Vexilar W11 Review: a no-fuss robot vacuum that actually keeps the floors under control

I’ve been using the Vexilar W11 self-emptying robot vacuum with mop for a few weeks in a fairly normal UK house: mix of laminate, tiles, and low‑pile carpet, plus one dog that sheds more than I’d like to admit. I bought it mainly because I was fed up vacuuming every other day and still finding hair tumbleweeds under the sofa. I’m not into gadgets for the sake of it, so I wanted something that actually reduced my chores, not another toy to babysit.

In practice, this thing has been running almost daily on my ground floor and every couple of days upstairs. I’ve used the mapping, the no‑go zones, the self‑emptying base, and the mopping function, so it’s not just a “first impressions out of the box” opinion. I’ve also had a couple of minor hiccups with the app and one time it got stuck on a cable, so it’s not perfect, but that’s kind of expected with robot vacuums in general.

The main point: it does keep the floors noticeably cleaner with way less effort from me. I still do a manual deep clean once in a while with a normal vacuum, but the amount of dirt and hair that builds up between those sessions is way lower. If you expect it to replace a full-size vacuum completely, you’ll be a bit disappointed. If you want your place to stay reasonably clean with minimal effort, it’s pretty solid.

So overall, this is more of a practical helper than some futuristic cleaning miracle. It has strong suction, the self-emptying dock is genuinely handy, and the laser navigation means it doesn’t wander around like a drunk Roomba from 2010. There are some trade-offs, especially with the mop and the app, but for the price I paid, I’d say it pulls its weight.

Price-wise, this sits in that middle zone: not a cheap basic robot, but also not in the high-end Roborock or iRobot territory. I picked it up with a voucher discount, similar to what other buyers mentioned (around £190–£230 depending on deals). For that money, you’re getting LiDAR navigation, self-emptying, strong suction, and mopping, which is a lot of features compared to many robots at the same price. On paper, it competes with more expensive models, and in day-to-day use, it holds up pretty well.

Where you feel the price difference is in the small details: the app isn’t as polished as big-brand ones, the English in the menus is a bit off in places, and the mop is more of a light maintenance feature than a proper scrubbing system. Also, there’s no fancy auto-wash mop base or heated drying or anything like that. If you want those extras, you’ll have to pay a lot more with other brands. Here, you’re basically paying for solid core features and skipping the luxury add-ons.

Compared to cheaper random-navigation robots I’ve tried before, this is a clear step up. It doesn’t waste time wandering, it covers rooms properly, and the self-emptying station alone saves a lot of hassle. Compared to high-end robots, you obviously lose some premium features and brand polish, but the actual cleaning results on hard floors and low‑pile carpets are not that far off for normal daily use. For a regular household that just wants cleaner floors without fuss, the value is pretty good.

If your budget is tight and you don’t care about self-emptying or mapping, you could find cheaper models that still vacuum okay. But if you specifically want LiDAR mapping, multiple maps, no‑go zones, and a dock that handles the dust for you, this Vexilar W11 hits a nice balance. It’s not the best robot on the market, but for what you pay, it delivers enough to feel like money well spent rather than a gimmick.

The W11 is your classic round black robot vacuum – nothing special to look at, but it blends in. It’s about 30.6 cm across and under 10 cm high, so it fits under most sofas and beds in my place. That low profile is actually one of the most useful things: it goes under furniture where I never bother with a normal vacuum unless I’m doing a big clean. You start to notice less dust and hair build-up in those forgotten spots after a week or two.

Build quality feels decent for the price. The plastic is not luxury-level but it doesn’t feel cheap or hollow. The bumper on the front has a bit of give for minor taps, and the LiDAR tower on top is the only bit that sticks out. I haven’t managed to break or scratch anything yet, and my dog has already tried to investigate it more than once. The finish is a matte-ish black that hides fingerprints but shows dust a bit, which is ironic for a vacuum.

The self‑emptying base is a bit bulkier than I expected, so you need to plan a dedicated spot for it. It needs some clearance on both sides and in front, so don’t shove it between two bits of furniture and expect it to work well. The base itself is reasonably solid; the dust bag compartment opens easily, and swapping bags is a 10‑second job. I wouldn’t call it stylish, but it’s not an eyesore unless you hate having any appliances visible.

From a design logic point of view, the layout makes sense: roller brush in the middle, two side brushes up front to gather dirt, water tank and dustbin combined inside. One thing I’m not a huge fan of is the combined water/dust compartment – it keeps everything compact, but it also means you’re pulling the same piece out whether you want to empty dust or refill water. It’s not a dealbreaker, just slightly more fiddly than having separate compartments. Overall, the design is practical, not pretty, and I’m fine with that.

Battery life is one of the nicer surprises. The W11 claims up to 180 minutes on quiet mode, and in real use that’s not far off. On my typical setting (middle suction, mop on hard floors), it can do my entire downstairs – roughly 35–40 m² with furniture – in about 35–45 minutes and come back with plenty of battery left. When I send it upstairs as well, it sometimes drops below 30%, but it has never died mid‑clean so far.

If the battery does get low while it’s in the middle of a job, it returns to the dock automatically, charges to the level it thinks it needs, and then goes back to finish where it left off. That actually works; I tested it by deliberately starting a full‑home clean at low battery. It paused, recharged, and resumed in the right spot on the map. It’s not lightning‑fast to charge, so don’t expect to run it multiple full cycles back‑to‑back in one afternoon, but for one or two runs a day it’s fine.

