Dyson V11 Torque Drive Review

In this review, we’ll be examining the Dyson V11 Torque Drive, one of Dyson’s two flagship models, which also includes the V11 Outsize.

I’ve done extensive tests with it, and the results are pretty impressive. The V11 Torque Drive is one of a few cordless options that can deep clean carpets, and that list includes the previous flagship option – the V10 Absolute.

Introduction to the Dyson V11 Torque Drive

When James Dyson said in an interview that they’d ditch developing plug-in uprights, I had my doubts, but with the subsequent releases of the V11 Torque Drive and Outsize, he is serious about it.

This model is one of the best I’ve tested so far for carpet cleaning (more on that below), thanks to improvements in the motor and the new Dynamic Load Sensor, which automatically increases power when it detects increased resistance.

We’ll look at these features in this section.

Torque Drive Head

The two green arrows point to the adjustable gates.

Unlike the V10 Absolute, the V11 only comes with a single floor tool – the Torque Drive, which is similar, design-wise, to the V10’s Torque Drive head.

It features the same adjustable gates as the V10, making it suitable for cleaning hard surfaces more effectively than any other upright Dyson.

Along with the strong airflow, these gates allow larger particles of dirt to pass through without requiring the cleaning head to be positioned directly over them.

One thing to note is that the soft roller (or fluffy) tool in the V10 will fit in the V11, if you want that functionality.

On carpet, this tool shines. With the gates fully closed, you can feel the strong suction, as there’s a lot of resistance pushing it forward, especially on the max setting.

One of the first tests I did was to clean the two carpets I have without scattering any debris.

The first one is a low-pile carpet I left in the room for a few days prior, and this was how much gunk it picked up.

We live in an urban area, so it’s pretty dusty, and this test shows the need to vacuum regularly, even if the carpet looks clean.

Next, we’ll look at how much it was able to pick up on mid-pile carpet.

Most of the stuff you see here is sand, which I use when testing how well each vacuum cleans ground-in dirt.

Since this carpet is stored elsewhere, there isn’t much dust and hair.

Dynamic LCD Screen

The Dyson V11 Torque Drive features an LCD screen that displays, in real-time, the remaining run time, which updates as you toggle between power settings. It also alerts you to any potential blockages or a loose filter.

Underneath the screen is a button that allows you to choose between three different modes: low, medium (or auto), and high.

It does not have a touchscreen feature, but I feel it is significantly improved over the V10, which uses a slide switch.

The V11 Animal does not have an LCD screen but an LED display with a single button below it to switch between power settings. It lacks the countdown timer found in the Torque Drive model, but it shows the same information in a different format.

If you don’t mind not having the interactivity of V11 Torque Drive, then the V11 Animal is a good, less expensive alternative.

Dynamic Load Sensor

Another feature worth noting is the Dynamic Load Sensor (or DLS). This sensor continually monitors the load on the brush roll and automatically increases suction when it detects increased brush resistance.

This means that the motor runs at a certain speed under normal load, but when there is more resistance (e.g., on carpet), the sensor sends a signal to the motor to increase the RPM, thereby raising airflow.

Take note that the DLS sensor is only active in the middle (or auto) setting. In essence, the V11 features six distinct power settings when the torque drive is attached.

Attachments and Tools

Not only can the V11 clean floors, but it can also be used as a handheld device thanks to its removable wand and interchangeable tools.

These are the tools that come with the V11 Torque Drive:

The V11 Torque Drive does not have the fluffy attachment, and this option isn’t available. The Fluffy or Absolute versions are only available in the European and Asian markets. However, if you want to use the soft roller (or fluffy) tool, the V10’s fluffy device is compatible with the V11.

How much power does the Dyson V11 Torque Drive have?

One of the significant upgrades Dyson made to the V11 Torque Drive is the power. To measure this, I used an anemometer to measure airflow at the wand and cleaning head.

Here are the test results.

The V11 has the highest airflow numbers of any cordless stick vacuum I’ve tested.

Compared to the V10, the V11 has 8.38% more airflow at the main cleaning head and 10.2% at the wand. This difference in airflow translates to better cleaning performance on embedded sand on medium-pile carpets.

