Ultenic U11 Review

Verdict

A smart charging stand, good storage and an automatic mode make the Ultenic U11 stand out from much of its budget competition.

Pros

• Automatic power mode
• Neat charging stand
• Good range of accessories

Cons

• Performance is quite variable
• Dirt can fall out of the bin

One of the good things about going for a vacuum cleaner from a lesser-known brand, such as the Ultenic U11, is the inclusion of extra features. Here, there’s automatic power control, a smart charging stand and tonnes of accessories.

Cleaning performance in general is good, although it could do better on my edge test, and the automatic mode could be a little more effective in changing motor speed.

Ultenic U11 design and features – Tonnes of accessories and a smart charging stand

• Includes accessories for every job
• Automatic mode is designed to change power automatically
• Charging stand stores all of your accessories

The Ultenic U11 doesn’t stray too far from the typical stick vacuum cleaner when it comes to design. It’s about average in size (1255 x 254 x 222mm, 2.72kg), but is super- light. There are budget vacuum cleaners available that feel the same, but the U11 is far more nicely designed and feels tough and robust.

In addition, the weight is well balanced, making this vacuum cleaner comfortable to use when cleaning floors as well for tackling jobs higher up.

The Ultenic has a trigger to turn it on and off, although you don’t have to hold the button down to keep the power on. When you first tap the trigger, the vacuum goes into Auto mode, which adjusts the power automatically. There are also Eco and Turbo modes, activated by touching the icon on the LCD screen.

Unlike the Dyson V11, the screen here doesn’t display any other information bar battery life, but it’s still offers a an easy way to see the mode you’re in and remaining battery life.

The standard 0.65-litre bin  lifts out for emptying. It doesn’t have a rubber flap to self-seal, though, so expect lots of dust to fall out. Likewise, with the bin in place, lifting the cleaner up and then pointing it down can result in dust dropping out the end.

With the bin removed, you can open the flap to eject the contents into the bin. The filter pulls out the other end, too, so you empty out the contents thoroughly. It’s fiddly to put it all back together correctly and get the bin back into place, however.

Most vacuum cleaners comes with a wall mount, but the Ultenic U11 includes a charging stand that you assemble. You drop the cleaner and wand into place for charging, plus it holds the accessories, including the crevice tool, mini-motorised tool and brush.

There’s also a motorised floorhead, which has four LEDs at the front to light up the area you’re cleaning – although they aren’t particularly bright.

The stand means you can place the charging dock where you want, but the base is quite chunky and may not fit in all cupboards.

Although there’s only a single battery provided, the stand can charge a second battery in the top. It’s easy to remove a battery, although the odd shape makes it difficult to work out which way to reinsert it.

Ultenic U11 performance – Good in most cases, but it does struggle with some jobs

• Good performance on regular carpet
• Decent battery life
• Struggled on my edge test

I tested the suction power of the Ultenic U11 in AirWatts, which is a combination of airflow and suction. The results came in at 20.96AW on Eco, 44.84AW on Auto and 108.72AW on Turbo.

That’s a little low on Auto mode, although the caveat here is that the vacuum cleaner can adjust power based on the floor type – so this isn’t a fixed level, but just the reading at the nozzle.

The real test of a vacuum cleaner is its ability to suck up dirt. First, I should say that it was difficult to detect the Auto mode in operation. Moving from carpet to hard floor and back again, I couldn’t hear a noticeable change in power.

In the carpet test, I sprinkled an ‘X’ of flour onto the centre of a patch of carpet. Running the vacuum through on Auto mode, the Ultenic picked up most of the mess in the middle, although some dirt was left behind at the edges of the floorhead.

I then ran the cleaner over a further two times, in Eco mode at the bottom and Turbo mode at the top. As you can see from the image below, Eco mode left quite a lot of dust behind, while in Turbo the cleaner pretty much cleared everything.

Next, I combed cat hair into the carpet and then ran the cleaner over once. This wasn’t sufficient to clean up the hair; I had to run over it a couple more times to clear it up entirely.

I moved to my edge test, sprinkling a teaspoon of flour up against the skirting board. On carpet, the cleaner really struggled. On Auto mode, pretty much all of the dirt was left behind.

On Turbo mode, the Ultenic U11 performed better – but there was still quite a bit of dirt remaining, and it was only on enlisting the crevice tool that I was able to clean it up.

Finally, I sprinkled a teaspoon of rice onto the hard floor, then ran the cleaner through on Auto mode, with one sweep. A clean path through the rice was left, although a few grains dropped back out.

Battery life comes in at 55 minutes on Eco, 25 minutes on Auto and 13 minutes on Turbo. Given the cleaning power on offer, and the fact that this vacuum often requires multiple swipes, the battery life is okay. However, this is more a cleaner that you’ll use in addition to a plug-in model. Charging time is 2.5 hours.

On a positive note, the Ultenic isn’t a particularly loud vacuum cleaner, measuring it at 69.5dB (Eco), 72.3dB (Auto) and 76.4 (Turbo). On the first two modes, the cleaner is quiet enough that you’ll be able to talk over it while cleaning.

Ultenic U11 conclusion

A good range of accessories make the Ultenic U11 stand out at this price, but there are a few issuest: dust can drop out of the bin and performance is varied. At this kind of price, the Vax Blade 4 is a better choice – and you can find a wider range of options in my guide to the best cordless vacuum cleaners.

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