PAWBBY Self Cleaning Litter Box w/APP Control

I purchased this cat litter using my own money and am not affiliated with the company or brand in any way or fashion. I am a cat owner of many years who has tried many many automatic cat litter brands. Review updated 09/25/2023 When using the empty litter function, it still checks the weight of the waste compartment and refuses to continue once the maximum weight is reached. Next, it doesn’t completely empty out the waste, leaving a sizeable chunk of litter that needs to be manually removed. Again, not worth the effort for $700. Review Updated 09/01/2023 This is a cat automatic scooping litter box machine that costs $600 and advertises itself as being worth that price point due to the aesthetic quality, superior safety, app usage, and the most important function of scooping litter. In the few weeks that I've had the displeasure of being stressed trying to make this product work, I have found out that all 4 aspects (looks, safety, app, and scooping) are all bad and this is ultimately not worth the headache, wasting your time, and risking your cats lives for a product that does not work 1. DEFECTS TO THE LID IS CONSIDERED NORMAL As I mentioned in my first review of this product, the first thing you see when you look at this litter box is obviously the top part of it and I was very surprised to see that my overly expensive splurge for the aesthetic of having a nice looking litter box, came with scratches and defects (see picture). I've been informed that the scratches and aesthetic issues on top of the lid of this $600 cat litter box is due to the lid material and the minor imprints, cuts, and issues due to the "injection molding process" is considered standard. What this boils down to is the aesthetic cat litter box for $600 is not aesthetic and will likely come with a manufacturing defect which the makers of the aesthetic cat litter box to be a "part of the process". 2. MATERIALS UNSAFE FOR CATS + "SAFETY" STOP MALFUNCTION The product came with a mysterious toxic white powder already inside the litter box when I opened up the barrel. In addition to this mysterious powder being unsafe (and this already being a major red flag when I first opened up the product), the litter box continuously says that there is a cat approaching when there is no cat approaching. If you look at my picture, I am nowhere close to the "detection system", zoomed in, and taking the picture from a side angle and it still says that there is a cat approaching. This means that my electricity is being wasted and also the litter is not being scooped as often as it should be. You might this, this could be human error, well I have the litter box set up in an area with 0 foot traffic and I've wiped the sensors clean to make sure they are free from any dust. 3. APP IS TRASH + TRACKING FUNCTION FOR CAT HEALTH IS BOGUS If you are trying to track your cat's health and think this application will help you to do that for the superior price that it costs, you will be sorely disappointed. The app does not detect in sleeping mode when my cat goes to the bathroom or track this history at all. This means that I have no clue how many times during the night my cat actually went to the bathroom when the purpose of my getting a robotic cat litter was to track its health. OR I could deal with the litter box turning all night long just to track when my cat uses the litter box. The app has no feature to control by myself how much litter in the waste compartment box I think is "too full", This means I keep having to change out the bag even as the clean litter is being put into the waste compartment even when the litter is below the "max line". When I manually clean the litter box from the menu on the screen, it does not log this into the litter box history at all. There is also no instruction guide for the application, and features in the application that are not in the manual and have 0 explanation. I have very good wifi as I live in the middle of the city, and I've had connectivity issues with the litter box. Once I reconnect, all the history of when my cat went to the bathroom is not updated and reflected in the app, leading to inconsistent data. Lastly, not a critical issue compared to all of these other issues, but this app's UX is very clunky and it is not clear at all how much personal information it takes from you as it asks for an email sign-up, connects to your wifi, wants your location, and tries to track your other app usage and history. 4. SCOOPING FAILURE WITH WASTING CAT LITTER AND WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH AN ALREADY CUMBERSOME WASTE COMPARTMENT The waste compartment is a whole problem in itself in the design of the amount of litter that falls into the waste bin as well as actually lining and using the waste compartment. This litter robot continuously dumps clean litter, even when well below the "max fill line" into the waste compartment. (see picture of litter in the waste compartment.) This means that the litter box continuously is getting "fuller" with clean litter. I have included a picture of the amount of litter that gets dumped during cleaning. I am using Dr. Elsey's cat litter, which is the most popular brand of clumping clay litter in the USA. There is also definitely no cat litter exceeding the max line. This wastes the litter liners you need to get to fit into this box as it detects how much "weight" is in the cat litter box and this determines when it decides to no longer automatically scoop. What makes this worse is the fact that the litter liners need to be neatly pleated down on the sides of the litter waste compartment or else the machine will think that you have more clumps of litter inside of it already. Initial reaction & review: Aesthetic & Packaging: I splurged on this automatic cat litter because it was supposed to be superior quality and aesthetics. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and the inside drum and found a mysterious toxic looking white powder that smells like arsenic sitting inside the litter box. I am extremely suspicious as I don’t know what the powder is and had to clean it up using a mask and gloves. While I expect to have to clean something when it arrives, I don’t expect it to come with a potentially toxic chemical powder. Next, I noticed a plastic scrape on the top of the litter box that was there before I opened it. It does not come off no matter what cleanser i used. Sure, if I was paying under $100, this wouldn’t be an issue but the whole point of this box is that it is supposed to be an attractive litter box. And the top part which is the most immediate part that you see, came to me already defective and damaged. I am extremely disappointed by the aesthetic and will have to see how it compares to other similarly priced litter boxes when it comes to the actual usage.