How long does the Dyson V11 run?

Dyson claims that the V11 Torque Drive has a 60-minute run time. I had to test these to see if they were accurate, and the results were impressive.

Please refer to the table below for the complete results.

* The tests done on hard floors and carpet are with the torque drive attachment with the wand. I did this to get the most realistic result possible.

So Dyson was quite conservative with their estimate. With the crevice tool, it ran past the 71-minute mark.

I was a bit disappointed with the 18-minute run time on carpets, but considering how much sand it picks up on carpets (99.97%), it is still better than the V10 at its maximum setting (97.03%), which only ran for 5 minutes.

If you have lots of carpet at home, I’d recommend the V11 over the V10.

On hard floors, the V11 ran for close to 75 minutes at the low setting and exceeded 46 minutes at the middle setting.

Recharging will take between four and five hours, so you’ll have to wait. Unfortunately, the V11’s battery isn’t removable. Only the Outsize features a detachable battery, so it’s something you’ll need to consider, given the price difference.

How noisy is the Dyson V11?

Using a sound meter, I measured how much noise the V11 produces with the torque drive as it is the noisiest in this configuration.

There’s no doubt the V11 is noisy, but one thing I noticed is that the torque drive head isn’t as loud as the V10’s, based on the ear test, even though the results say otherwise.

Cleaning Performance

I conducted extensive testing with the Dyson V11 to evaluate its performance on various surfaces, using a range of debris, including Quaker Oats, coffee, quinoa, pet litter, Cheerios, and sand.

These tests aim to see how well the torque drive head performs on carpets and hard floors.

It reveals potential weak points and highlights the strengths of this stick vacuum. For the standard tests, I scattered 50 grams of debris on the surface tests and 100 grams of sand for deep cleaning tests.

• Overall: 99.66%
• Hard Floor: 99.72%
• Carpet (Surface Pick Up): 99.26%
• Carpet (Deep Cleaning): 100%

Hard Floor Results

• Quaker Oats: 99.3%
• Coffee: 100%
• Quinoa: 99.6%
• Pet Litter: 100%

The first tests I’ll share are the standard surface pick-up experiments using the torque drive head. Remember that this model does not have the fluffy tool, but it can still score high marks on all the tests.

I didn’t use the max setting in any of the tests to check how well the torque drive would work at the low and middle settings, and it didn’t disappoint!

It could pick up close to 100% of the different debris, such as Quaker Oats, coffee, quinoa, and pet litter. The gates were fully open, which helped the V11 take in larger dirt piles with minimal plowing.

Sand on Hard Floor Test

One of the toughest things to clean on any hard surface is sand, and the V11 did well despite not having the soft roller attachment. In two tests, it achieved an average of 99.4%.

The score is impressive because most vacuums with a standard brush roll will struggle with sand.

It did leave a trail on the forward pass, but most of it was picked up at the backward pass.

You could see trails of sand on the forward pass.

One issue using the standard brush roll on hard floors, cleaning sand, is the potential of scratching the surface.

It was able to pick up most of the sand on the backward pass.

Unlike the soft roller attachment, which has lots of padding, the torque drive lacks it, resulting in more friction.

Large Debris on Hard Floors

Thanks to the V11 Torque Drive’s two adjustable gates, it can pick up even significant bits of dirt, such as Cheerios.

The torque drive head can clean Cheerios on hard floors.

Carpet Cleaning

Next, we’ll examine how effectively the Dyson V11 cleans carpets. I conducted tests on low- and mid-pile carpet. Again, I ran most of the low- and medium-setting tests with the gates open to see how effective the torque drive is in these modes.

Low Pile Results

• Quaker Oats: 99.9%
• Coffee: 98.3%
• Quinoa: 99.5%
• Pet Litter: 99.5%

Mid Pile Results

• Quaker Oats: 100%
• Coffee: 99.5%
• Quinoa: 100%
• Pet Litter: 97.4%

The lowest score on medium-pile carpet was for pet litter. It was low because I ran the first test on the lowest setting, and it left a trail on the forward pass. And while it was able to pick up most of the debris on the backward pass, some of it was pushed back further.

