In all honesty, I don’t know who was more excited – myself or my mum – when I was asked to write a Dyson vacuum review on not just one, but two Dyson vacuum cleaners. As my mum joked, ‘Double the Dyson, double the fun!’
We live close to the beach, along with a very fluffy rabbit, which means that our floorboards are constantly collecting a ridiculous amount of sand and pet hair. And given that we already religiously clean the mess with a Dyson V10, we both couldn’t wait to try out the new Dyson vacuums that I had been given from Harvey Norman: the Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner and the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum.
Together, we envisioned the Dyson vacuums being the ultimate cleaning team – with the more traditional Dyson Cinetic Big Ball perfect for the weekly clean, and the powerful, intelligent and convenient Dyson V11 vacuum ideal for those unexpected messes and being an any-time whole home vacuum cleaner.
But before we get down and dirty with the testing, let’s take a deeper look at our contenders.
Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
In the blue corner, it’s the latest model in the Dyson cord-free vacuum range, the V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. The new Dyson V11 boasts 20% more suction power than the Dyson Cyclone V10 vacuum*, and has 3 cleaning modes; Eco, Auto and Boost. All 3 of these modes provide a real-time countdown of battery life, so you’ll always know how long you’ve got left until you need to charge it again. Being a step up from the Dyson V10 vacuum, I was very curious to see how it compared around the house.
Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum
In the red corner, we have the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum. For those not familiar, this unit is like the Godfather of the Dyson vacuum cleaner range. Robust and powerful, it features Dyson’s most efficient, cyclone technology and a large high capacity bin with easy emptying. If you’re going head-on into the weekly household clean, this is the guy you want on your team. The feature that piqued my interest the most was the self-righting barrel. Unlike traditional barrel vacuums that tend to topple when trying to keep up with an enthusiastic clean, the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute has been ingeniously designed to pick itself up when it falls over. Safe to say, I was very intrigued and keen to give the Big Ball a run for its money.
Saturday’s Spring Clean: Our Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Review
Normally when Saturday rolls around, the last thing you want to start thinking about is housework. This weekend was different, however, because I enthusiastically went into the clean knowing our floors were about to experience power like they’d never felt before. Because that’s the first thing you notice when firing up the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute – the power. You hear it in the confident whirr of the motor and feel it in the suction to the floorboards. You could basically see the floorboards sparkling in the Dyson vacuum’s wake as I moved from the living room, to the dining room, to the kitchen, suctioning up dirt, crumbs and pet hair that stood in my way.
Mum and I also found vacuuming the shag pile rug in the TV room extremely satisfying, as the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum was completely un-fazed by the dense fibre, effectively suctioning up any rogue crumbs and dust that had collected in the woollen tufts.
As I expected, my favourite moment was testing out the self-righting barrel. What a feature! No amount of unexpected bumps, jerky vacuuming, or over-enthusiastic shoves from me could keep this Dyson barrel vacuum down – it stood straight back up and got on with the job. That’s a big thumbs up from me!
The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum has a great selection of attachments – my personal favourite being the ‘Reach Under Tool’, which easily got under the narrow gap between our couches and the floor. Truly no patch of dust was safe!
Going Cordless: Our Dyson V11 Review
With the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum having cleaned the floor space downstairs to within an inch of its life, I was excited to see how the Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum performed on some harder to reach places throughout the week. Portable and convenient, I decided that this was the perfect device to easily vacuum the staircase with, as well as the master bedroom upstairs.
Upon switching on the Dyson V11, the first thing I noticed was the suction power increase from the Dyson Cyclone V10 to the Dyson V11. I loved the innovative addition of the LCD screen and enjoyed shifting through the 3 modes to experience different levels of suction power. The real-time battery countdown meant that I could work my way around upstairs using Boost mode when necessary, and then relax back into Auto or Eco modes to conserve the remaining charge.
The Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum also comes with lots of attachments to choose from, ideal for tackling any task – especially those trickier spaces. The smaller brush heads were perfect for targeting dust along the skirting boards, and in the runners of the doors.
The convenient portability also came in handy for unexpected messes, like sand that had come through the front door by Dad returning from the beach (OK, we did expect that!), or crumbs dropped on the floor in the kitchen from dinner prep that night. So, is the Dyson V11 Absolute worth it? As a true whole home vacuum cleaner, it 100% earned mine and Mum’s tick of approval!
Where To Buy Dyson Vacuums
After testing both the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum and Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, I can safely say that while they are both individual champions in the ring, together they form cleaning’s ultimate dynamic duo. If you’re looking for a combined arsenal of power and portability to tackle the weekly clean and everything in between, these are the best Dyson vacuums for you. You can find both the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Absolute Barrel Vacuum and Dyson V11 Absolute Cordless Vacuum Cleaner online or at your local Harvey Norman store, where our friendly, expert staff are more than happy to answer all your Dyson vacuum questions. Happy Vacuuming!
Dyson Reviews
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*Suction tested to IEC 62885-2 CL 5.8 at the inlet, tested in Boost mode