Power Pet PX-1 Wi-Fi Dog Door Review: A Locking Panel, Not a Large-Dog Door

The first thing to know about this review is a correction to the question it was meant to answer. We were asked whether a motorised sliding dog door with a deadbolt is worth the money for large dogs. The PX-1 is not a large-dog door. High Tech Pet sells it as the Medium: an 8.25 inch by 10 inch panel, rated by the maker for pets up to 25 lbs on its patio page. The large dog version is the PX-2. So the useful question is smaller and more honest: is the PX-1 Wi-Fi patio model worth $874.99 for a small or medium pet?

We built this from High Tech Pet's product, sizing and wall-mount pages, a PawTech review of the PX-1, and retailer listings. We could not test the door in a patio slider, and we say where we rely on someone else.

What you are buying: a sliding panel and a collar

Most pet doors are a flap. The Power Pet is a motor-driven vertical panel. A dog wearing the MS-5 ultrasonic collar walks up, the sensor reads the collar, the panel lifts, and it drops back down behind the pet. PawTech's review sums it up as "motor-driven, deadbolt-locked, airtight sealed", and says an automatic deadbolt engages every time the door shuts.

That is the case for paying more. A flap is a hole with a cover. A panel that locks when it is down is closer to a wall, which helps with draughts and with raccoons, and PawTech calls the seal "genuinely draft-free". PawTech also credits the directional sensor with ignoring a pet that is walking about inside near the door.

The cost of that design is dependence. Every animal that should use the door needs a collar, and an uncollared pet or a dead collar battery means a closed door. This is a door for pets that tolerate a collar all day.

The $874.99 question

The patio model on this page, for tall sliders, is $874.99 with AC power and no backup battery. A rechargeable backup adds $44.99, taking it to $919.98. The patio unit weighs 40 lb and is built from aluminium with dual-pane Low-E glass, which explains some of the price: you are buying a sliding-door insert, not just an opening.

Compare that with the other mounts. The wall-mounted Wi-Fi PX-1 is listed at $579.99 (regular $624.99) and the shorter patio version at $839.99. If you can cut a wall or a door rather than replace a slider panel, you save about $295 against this listing. PawTech priced the basic, non-Wi-Fi PX-1 at $419, which shows what the Wi-Fi alone costs you across the range.

The patio sizes are two heights, regular for sliders from 75 to 80.25 inches and tall for 93.125 to 96 inches. Measure your slider before you click anything. At the time of writing, several of these pages also showed the door as backordered, so ask about delivery first.

What the Wi-Fi adds

The app lets you open and close the door from anywhere, switch the sensors on or off, hold the door open, and set timers. The patio page says up to 20 custom timers, seven days a week; the wall page says 60, so check which applies to your model. The app also shows operating history: total opens and how often each sensor fired, by day, week, month or year. Firmware updates arrive over the air.

Two limits matter. The door works only on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, not 5 GHz, so a mesh network that merges bands may need the door's connection set up on a 2.4 GHz-only name. And the app controls the door, not the pet: nothing tells you which dog went through.

Where it is weak

• Installation. PawTech scores installation 7 out of 10 and notes you must cut into a door or wall. A patio insert avoids cutting, but a 40 lb panel is a two-person lift.

• Power. The door needs an AC outlet, and the backup battery is an extra $44.99. Without it, we would plan for what a power cut does to a door that is meant to lock.

• Cold weather. A retailer-reported problem, which we could not confirm, describes the panel reopening mid-close in low temperatures because the blocked-door sensor trips. If you live where winters are hard, ask High Tech Pet about it before buying.

• Size. 25 lbs on the sizing table is not a limit to stretch. A 40 lb dog will not fit through an 8.25 inch panel.

Support is solid on paper: a full one-year warranty, a limited lifetime warranty, and a 90-day satisfaction guarantee on the patio listing. Owners cited by one retailer review reported a door still working after more than 26,000 opens in three years, a figure we have not checked.

Who should buy it

Buy the PX-1 patio model if you have a small or medium dog or cat, a sliding door you would rather not cut, a collar-wearing pet, and a real security concern. A locking motorised panel is a better answer than a flap to someone worried about break-ins or wildlife.

Skip it if your dog is over 25 lbs: buy the PX-2 and price it separately. Skip it too if you can cut a wall, where the $579.99 wall version is the same door for $295 less, or if you want a door that identifies each pet by microchip instead of a collar. At $874.99, this is a good door at a high price for a narrow set of homes.