Whisker’s AI-powered litter robot thinks my cats swapped bodies

The $899 Litter-Robot 5 Pro is a great pooper-scooper wrapped in AI that just doesn’t work.

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The $899 Litter-Robot 5 Pro is a great pooper-scooper wrapped in AI that just doesn’t work.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

The greatest invention in pet tech in recent years is the litter robot. A machine that scoops your kitties’ poop so you don’t have to — what else could a cat owner possibly want? How about insights into your kitty’s litter box usage that could flag health issues? Sign me up. But I have two feline friends… No worries, kitty facial recognition can handle that.

At least, that is the idea behind the Litter-Robot 5 Pro , the highest-end model from the OG robotic pooper scooper company Whisker. Boasting a dual camera system and an array of sensors to literally sniff out your cat’s deposits, all wrapped up with AI algorithms and machine learning, the 5 Pro promises to not only deal with my boys’ bathroom habits but also accurately monitor and track them . It failed.

I spent six months testing the $899 Litter-Robot 5 Pro, alongside its budget counterpart, the $599 Litter-Robot Evo , both of which launched late last year . These ingenious devices work using sensors and motors. The cat goes into the large globe lined with litter; the sensors register him while he does his thing, and once he’s left, the robot rotates the drum to filter and sift the waste into the sealed bin below.

This takes away a yucky daily chore; you only have to empty the drawer about once a week, and it hides the gross litter box itself from view, while containing most of the smell. A fully featured app gives you remote control of most of the device’s functions; you can also check the waste and litter levels and see your kitty’s weight thanks to an onboard scale. A litter robot is a great gadget if you travel a lot, as it leaves your kitty with a cleaner place to go during his abandonment.

Whisker currently has four models: the Litter-Robot Evo, the Litter-Robot 4 , the Litter-Robot 5 , and the 5 Pro. They all work this same way to “scoop.” Today, I wouldn’t recommend paying the premium for the 5 Pro’s AI features — because they just don’t work. I was also disappointed in the tradeoffs that come with the Evo compared to the Litter-Robot 4.

I wouldn’t recommend paying the premium for the 5 Pro’s AI features — because they just don’t work.

There’s no litter-level monitoring on the Evo, so the app doesn’t alert you when it’s low; it supports fewer and smaller cats, has a smaller bin, and no night light. It also doesn’t work with the litter hopper accessory Whisker sells.

While the Evo’s footprint is better for tight spaces, its build quality didn’t feel as sturdy, and its waste drawer is finicky and doesn’t always shut properly. I do like that it has an LCD screen to tell you what it’s doing, as does the 5 Pro. These are both better solutions than the confusing LED indicator lights on the LR4.

As a pooper-scooper, the Litter-Robot 5 Pro dispatches waste superbly.