This post is supported by Furbo
We have been trying out the Furbo dog camera with Poppy. The team at Furbo were kind enough to gift us the camera for the purpose of this review. We have had the opportunity to put the product through its paces, and this our honest feedback.
What is the Furbo Dog Camera?
Furbo is a camera unit that you place inside one of the rooms in your house. It is specifically designed with dogs in mind. It allows you to remotely see and talk to your dog via an app on your phone, as well as toss treats to them while you’re out of the house.
Furbo is an interactive smart dog camera that lets you see, talk, and toss treats to your dog from anywhere.
What’s included in the box
Every box contains the following components:
- Furbo dog camera
- USB cable
- Power adapter with 2-pin and 3-pin plug
- Quick start manual
Main features
The Furbo app is available on iOS, Android and Apple Watch. It is free to download and doesn’t take up too much space at just over 60MB. You create an account and then follow a series of steps, which allows the app to pair with your device over WiFi. Once you’ve paired up, you are ready to get started.
Furbo holds up to 100 of your dog’s favourite treats. You have to use treats with a diameter of no more than 0.4 inches/1cm. Once the unit is filled with treats, you can remotely press the treat button on your app and the Furbo will toss the treat into the air. It also makes a noise which your dog will then associate positively with.
Furbo has an impressive 1080p HD camera, situated at the top of the device. This allows you to see a livestream video via the mobile app. If you’re interested in what your dog is up to after dark, there’s also an infrared night vision mode. The camera is wide angle, with a 160 degree field of view. You can even get a closer look at the action with a digital zoom function.
You can speak to your dog very easily using the microphone button in the app. The microphone also detects when your dog barks and sends a push notification to your mobile phone. This notification allows you to quickly log in to the app so you can check what’s going on in the live feed.
Furbo looks very sleek with its glossy white exterior and wooden style lid. It offers additional protection and safety with self-adhesive feet, meaning it doesn’t slide around easily. Furbo uses a vivid blue light when the app is switched on, easily visible to dogs. You can easily save photos via the app, or take videos of up to 60 seconds in length.
What we liked about Furbo
The target market for this device would be worried dog owners who have to leave their pets alone every now and then. There are always those occasions when you can’t help being out for a few hours at a time. We liked that you can interact and play with your dog when you are out of the house.
We liked the sleek design which works well in the home. LED indicator lights at the bottom have a very nice calming effect. The colour turns blue when the app is turned on, which is a colour that dogs are more drawn to.
Furbo looks and feels like a top end, premium product. It is very sturdy and well built. You can use any of your dog’s favourite treats for the device, but make sure they are 1cm in diameter or less to avoid jamming the dispenser.
Poppy loves Furbo. Initially, she was quite scared of the unfamiliar noises but quickly learnt that this product was specifically for her. Here’s a video that we produced using Furbo while we were out.
What we thought could be improved
The barking detector
We found that the device was very sensitive to noise, and it was sending a stream of bark detection notifications. We later discovered that the sensitivity can be adjusted via the app settings. I’d have preferred to only receive one notification.
Treat dispenser
Every now and again, we would press the treat button but nothing came out. Trying a second time always got things moving again. Also, 3 or 4 treats come out of the machine at once. I would have preferred one treat at a time.
Our final thoughts on Furbo dog camera
We had great fun using Furbo to see what mischief Poppy might be up to whilst we are out. We caught her at one point trying to steal some wrappers from the living room bin! It looks sleek in the home and it can even double up as a security camera for when you’re out.
The 1080p HD camera we thought was fantastic. The picture is clear with a wide angle. We didn’t really use the night vision camera because we don’t tend to go out and leave Poppy in the dark, but we had some fun with it anyway! We’ve got a video example of the night vision mode below.
The price of the Furbo dog camera is £199 in the UK. You can certainly get home security cameras for a lot less on Amazon. However, Furbo is a premium product and therefore I do feel the price is justified. This product may not be necessary for all dog owners, but if your dog suffers from separation anxiety or you just want to keep an eye on them, Furbo is a great option that gets the job done well.
Disclaimer: The product was provided free of charge by Furbo for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed in this review are our own and based on our experience of using the product.
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