The Litter-Robot 5 Pro is a high-end, AI-powered litter robot designed to make cat ownership easier and more convenient. Priced at $899, it promises to not only scoop your cat’s waste but also provide valuable insights into their litter box usage, potentially flagging health issues. However, after six months of testing, our review team found that the 5 Pro’s AI features are seriously lacking, and we wouldn’t recommend paying the premium for them.

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The Litter-Robot 5 Pro is a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the Litter-Robot 4, with a larger bin, more intuitive controls, and a dual camera system. The device uses sensors and motors to detect when your cat is entering or leaving the litter box, and once they’re done, the robot rotates the drum to filter and sift the waste into the sealed bin below. This takes away the yucky daily chore of scooping the litter box, and the app gives you remote control over most of the device’s functions, including checking waste and litter levels and monitoring your cat’s weight.

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However, the 5 Pro’s biggest letdown was the kitty facial recognition feature, called Cat ID. The front-facing camera is supposed to recognize which cat is entering and then assign any business to that cat in the app’s history section. Unfortunately, it struggled mightily with our two cats, who don’t look a lick alike. After a week or so of use, the app presents a PawPrint setup option, where it shows you images the camera has captured of your cats, and you pick the two best. But our cats’ images were all fairly bad, and we couldn’t get the system to accurately recognize them.

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According to Whisker, poor lighting and bad initial imaging can throw the camera off, and when it’s not sure, it will use other signals, such as its onboard scale, to guess. But in our case, this resulted in the robot mistaking our 13.4-pound cat for his scrawny younger brother, recording his weight as 11 pounds. This was not just a one-time error; the robot continued to record the same incorrect weight for both cats for a week, despite our attempts to reset the weights and reassign the visits.

The health monitoring features were also a disappointment. The WasteID system, which is supposed to tell the difference between #1 and #2 and dispatch the latter faster to reduce odors, repeatedly failed to accurately identify waste. And the onboard scale, which is supposed to track the weight of each deposit, often couldn’t provide a weight at all. Whisker says that our unit’s feces-sensing gas sensor was off, which may have contributed to these issues. However, even after they corrected this remotely, the problems persisted.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the 5 Pro’s design was the camera’s inability to correctly recognize our cats. Even with the monthly Whisker Plus subscription, which covers the AI health features and video storage, we couldn’t get the system to accurately identify our cats. And the front-facing camera, which records visits, was only able to capture our cats entering the litter box, not actually pooping. This was a major disappointment, as we had been looking forward to getting a closer look at our cats’ litter box habits.

Despite these issues, the Litter-Robot 5 Pro is still a solid device that scoops your cat’s waste superbly. Its bigger bin, more intuitive controls, and larger dome make it a better robot overall than its predecessor. But the smarts are seriously lacking, and we wouldn’t recommend paying the premium for the 5 Pro’s AI features. If you’re in the market for a high-end litter robot, you may want to consider the Litter-Robot 4 or the Litter-Robot Evo instead.

One thing to be careful about is where you place the litter robot. In our testing, we found that the front-facing camera caught not just our cats’ bathroom trips but also those of anyone who used the powder room across the hall. This was a major issue, as we didn’t want our cats’ litter box habits to be recorded by the camera. Fortunately, there is an option to turn on recording only when a cat is spotted, but this didn’t always work as intended.

Overall, our review team was disappointed with the Litter-Robot 5 Pro’s performance, particularly in terms of its AI features. While it’s still a solid device that scoops your cat’s waste well, the lack of accurate facial recognition and health monitoring features makes it a less desirable option than its predecessor. If you’re considering purchasing a high-end litter robot, we would recommend doing some further research and considering other options before making a decision.

As a final note, Whisker has promised to improve the enrollment process for facial recognition and to address the issues we experienced with the 5 Pro’s AI features. We look forward to seeing these improvements in future updates.