Litter-Robot 5 Pro AI Falls Short

Single-source brief: The Verge found Whisker’s $899 model scoops well, but its AI features failed during six months of testing.

What Changed

Whisker’s Litter-Robot 5 Pro adds cameras, sensors, and AI tracking. It aims to tell cats apart and flag litter box patterns.

The Verge tested the $899 robot for six months. Its reviewer said the system mixed up two very different cats. It later merged them into two identical profiles.

The new WasteID feature also failed repeatedly, according to The Verge. It is meant to tell urine from solid waste. The robot should remove solid waste faster to curb odors.

The Real Cost

The Litter-Robot 5 Pro costs $899. Its AI health tools and video storage need an $8 monthly Whisker Plus subscription.

That adds $96 each year. The provided evidence does not state whether a subscription is required for basic scooping.

Whisker also sells the $599 Litter-Robot Evo and $699 Litter-Robot 4. All use sensors and a rotating globe to sift waste into a sealed drawer.

Should You Buy It?

Wait on the 5 Pro if its AI tools are your reason to pay more. The Verge said its core scooping job worked very well. Its larger bin, controls, LCD screen, and roomier dome also improved on the Litter-Robot 4.

But the health tracking did not provide useful insight in this test. The cameras also did not reliably identify cats.

The deployment stage is unclear from the supplied evidence. So is whether Whisker has fixed these AI errors.