If I cleaned the whole carpet, it would pick up the rest of the pet litter scattered.

Deep Cleaning Test

To test how the V11 does at cleaning embedded dirt, I rubbed 100 grams of sand on medium pile carpet and vacuumed the area at the medium (or auto) and high settings.

I did two separate tests to see if the auto setting is feasible for carpet cleaning.

The results were remarkable as the torque drive head was able to pick up an average of 99.97% in the auto setting.

Note that the dynamic load sensor activates in this setting, causing the motor to run at a higher speed.

The bad news is that the runtime drops to 18 minutes in this mode, but it still beats the Dyson V10 at its highest setting.

When I moved it to the maximum, the V11 could pick up 114% of the sand. I’m not exaggerating but reporting the results. The excess was sand left on the tests of the other vacuums.

Ergonomics and Maneuverability

The Dyson V11 isn’t the most compact vacuum. Therefore, it doesn’t score as highly as the smaller options, such as the Roborock H6 or Dyson V7.

But for the amount of power it has, the weight distribution in its handheld configuration is decent.

There won’t be any problem cleaning open spaces inside the home. The V11 is light enough to do the job. I like it for cleaning upholstery, such as this chair.

The only I have with it is the body getting in the way when cleaning underneath furniture as it will not go deep.

As for its maneuverability, the ball system of the torque drive head steers well, especially on hard floors.

On carpet, the strong airflow makes it harder to push and pull the cleaning head.

You can alleviate some of that by opening up the gates, but at the expense of deep cleaning performance.

Product Specifications

Availability of Parts and Warranty

Dyson parts are widely available because of their popularity.

You can purchase replacement parts (both OEM and 3rd party) from Amazon or directly from Amazon without any issues. Components such as filters, brush roll, brushes, and even the battery are widely accessible online.

The issue isn’t the availability of parts, but the price. For instance, the replacement battery for the Dyson V11 will cost around $150 if you purchase it directly from their website.

Dyson backs up its products with a 2-year warranty in the United States. In some parts of the world, that warranty extends up to 5 years.

Long Term Use

I’ve owned the Dyson V11 for over five years, and like the V15, I’ve had to replace the dustbin seal.

The nozzle has held up well — it’s sturdy and well-built — but one lingering issue I still haven’t resolved is the pulsing.

I’m not entirely sure what’s causing it, but when it happens, the vacuum becomes pretty much unusable. I plan to take it apart soon to see what’s going on and (hopefully) fix it once and for all.

Where can I buy the Dyson V11?

The V11 is available for purchase in online stores such as Amazon and Walmart. Please refer to the links below for the most up-to-date prices.

• Dyson V11 on Amazon and Walmart

Disclaimer: Please be aware that if you purchase through any of the provided links, I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you, creating a win-win situation for both of us!

Does the Dyson V11 Provide Good Value?

Yes, the Dyson V11 is quite expensive, even with the release of the Outsize. But there’s no questioning its performance, especially at cleaning carpet.

I’ve tested many stick vacuums, and there’s no doubt that this is the best cordless vacuum for carpet when it comes to picking up embedded dirt and debris.

The Outsize may be better and goes further, but the V11 torque drive is cheaper and lighter.

People looking for a cordless stick vacuum that can truly clean carpets will not be disappointed with the V11 Torque Drive or the Animal model.

You can also take advantage of its power to clean the mattresses.

4 Reasons to buy the Dyson V11 Torque Drive

The Verdict: An Excellent Alternative to a Bulky Upright For Cleaning Carpet

After conducting all the tests, I conclude that the Dyson V11, whether the Animal or the Torque Drive model, is an excellent option for cleaning carpets.

It boasts superior performance to the V10, thanks in large part to its ability to last longer.

The higher airflow and new torque drive with the DLS sensor can clean embedded dirt as well as an upright, and it does so without any cords.

If you don’t want to spend a crazy amount for the Outsize, this is a good, less expensive alternative.

Even without the soft roller attachment, it will still perform exceptionally well in cleaning most types of debris from hard surfaces.