had one on each floor and didnt need to carry it between floors. I dont even know how often it was actually a problem because I could move the old Shark pretty easily between floors but the odd shape and weight dispersion made it hard for my wife to do so. That said, the light weight and ease of maneuverability have gotten favorable marks from my wife, though she probably would have been happy with any one she could reasonably carry that did an ok job. That said, if you have only hardwoord/laminate/tile/ceramic floors, it does a good enough job on them. Im probably going to have to get another vacuum for the few rugs we have and the carpet in the basement. I mean, its good enough to get the loose surface stuff but it really falls short in getting in there on the rugs. Even in Boost mode. Now I cant speak for other Dyson vacuums as this is my first. It will probably be a long time before Id consider another one, though, as it just left an impression that youre paying more for the name than the product. Learn from my mistake and spend your money better. Meanwhile, Im trying to hunt for one that works like the old ones where you had to keep your foot near it on the rug or it would suck the rug up into it.

So... here is my issue. 1 - Dyson service and repair accused us of submitting our request to repair or replace our unit after it was out of warranty when, in fact, our original contact for service with Dyson took place 2 months before the 1 year mark. I was shocked by that accusation since I very clearly documented that the unit failed after normal use within 9 months. However, I did not take offense given my respect for the Dyson brand and reputation. 2 - I have gone out of my way to submit the unit for repair, driving 45 minutes to a facility on the far side of Orange County, after having had no response for over 3 months - which led to the warranty date issue through no fault of my own. At the Dyson facility, I and many other customers waited in the parking lot for over 90 minutes as the service hours posted on the Dyson website did not match those posted at the service facility. We all bonded, traded stories and patiently waited and waited in our cars. We were all polite and courteous with your one service tech who was clearly overwhelmed, understaffed and overworked. A very poor showing from a major global corporation. We then waited 3 months for the unit we brought in for repair to be fixed and returned. 3 - We accepted without raising a fuss when we were told the unit couldnt be fixed and that we had to buy a new part, going out of pocket for nearly $100. This was when we were again accused of having missed the warranty period, all without evidence and without consideration of the prior customer journey we had been on. But again, I bit my lip and accepted things given my respect for your brand and how much my wife liked her vacuum. 4 - Dyson took our payment of $95.00 and we then waited for 3+ months for the unit to be shipped, and never once did Dyson proactively send a notification of a delay or part unavailability. 5 - And... and is it now became to be the pattern of always failing to meet ever falling expectations, Dyson did not provide a confirmation that our $95.00 was credited to my account subsequent to Dysons inability to deliver the part ordered. 6 - Dyson then directed us to a new link - see email below - to order the part directly. 7 - We felt almost elated thinking that finally this saga would come to an end. But alas, no such luck. Following the link, we were advised that the unit part was not in stock and there would be no news for when it might be available. 8 - So, in summary, a wonderful Dyson vacuum that we spent about $800 on in January 2020, failed by the end of September, 2020. We are now in May of 2022. We have been Dyson customers for about two and a half years, but about 3/4 of that time period, we have been unable to use a very expensive vacuum, the high price of which would seem to justify a better than average experience across every facet of customer success. 9 - I am so very sorry to say that Dyson, across your entire service organization, success simply has not been achieved. And Im sad to say that given my passion for the engineering excellence of our product designs, I can no longer express passion nor any enthusiasm for the very low standards of customer support we have been subjected to consistently and without fail. 10 - I feel trapped and be compelled to order a part and keep waiting for when it finally becomes available. But in the meantime, I shall be tireless in letting others know of the dismal experience of being a Dyson customer. These expensive units can fail within 9 months and yet, once that happens, the entire organization from the web site, to supply chain, to onside customer support to website services, seems geared towards not fixing anything. With that type of execution standard, I will not be surprised to learn that our story is not the exception, but perhaps the norm. That would be a heartbreak given where the Dyson brand stood in our previous level of esteem, but alas, consistent with our much downgraded experience thus far.

