Dyson V11 Outsize: Brute force

The Pitch

Previous Dyson V-series vacuums need little introduction. Their popularity in spite of their premium price-tag says it all. If you’ve not had the pleasure, the short version is that they’re expensive, but they’re usually worth it.

The latest generation of Dyson home-cleaning hardware comes in several sizes. You’ve got the baseline V11 Absolute Extra. The next step up, the V11 Complete Pro, adds a few additional accessories into the mix. Finally, you’ve got the V11 Outsize.

With the new V11 Outsize, Dyson are hitting subscribe on the idea that bigger is better. Not necessarily for everyone, but for most people. If you think that’s you, you’re probably right and you’ll probably dig what they’ve got on offer with the Outsize. 

Price

In Australia, the Dyson V11 Outsize is priced at an RRP of AU$1199. You can find it on the Dyson website here.

Design

Like the name suggests, the Dyson V11 Outsize goes all-in on volume. It’s bigger than the other options in almost every way. At times, it almost feels more like you’re holding a giant nerf gun or water pistol than a sleek Dyson vacuum. 

If we’re treating the mainline the V11 Absolute Extra is as the default, the V11 Outsize ups the ante in several, pretty visible ways. It’s got a 25% wider cleaning head plus a 150% larger waste bin. The sum total of these enhancements is obvious but effective - which, really, is the whole story here. 

Credit: Dyson

Both versions of the Dyson V11 boast new internals that are able to deliver 40% more suction compared to the V10 Cyclone. Buying into Dyson’s latest generation of vacuums also nets you beefier batteries that pump out up to 60 minutes of continuous runtime and a nifty LCD display that provides useful at-a-glance info. This last one here proved particularly useful right from the get go and the first two serve to see Dyson hold their edge against other vacuum brands. 

Read more: Dyson Pure Cool Me review

You don’t find many vacuums with this kind of suction. The V11 Outsize in particular yields unexpected benefits from this quality. The V11 motor inside the thing produces so much pull that, when in use, it’s pretty unlikely that the filter will get clogged up. This, in turn, lays a foundation for consistent performance across the length of time you’re using it. 

As someone who previously used a V8 as their go-to vacuum cleaner, jumping to the double-digits with the V11 Outsize felt like an immediate upgrade. 

Credit: Dyson

The most noticeable addition here is the aforementioned LCD display. This provides a real-time countdown of just how long you have left until the battery in the V11 Outsize runs dry. Knowledge is power and being able to keep tabs on whether you have enough battery left to properly clean a room empowers you to be smarter about how you approach the task. What’s more, as you toggle between the default, eco and turbo boost modes that the  V11 Outsize offers, that countdown on the LCD display will automatically update itself accordingly. 

The V11 Outsize comes bundled with 2 cleaner heads and 5 different tools. These are easy to snap on or off as needed but, for the most part, I tend to stick with the basic nylon bristles for carpet cleaning and the carbon fibre one for everything else. Both proved effective enough that I wasn’t looking for alternatives but it’s nice to know the options are there and included in the box. 

If you’ve used many other Dyson vacuums, the emptying mechanism for the V11 Outsize might feel like a slight remix of what you might be familiar with.  

Credit: Dyson

After removing the stick-end of the vacuum, you just point the Outsize at your empty bin and slide the trigger earthwards. Doing so will blast all the dust and other Bad Stuff into The Bad Place. The idea here is to reduce the possibility of the user coming into contact with anything contained in the V11 Outsize’s 1.9-litre dustbin. I have a pretty small bin so I usually had to get pretty close for this to work as intended but, regardless, I found it added a little bit of fun to the catharsis to the process of vanquishing household dust. 

Performance

With the V11 Outsize, Dyson are bringing the familiar and tidy slogan that bigger is (almost) always better to bear. Unfortunately, the less-neat reality is that it depends on the environment in which you intend to use it and who you are. 

The bad news? As a result of larger form-factor, the V11 Outsize is noticeably heavier in weight than other Dyson vacuums. After about ten minutes of continuous, it wears on you and starts to feel like a bit of a burden to carry around.

The good news? Since it is larger and can store more dust at a time, there’s a good chance Dyson V11 Outsize will actually allow you to clean your house that much quicker.  A larger brush means less strokes will cover the same surface area and a larger bin means that you won’t need to empty the thing as often. Similar advantages are offered by the long battery life as well. 

Credit: Dyson

Still, if you don’t live in a particularly large home or somewhere with plenty of nooks and crannies, there’s a chance that the V11 Outsize’s natural strengths don’t play as well. Alternatively, if you do live in a home where the sheer amount of space often foils your attempts to neatly clean things up in a single sweep with your current vacuum cleaner, then the Outsize is probably the upgrade you’ve been looking for. 

The consumer arithmetic here is simple and compelling but not necessarily going to be worth it for everyone. 

The Bottom Line 

The Dyson V11 Outsize is expensive and overkill but that’s okay. It’s a blast to use but priced high enough that it’s difficult to recommend if you aren’t going to be able to yield the fullest value it can offer. 

If you have the money to drop on the premium demanded by the Outsize over the already expensive V11 Absolute Extra, it’s only really going to be worth it if your living area is large enough to demand those wider cleaning heads and the beefier bin. 

If the V11 Outsize is the right tool for the job, it’s the way to go. Bigger isn’t always better but when it’s needed, it’s a welcome twist on the traditional elegance of the Dyson vacuum experience. 

Credit: Dyson