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.

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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.

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