Update: the picture is when I vacuumed RIGHT after my maids left having used their vacuum. Not all vacuumes are created equal. Vacuums dont get any better than this. Its absolutely perfect. I dont think Christ himself could have made a better vacuum! Ive owned MANY vaccums, including a $1,700 Kirby which I despise. Vacuuming is now my favorite chore. I have 4 kids and 2 cats and this baby tackles it all - hard wood, rugs, stairs, and carpet! Pros: - Cordless. Please folks, its 2021. There is NO reason you should still be using a vacuum with a chord. Cordless is AWESOME! Youll wonder why you waited so long. - CLEANS INCREDIBLY! People complain that you have to empty the canister too often. Well, maybe thats because its doing its job well, Karen. - Super easy to empty, easy to use attachments - I use this to vacuum my car, my couches, lots of things with zero issues. - Light weight, SO easy to maneuver, the head fits EVERYWHERE! Under, behind, sideways... I was concerned that I would miss having a flexible attachment to get the corners but with this you dont need it! It gets everything! - Auto adjust for carpet - I love this feature. It sucks stronger when you switch from bare floor to carpet. Brilliant! - Battery lasts 45+ minutes on normal setting. Thats long enough for me to vacuum my house twice! Unless your house is 10,000 square feet, you should be fine! Boost setting lasts much shorter, but I find it works so well on the normal setting that I rarely use boost. - Charges fast, hangs in charger nicely, small footprint in the room. - Did I mention cordless? Its dreamy, especially on stairs! Cons: - zero. Yes, its expensive, but its worth every.single.penny! This vacuum will change your vacuuming life!

I bought this to see if I liked it enough to keep it, and in the end I did keep it, but here are the things I learned. First, my house is 2700 square feet with lots of steps. It’s also about 50% carpet and the other half hard wood or tile. I did most of the house in one full charge. I usually do half the house at a time anyway so the battery life is great. It took about 50 minutes for it to die (again doing carpets) so I’ve felt like the battery lasts as long if not longer than advertised. Also, I have 2 dogs so pet hair is everywhere. It works well to get the hair out of the carpet. We’ve only ever had cheaper dirt devils before so I don’t have much to compare to, but the suction was fine. I wasn’t blown away by it but have not noticed a difference which is impressive for a cordless vacuum. I saw a few people comment on the weight of it and it tiring out your forearms. I noticed the same thing especially while doing stairs. But it works great for stairs overall. The end is significantly smaller than most vacuums so doing a large living room takes a lot longer and feels sort of annoying. For me this is a worthwhile trade since I can get under and around more things now. One annoying piece is the stand that hangs on the wall. It has two spots to hang attachments and then there is a piece that clips to the vacuum for two attachments. It comes with 4 attachments but the stairs attachment doesn’t fit on either one so it has to be stored separately. Would be great if they could design a way to clip that in as well. I also read someone else’s review saying this rips off the wall. I screwed to a stud to be safe so it may be worth thinking about that when installing. Larger anchors could fix that as well if you don’t have a stud where you want this. Lastly the price...I’m keeping it so I guess that means I think it’s worth it. But I really am annoyed it costs so much. That is the biggest thing that keeps me from recommending it because I know a lot of people that just can’t afford to pay that much for a vacuum.

