Source: Smart Pet Toy

Full review

Furbo is another promising new entry into the ever expanding Smart Pet Camera market. This one is designed specifically to be used for dogs, who are more responsive to treats than lasers. It features an HD camera with night vision, treat dispenser and a set of light and sound signals to interact better with your dog. It also can detect barks and movement to alert you when your dog is excited. Here is our review of Furbo, from unpacking the device to playing back the recorded video’s and shooting treats.

Unboxing

When we received Furbo, it came in a neat and sturdy package. The package included a couple of small bag of treats, which was a pleasant surprise, and a small 2-page quick start guide.

Design

Furbo is designed as a cylinder with a narrowing about two-thirds from the top. The cover is made of Bamboo which is environmentally friendly and creates a nice contrast with the full white exterior. On the front are all the working elements: a 720P HD camera with night vision, Speaker and Microphone and the opening for the treat dispenser.

Furbo is free standing which means that it can be placed anywhere without any DIY. Most of the weight is at the bottom, and it’s also wider there. That makes it pretty stable by nature. On top of that, it has three adhesive pads on the underside. With those, it will stick to any smooth surface and be impossible to knock down. Additionally, there is a mounting option for tripods.

With the Tripod, Furbo can be placed anywhere and at any height. During our review, we haven’t tested this option because we didn’t have a tripod. If you do have one, this is a nice extra that few other interactive pet cameras have.

The cord for the Furbo isn’t very long, so it’s likely that you will need an extension. The view angle is on par with the industry standard at 120 degrees. As with all pet cameras, placement determines your field of view. It takes a little time to find the best place, for your home and your dog.

Setup

The Furbo and the corresponding phone app is very easy to use. Setting up the device took only 20 minutes and was clearly explained in the quick start guide. One thing that could have been more clear in the Quick Start Guide would be how to load the treats. But that is so easy after the first time that it’s never an issue anymore. There is a training video included with the app. This video helps to get your dog acquainted with Furbo.

Features: video quality

Furbo uses a 720P camera with night vision. The image through the app is clear and smooth. In low light conditions, the image stayed bright enough to see what’s going on. The picture quality is not as high as with some 1080P cameras, but it also doesn’t use as much bandwidth. Both in night vision mode and normal mode, the video is very sharp and gives a good view of the room. The room, we tested it in, is a bit crowded so we didn’t have as big a view as we wanted. But even against the light coming from the window, you can see almost everything, which shows the performance of the camera.

In pitch black, the night vision of Furbo makes it possible to see exactly what is going on. This can be really useful for dogs that get upset during night time, or to increase the security of your home.

Features: Sound quality

The microphone records close to every sound in the house. It can be difficult to hear it when you are in a noisy place, but with headphones, you hear almost everything. The speaker works well, but we didn’t test it specifically for sound quality. Dogs hear it well enough to respond to it.

Features: Web Interface and Smartphone App

The Furbo currently only works with a smartphone app. This is available for iPhone and Android through the respective app stores. We used the iPhone version, and it worked without any problems. The interface is simple and clear, and the few settings are easy to access. The app didn’t use a lot of power or bandwidth during standby. When we were watching the live stream for 10 minutes, it would use about 65 MB of data.

The app has a barking alarm. That means that you get an alert on your smartphone if your dog is barking. Then you can check on the camera, talk and dispense treats at the time when the dog most needs it. The alarm worked well during our test. It always sent an alert when the dog was barking.

Features: Treat dispenser

Furbo has a treat dispenser that you can fill by opening the lid on the top. The treats do have to be of the right size. If the treats are too small, they will fill the opening area for the thrower and get stuck. Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance mini-rewards are too small for the Furbo, for example. When the treats have the right size, the treat dispenser works accurately and fast.

Dog Interaction

It can take some time for a dog to get used to a smart pet camera. It greatly depends on the dog. Some just start playing with it, while others don’t seem to understand it for a while.

During the first two days, I introduced Saydee to Furbo as instructed in the training video. She appeared to respond well. I left for a few hours. Within 5 minutes of my departure, I receive a barking alert from the Furbo app. I didn’t check it right away as I was in an Uber. Another minute, another alert, again another minute another alert. I checked the app and my dog was barking at the door. I proceeded to say her name and she left the door and walked towards the Furbo and walked back to the door. Her barking initiated again, I called her again and threw a treat from the Furbo. She ran back to the door and began barking again. I tried different phrases and continued shooting out treats. She never ate the treats and went back to the door barking. My dog is not picky, and usually, acts like treats will disappear if she doesn’t inhale them. So, her not eating the treats was quite astonishing. She eventually stopped barking about after approximately 45 minutes remained quiet for the next 5 hours.
My dog is ten years old, and it may take some time for her to become acquainted with Furbo. I will keep trying it with her as I feel like this may be the only way to control her recent barking habit.

To sum it up

Pros

• Great design
• Easy setup
• Simple top loading for treats
• High quality video camera with great night vision.
• Very functional barking alert.

Cons

• Little bit more picky when it comes to treat sizes.