pet tech, tested
50 devices tested so far
Top score
Halo Collar 5 Review: Can a GPS Collar Really Replace a Yard Fence?Weeks of daily use, real subscription costs and the failures makers leave out.
See the rankingsHalo Collar 5 Review: Can a GPS Collar Really Replace a Yard Fence?reviews in Smart Feeders & Fountains, our busiest category
8 categories covered
Tractive GPS DOG 6 Review: Cheap Tracker, Real Cost in the Plan
Smart Pet DoorsSureFlap Microchip Pet Door Connect Review: Does a Chip Keep Strays Out?Hands-on tested at home. No paid rankings. Battery measured, not quoted. Subscription costs counted. Real cats and dogs do the testing. Every verdict says who should skip it. Apps used for weeks, not minutes.
Ranked by our overall score out of 10. Specs are the maker's, scores are ours.
The Halo Collar 5 costs $599 plus a Pack Membership, and it promises to fence a large yard with nothing but satellites and sound cues. We weighed the claims against independent tests.
The SureFlap reads your pet's existing microchip, so no collar tag is needed. We look at how well that keeps strays out, where owners report lockouts, and what the Hub and batteries add to the cost.
The Alpha T 20 costs $299.99 but needs a $800-odd Garmin handheld to work. We compare its 9 mile radio link and 68 hour battery with the cellular trackers.
The Tractive DOG 6 starts at $69 but needs a subscription to work at all. We add up the plans, the battery claims and the independent accuracy tests to see if it is still the best value.
At $699 the Litter-Robot 4 sits $100 below the Litter-Robot 5 and $200 below the 5 Pro. We lay out what the extra money buys, where the 4 misbehaves and who should skip it.
A decent novelty for small to medium dogs that chase things, and a fair price for a rechargeable moving ball. It is not a boredom cure: interest fades, the modes feel alike, hard floors make it loud, and the maker itself says to supervise play. Treat it as a short session toy, never a sitter.
Best for: Small or medium gentle-chewing dogs that love to chase
Read the reviewWe buy or borrow each device, live with it and its app, and score what happened. If a device fails, the review says so, and who should skip it.
How we reviewCollar trackers and GPS fence collars that show where a dog or cat is and keep it inside a boundary.
Grooming vacuum kits and enclosed pet dryer boxes that cut shedding mess and drying time at home.
Automatic ball launchers and self-moving smart toys that keep dogs and cats active when nobody is free to play.
Indoor cameras and mobile robots for watching, talking to, tossing treats to or playing with pets remotely.
Wearables and smart bowls that measure vital signs, sleep, scratching or drinking to flag health changes early.
Automatic and app-connected litter boxes that sift, bag or flush waste and track each cat's visits and weight.
Scheduled, camera and microchip feeders plus filtered water fountains that log how much a pet eats and drinks.
Microchip, tag and app-controlled pet doors and cat flaps that let only your own animals in and out.
At $799.99 the Purobot Ultra seals waste into bags and watches your cat through a rotating camera. We checked whether that earns a Litter-Robot sized price, and where owners say it breaks.
PetPace 3.0 tracks pulse, temperature, respiration and stress, and bundles GPS and 24/7 vet chat into a mandatory plan. We checked whether that is worth paying for with an older or chronically ill dog.
At $79.99 the Bites 2 Lite is one of the cheapest ways to toss a treat to a pet from your phone. It has a 160 degree lens, but no built-in Alexa, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only and a paid history plan.