We had Dyson corded yellow ball vacuum for more than 15 years. It is powerful, sturdy and effective for carpet cleaning. Drawback is also obvious, it is big, heavy, and has long cord to deal with. We also have Milwaukee M18 vacuum, which has really powerful suction but extremely loud. They both show their age compared to this latest battery powered V11 design. The weight and balance of V11 torque drive is perfect. It is much nimble and maneuverable than Dyson ball, also much quieter than Milwaukee M18 vacuum. It is lighter than either and I can clean up all three floors using V11 without feeling much of strain on my arm. Shorter brush head enables cleaning narrower places such as area under the seats, furnitures, corners, etc. The rotating brush is gentle to the hardwood floor. The Dyson ball also has rotating brush but I usually hesitate to turn it on when cleaning the hardwood floor, thinking its brutal power may cause damage. V11 seems to handle the hardwood without any issue. when on carpet it will automatically rev up and can also do a good job cleaning it. When use other heads for suction only, it is obvious that V11 has compromised on suction power compared to corded Dyson and Milwaukee M18 vacuum. For cleaning car seats and carpets I will still grab Milwaukee. But if I want to dust off my records and CD / SACD collections, the gentle touch of V11 is well appreciated. In terms of battery life, we can clean up the whole house, 1st, 2nd floors and basement (hardwood and laminated floors) with one charge. If we still have large area of carpets V11s battery life will likely be shorter, since its brush will rev at noticably higher RPM when it senses higher resistance on carpet. For our user case, this is perfect vacuum. Its light weight, ergonomics, shorter brush head, decent battery life make it constantly be grabbed for use at home. We cannot say the same for corded Dyson or Milwaukee M18. It is a true enabler for frequent daily cleaning. Very happy about this modern vacuum! Update: after 6 months of everyday use, Vacuum stuck turned-on while trigger not pressed. I noticed there is gap between handle and battery pack in the rear, and battery can be pushed up to close the gap and trigger will function fine. Removed three screws and take out the battery from handle, the trigger has linkage that will push down on a button located on the battery. the weight of battery is being supported by single small diameter screw (M3?) inside the handle that mount the trigger assembly (that the battery is attached to), apparently the handles plastic boss cannot take that constant pulling and the thread got stripped eventually. When battery is misplaced it will somehow being turned-on by itself. I added thread locker to the boss and temporarily fixed the issue, however, after a few weeks it became loose again. A larger size screw or molded metal thread insert should be used to support battery weight and constant pulling during the use. There are a lot of creative design ideas in this vacuum but this mechanical aspect presented some opportunity to improve for better robustness. I will try to use epoxy to permanently secure the screw in its boss and see if helps. I hope the later version with removable battery design will not have this issue.

My 17 year old Sears canister finally gave up so I went vacuum shopping. I went to the appliance store to look at options. They had Miele which I knew has a good reputation. But the salesman told me not to buy it - that the Dyson Animal was better - that he had two of them. And they didnt sell Dyson. I then researched various styles of vacuum. The stick vacs seemed best for ease of use, but I was worried about suction and time of use between charges. I finally concluded a stick vac would suit me. Of those the Dysons seemed best. After reading the specs, I decided the Animal would do the job but splurged on the Torque Drive for the nicer UI and extra tool. Ive had it for a couple of months now, and am very pleased. First thing I did was my carpeted stairs, that hadnt been done thoroughly for ages. It did a great job, though I had to empty it several times in the process. The small beater brush tool was great for this. The battery life has proven to be more than enough for my needs. I dont think the suction is as good as a plug-in canister machine. But it is good enough. My conclusion is that convenience wins - that the machine I use beats the more powerful one I dont use! Small complaints: The transparent dust bin always looks dirty, even right after emptying; While there is storage for two spare tools on the long tube, and storage for more on the wall hanging bracket, there is one extra tool for which there is no storage space. (I think this is only with the Torque Drive which has an extra tool the Animal doesnt have.)

The setup…I have always used extra strong canister vacuums but wanted to downsize without sacrificing quality when my kids went to college. We live in an old New England home with narrow and steep stairs, original floor boards that are uneven and have narrow spaces between many of the boards, and area rugs. And pets. Hair, scratching posts, litter boxes, dog beds. The good…excellent for pet hair and around the litter box and scratching posts. The maneuverability and coverage is great on the hidden, treacherous, hardwood back kitchen stairs as well as the carpeted stairs to the attic. The battery life. The battery shows three bars and it still had one bar after vacuuming 2500 ft2. Charging the battery, connecting and disconnecting the battery to the vacuum is very easy. Although my prior vacuum had slightly better clearance for under the furniture, this one gets into corners and around furniture much better. Also it can rotate 90 degrees so you can fully vacuum a small space between the toilet and the wall as an example. The bad…I had to empty the canister three times due to the area rugs. My canister vacuum filter lasted a month. Still, a small inconvenience versus moving the plug around to different outlets. It is top heavy (but again I am used to a canister). Not bad for me, but might be tough for an elderly person. You have to keep the button pressed down to keep it on so may be hard for someone with arthritis. It doesn’t vacuum well when pulling the head backward across the floor. All in all, I am impressed. It is still a new purchase so I have no idea if the battery life will erode over time. But my canister vacuum is going into the garage.