Previous models let you pick between eco and boost mode, but in reality I always left it on boost and usually got very short run times. You can still choose eco or boost on the V11 if you like, but on the new auto mode I get more than half an hour thanks to the head shifting down when it can. Just to make sure, I went over the carpets on auto mode and then over again on boost, and it seemed to have done an excellent job the first time.

Meanwhile the LCD screen shows you a real-time estimate of how much juice the battery has left, down to the second. This is a great idea, because with the V10 it was easy to overestimate the charge, or put it back on the dock after doing half the house just in case it was about to run out.

And speaking of the dock, it's had a slight but important upgrade this time around. If you don't want to fix it to the wall (and I don't, because I'm renting), you can fold it over to create a mount that sits on a table or bench. The vac slides easily in and out. Meanwhile the bin is identical to last time, a 0.76-litre canister that will probably need to be emptied after each full-room clean, and does so with a satisfying but kind of violent shotgun action that shoots dirt straight into the garbage.

The basic V11, in fuschia, is $1099 and comes with the new torque drive head plus a mini motorised head (for handheld use, great for couches and in the car) and a bunch of brushes. There's also a crevice tool for getting under the stove (just me?) and a really handy clip that lets you attach one of the accessories to the pole so you don't have to keep going back to the laundry to swap.

The blue "Absolute" model adds a fluffy roller head for delicate floors and goes for $1199, while the ostentatiously gold "Pro" model also gets you an extension hose, mattress tool and something called a "flexi crevice" tool for $1249.

I can confirm that the accessories you might have used with your V7, V8 or V10 will go onto the V11 just fine, but only the new torque drive head can automatically shift speeds. If you attach anything else you can choose medium mode, instead of auto, as well as eco or boost.

One minor hiccup I had with the V11 is that it one day insisted it had a blockage when it clearly didn't. The LCD screen can be used to tell you when you need to empty the bin or you have a leaf stuck over the end of the vac, and in this case it was showing an animation that advised me to look at each end of the pole and remove debris. I did look and dig around, there was no debris and the vac continued to perform well, but the animation kept playing and would not clear for around 10 minutes. By no means a serious issue, but it left me confused as to what I was supposed to do.

All up this is an excellent vacuum and an iterative but solid improvement on last year's V10. The new screen and auto mode work to take the onus off the user to manage battery times and power levels, while the impressive level of suction and smart attachments — even the ones in the basic package — will be enough to keep most floors clean and tidy.