Today, we’re busier than ever trying to meet the demands of our jobs, our families, and our social lives. Ask any dog owner in the world, and there’s a high chance they’ll tell you that they wish they could spend more time with their pup. Fortunately, products like Furbo help to bring you and your pet closer together when you can’t be home. Today, we’ll take a closer look at everything there is to know about this exciting and useful product.
What Is It?
The Furbo Interactive Dog Camera. Image via Amazon.com
The Furbo is a pet camera with treat dispenser that allows you to keep an eye on your pet when you aren’t home. It also allows you to give your dog a treat remotely as well. This dog camera treat dispenser uses Wi-Fi to sync with an app on your Android or iOS device so you can communicate with your pet and keep an eye on what they’re doing when you aren’t around.
Key Features and Benefits
The Furbo is more than a camera and treats dispenser, it’s a really good camera and treat dispenser, and it has the technical specs to back it up.
Camera
Arguably the most important feature of this treat dispenser is it’s high quality HD camera. While some treat dispensers have mediocre cameras, this model shoots video in high definition 1080p.
The wide angle lens of the camera allows it to capture a 160-degree field of view, which provides you with a better picture of what’s going on with your dog when you aren’t home.
The camera also features 4x digital zoom and an automatic night vision mode that makes it easy to keep an eye on your dog, even in the dark.
Audio
With this treat dispenser, not only will you be able to see what your dog is up to, but you’ll hear them as well. The Furbo features a high quality microphone and an integrated speaker as well. That way, you’ll be able to hear what’s going on in your home and also speak to your pet in real time.
You can also use the onboard microphone to record a greeting for your pet, and the speaker will play your greeting whenever it’s treat time.
App Design
This treat dispenser is powered by its free Android and iOS app that allows you to control each aspect of the Furbo when you aren’t home. You’ll use the app to watch video and hear audio, communicate with your pet, dispense treats and more.
A smart product is only as good as the application that powers it. Fortunately, the Furbo app is easy to use, intuitive and fun. When using the app, you’ll be able to interact with your pup while you’re away seamlessly.
Customer Service
The folks behind Furbo stand behind their product, which is important if something were to go wrong, or if you’re having second thoughts about your investment. In addition to a 30 day money back guarantee, the company also provides a 1 year warranty which covers the product should something go wrong within the first year of ownership.
What’s Unique About the Furbo?
There are plenty of different dog cameras and treat dispensers on the market today. Each of these products provides the same basic functionality. But, what sets the Furbo apart from the competition is the unique features that you won’t be able to find with competitors. These features help make this product a strong choice for the best dog camera available.
Treat Dispenser
One area that sets this product apart from other pet monitors is the design of the treat dispenser. Instead of merely dropping a treat into a bowl, this dispenser shoots it out of a hole in the front of the unit, creating a fun and interactive experience for your pup.
Good Looks
Just because it’s a product that lets you keep an eye on your pet, that doesn’t mean it needs to look like an industrial security device. Fortunately, this product features a sleak and eye-catching modern design that blends well with almost any decor style. That way, you can have the peace of mind that comes with being able to keep an eye on your pet at all times, without a bulky and cumbersome device in the room.
Versatile Mounting Options
Sure, this product is partially for your pet, but at the same time it’s also an expensive electronic device, so it’s important that you keep it safe. The Furbo offers a few different mounting options so you can make sure that your device remains safe and also provides you with a great view of your pet when you aren’t home.
You can attach it to any hard surface using the attached 3M mounting tape on the bottom of it’s base. Also, if you happen to have a tripod handy, you can also attach it to any tripod base.
Smart Alerts
A new and exciting feature of the latest model is Smart Dog Alerts. This version uses AI to recognize your pet and begin to learn their behaviors. With smart dog alerts, the app will notify you of any important events happening with your dog while you’re away. For example, you’ll receive a notification if your dog is barking, or if your dog is pacing around the house. It can even sync with Amazon Alexa.
Since AI powers it, this new feature is continually learning more about your dog’s behavior, and the type of alerts that you’re interested in. Over time, it will learn to ignore certain activities while alerting you to others, making this one of the coolest and most innovative features you’ll find on any dog camera. Plus, when your dog hangs out in front of the Furbo, it’ll even snap a selfie and send it to you! Who wouldn’t want more cute pictures of their dog?
Room For Improvement
While the Furbo is undoubtedly an industry leader when it comes to pet cameras and treats dispensers, there are a few areas where the product could be improved. We’d love to see some of these issues addressed with future models.
Requires Constant Power
In a world where wires are disappearing from more and more of our appliances, it’s a bit strange that a product as technologically advanced as this one requires power. You’ll need to keep your unit plugged in at all times for it to receive power. While you shouldn’t have a problem placing your camera in a spot that’s suitable for you and your pet, it would be nice if the entire product was wireless.
Treat Dispenser Jams
One of the downfalls of many interactive dog cameras is a jammed treat dispenser, so this issue certainly isn’t unique to the Furbo. While the Furbo does accommodate many different brands of treats, they’ll need to be circular and less than 1cm in diameter to function properly.
If your dog’s favorite treats aren’t circular, or if they’re larger than 1cm in diameter, you may want to try to switch your dog to a different brand of treats. You could also consider a different treat dispenser, instead.
User Restrictions
This product only allows access from the email account that was used to register the product. So, if multiple people in your home would like to use it, you’ll need to give them access to your email address and password.
Fortunately, there’s a fairly easy workaround for this: Just create an email just for the Furbo, and give the login credentials to anyone in your home that needs them. That way, you can use the Furbo from the one email account.
Smart Dog Alerts
One of the coolest and most innovative features of this product is the AI-powered Smart Dog Alerts. While it’s a feature, we love, and a feature that sets the product apart from many of its competitors, it won’t be free for long.
Smart Dog Alerts is currently available on a trial basis, and the company has yet to decide how long the trial will last. What we do know is eventually, Smart Dog Alerts will be a subscription-based service, and you’ll need to pay a monthly fee for it beyond the initial cost of the product itself.
Price
As for price, it’s similar to other popular interactive dog cameras including Petzi and Pawbo. The suggested retail price for the Furbo is $249. While you can expect to pay around that much, there may be a chance you can get yours cheaper. At the time of this writing, it’s available on Amazon and from the manufacturer at a lower price than the suggested retail.
Final Thoughts
While there are a few slight drawbacks, this product has high marks in some of the most important categories including audio/video quality and interactivity. While the Furbo certainly isn’t cheap, many pet owners will find that it’s well worth the enjoyment and peace of mind they get from being able to interact with their pet and keep a close eye on them as well.
Overall, the Furbo is one of the best options if you’re looking for an interactive dog camera, and that sentiment is echoed by thousands of satisfied customers.