The self‑emptying station is one of the main reasons to get this model, and honestly, it does make life easier. After each run, it docks, you hear a short loud vacuum noise, and the dust from the robot gets sucked into the 2L bag in the base. I’ve been running it almost daily for a few weeks and the bag is far from full. I can see how someone with a smaller flat could probably go close to the advertised “up to 60 days” before changing the bag, though that number will depend a lot on how dirty your place is and how often you run it.

The best part is simply not having to think about the dustbin all the time. With my previous non‑self‑emptying robot, I had to remember to empty the tiny bin every couple of runs or it would clog and start missing dirt. Here, I only open the base every couple of weeks to check the bag. The only small annoyance is the noise of the self‑emptying cycle – if you run it late at night, it might be a bit much in a small flat. But that’s a trade‑off I’m fine with for the convenience.

It’s still early days for a long‑term durability verdict, but after a few weeks of regular use, nothing feels fragile or badly designed. The wheels haven’t jammed, the LiDAR turret is still fine despite bumping under some low furniture, and the side brushes haven’t deformed too much yet. I do a quick check once a week to pull hair from the main roller and side brushes, and that seems to keep everything running smoothly.

The rubber‑bristle roller is easier to clean than the old-school bristle-only rollers. Pet hair still wraps around it, but less aggressively. The included cleaning tool has a little blade that makes cutting through hair pretty quick. Filters are HEPA and they give you a spare in the box. I tap mine out in the bin every week or so and swap to the spare when it looks too grey. Long‑term, you’ll need to budget a bit for replacement filters and bags, but that’s standard for this type of vacuum.

The dock and its dust bag mechanism feel solid enough. The flap that seals the bag when you remove it is simple but effective, so you’re not breathing in a cloud of dust every time you change it. The water tank and mop plate are basic plastic, nothing fancy, but they haven’t leaked or cracked. The mop pads survive machine washing fine; I just toss them in with a low‑temperature wash and they come out okay.

In terms of support, the brand claims a 2‑year full warranty and lifetime technical support, with 24‑hour response. I haven’t had to use it yet, so I can’t say how good they are in practice. Judging by the Amazon reviews, people who did contact them mostly seem to get answers. I wouldn’t buy this expecting the same service as a big premium brand, but for the price bracket, the backup on paper looks reassuring. Overall, nothing so far makes me think it’s going to fall apart quickly if you do basic maintenance.

Let’s talk about the main point: does it actually clean well? On the vacuum side, I’d say yes, especially considering the price range. The spec sheet shouts about 10000Pa suction, which is hard to verify, but in real life it pulls out a surprising amount of dust and hair. On laminate and tiles, it leaves very little behind – crumbs, pet hair, grit from shoes, it picks it all up. On low‑pile carpets, it does a solid job too, especially on the higher power setting, though it obviously won’t beat a proper corded vacuum for deep cleaning.

I usually run it on the middle suction level for daily cleaning, and that’s enough to keep things tidy. I only switch to max suction if I’ve been doing DIY or if the dog has had a particularly hairy week. Noise-wise, it’s fairly quiet on low and medium – you can still watch TV in the same room. On max it’s louder, but still less annoying than a normal upright vacuum. The self‑emptying cycle is the loudest part: a short burst of noise when it sucks the dirt into the base, but it only lasts a few seconds.

The mopping function is more of a maintenance wipe than a proper mop. It’s fine for daily dust and light marks, but don’t expect it to scrub dried sauce or muddy paw prints completely. You clip the mop pad onto the plate, fill the tank, and it drags a damp cloth behind it. Water flow can be adjusted in the app, which is handy, and it doesn’t leave puddles on my laminate. I still do a manual mop once in a while for the kitchen, but this keeps the floor from feeling grimy in between.

Navigation is where it’s noticeably better than older random‑pattern robots. The LDS laser navigation means it goes in neat lines, covers the room systematically, and rarely gets lost. It does a decent job around chair legs and under tables, and it doesn’t slam into furniture. Cables and very lightweight objects are still its weak point – it managed to eat a phone charger cable once, so now I try to tidy them up or set no‑go zones. Overall, as long as you understand its limits, the performance is pretty solid and genuinely useful day to day.

Out of the box, the Vexilar W11 comes with the robot, the self‑emptying base, power adapter, two side brushes, two HEPA filters, two dust bags for the base, a mop plate with two washable cloths, a cleaning brush, and a simple remote. So you’re not forced into the app if you don’t want it, which is nice, especially for older relatives. Everything is clearly labelled, and the manual is basic but clear enough. I had it assembled and charging in under 20 minutes without needing YouTube.

Setup-wise, the app pairing is where some people might get annoyed. It only works on 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi, which is standard for these things, but if your router merges 2.4 and 5 GHz into one network name, you might have to fiddle with settings. On my side, pairing worked on the second try. Once connected, the robot did an initial mapping run of the ground floor in about 15 minutes, just like the spec says. It didn’t clean properly on that first pass, it mostly focused on scanning, so don’t judge it on that first run.

The app lets you create up to 5 maps, name rooms, set no‑go zones, and tweak suction and water levels per room. It’s not the slickest app I’ve ever used, but it’s functional. The translations are a bit rough in some menus, but you can still understand what everything does. Voice control with Alexa/Google is basic but works: start, stop, send home, that kind of thing. Nothing fancy, but enough for everyday use.

Overall, the presentation and setup are pretty straightforward. It feels like a mid‑range product: not cheap and flimsy, but also not premium Apple‑level polished. The good part is that you don’t have to be a tech nerd to get it running. If you can install an app and read a short manual, you’re fine. If you absolutely hate apps, the remote will cover the basics, but you’ll miss out on map customisation, which is one of the main strengths of this model.