Proscenic P11 Lite review: A basic stick vacuum cleaner, but one you can trust

We know Proscenic for its very competitively priced stick vacuum cleaners. But what can the entry-level model from the Taiwanese manufacturer, which is already slashing prices, offer?

Launched at €139, you can already get the P11 Lite for €100, or even less, and for that price, you get a model in stick format with the heaviest elements (battery, motor , filtration systems) are placed close to the user. Wrist so you can direct your vacuum cleaner in all directions, whether or not equipped with a suction tube and/or some accessories, to dust the least accessible places of the house.

If the P11 Lite ignores the technologies that threaten to increase its price (multi-cyclonic filtration, particle counter or intelligent brush), it still has cyclonic filtration, a telescopic tube, on the front of the suction head. Includes an LED strip, a removable Li-ion. A battery with a battery life of 40 minutes and a battery life indicator that gives an estimate of the remaining usage time in minutes. On paper at any rate, it seems well-equipped not to shy away from the competition.

The R&D budget was probably not the biggest expense for the Proscenic P11 Lite. However, despite the sheer classicism, it’s a very well-made device, with a dominant midnight blue color with matching colors, enhanced with some relatively discreet golden touches. So we’re a long way from a more colorful model like the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute. However, we would have appreciated a little more care in the finish, as it is sometimes difficult to attach an accessory and hear the click that confirms everything is properly trimmed. Removing these same accessories is also sometimes a bit complicated and you have to force the buttons to get it. Fortunately, the plastics chosen by Proscenic seem to be quality and prone to wear and tear.

In handheld vacuum mode, the P11 Lite weighs just 1.40kg, making it one of the lightest models in our competition. Obviously, when you add the tube and suction head, the weight goes up to 2.43kg, but it’s still very light compared to most other stick vacuum cleaners we’ve seen. So it doesn’t risk weighing on the arm, even if the cleaning session goes on. What doesn’t spoil anything, the fairly flexible head joints prevent the user from forcing too much to take turns. In short, vacuuming is easy. Also, the suction tube of the P11 Lite is telescopic (which is not so common) and so everyone can adapt it to their size to get comfort and performance. Finally, the head is equipped with an LED strip on the front for better identification of trash on dark floors or under furniture.

It’s not the handling that threatens to complicate using the P11, as controls are limited to two buttons. The first, which takes the form of a trigger, acts as a main switch. The first pressure starts the suction and the second stops the process. A second button, at the top of the handle, allows you to modify the suction power with two levels provided. Even if we would have appreciated a few small extra options (like switching between split or continuous suction), it’s hard to fault the P11 Lite in that regard given its price positioning. Especially since Proscenic has thought of a relevant remaining autonomy indicator. While most entry-level stick vacuum cleaners are content with a simple trio of highly inaccurate diodes, Taiwan’s has a countdown in minutes. Of course, this is not always accurate (calculate the difference of a minute or two), but the effort is admirable and allows you to plan your cleaning session.

Finally, the most complicated operation with the P11 Lite will be installing the charging base on the wall. An operation that will require providing a drill, suitable bits, screws and dowels. In fact, like the majority of stick vacuum cleaners, a wall station is required to store the machine and recharge it as best as possible. Nevertheless, the Proscenic has once again worked well and the removable battery can be charged from any electrical outlet in the house while the rest of the P11 is hidden away in a cupboard.

In addition to the stick vacuum cleaner and its wall base, the Proscenic P11 Lite box also includes a replacement foam filter, a long nozzle and a flat brush head. To offer a complete dusting solution, what is missing, in our opinion, is a mini electric brush, ideal for maintaining sofas or car seats.

Of course, the main purpose of stick vacuum cleaners is their ability to dust floors. And in this little game, the P11 Lite performs quite well.

On long pile carpets, a 100% efficiency rate is achieved in 2 minutes using the lowest or highest power. The latter, however, is slightly more efficient because in 30 seconds, we recover 2% more waste.

Fine carpet is Proscenic P11 Lite’s favorite area as in 30 seconds, it shows 98% performance in normal mode and 99% in turbo mode. Be careful, it has an annoying tendency to push rice back during cleaning and therefore takes 1 minute to achieve a flawless floor.

This phenomenon is amplified on hard floors. As proof, we vacuum “over” 95% of rice in 30 seconds in normal mode and 96% in turbo mode.

The Proscenic P11 Lite is far from being the most complicated stick vacuum to maintain. Emptying the collector is not revolutionary. As is often the case. Sure, we don’t quite reach the heights of Dyson’s Point&Shoot system, but everything is designed well enough to not get stuck and keep the user from getting their hands in the dust.

The filtration system is located in the collector and is easily accessible. Small regret, it is not possible to remove the metal cone that forms the cyclone that separates the air from the dust. With a little effort, you can access all the internal parts of the vacuum cleaner to clean them manually.

The other filters (foam and HEPA) are very easy to remove and replace. However, it may not be necessary to perform the operation more frequently. In fact, initial cyclonic filtration is effective enough to avoid this task: after ingesting 20 grams of cocoa powder, we found only 0.50 grams in the foam filter, while the HEPA filter was perfectly clean, weighing on the correct balance (0.001 grams). . ) in support.

The suction head brush can be easily (and without tools!) removed from its housing using a latch. This releases the part that holds the roller in place and the two connect. So there is no risk of losing important parts in the process.