You see people wearing all types of fitness trackers that track steps, sleep, calories burned, etc., but have you ever seen a cat or dog wearing a fitness tracker? Don’t roll your eyes because they exist and I’m going to tell you about the Paby 3G GPS Pet Tracker & Activity Monitor which my cat Max has been wearing for the past week.   

What is it?

The Paby 3G GPS Pet Tracker & Activity Monitor is a tracking device that uses 3G to show in real time where your pet is on a map and it also monitors how active (or inactive) your pet might be.

What’s in the box?

Paby comes packaged in a reusable and collapsible silicone water / food bowl with a lid.

Paby 3G location and activity monitor
USB charging cable
Screw driver
Extra rubber strap
User manual

The Paby device is a plastic device that is shaped like a 2.5 x 1.25 inch bowtie. You can choose from different designs, but I was sent a black Paby with pink stars.

The Paby logo on the front of the device doubles as an LED to show charging and connection status.

The back of the device has a row of electrical contacts for the included magnetic charging cable. There’s also a power button and a metal cover that protects the SIM card.

Three screws secure the cover which also holds one side of the rubber strap that is used to attach the Paby device to your pet’s collar.

Before you and your pet can begin using the Paby Pet Tracker and Activity Monitor, you have to charge it using the proprietary cable that is included with the device. While the battery is charging, the Paby logo will glow red. About 2hrs later when charging is finished, the logo will glow green.

From my testing, I found that the battery life for the Paby is about 4-5 days. There are factors that can make this time shorter like constantly tracking your pet, using the virtual fence feature and sound features. You can extend the battery life of the tracker by using the scheduling feature which turns off the device during certain times of the day like at night when the pet is in the house and not very active.

The next step is to attach Paby to your pet’s existing collar. My cat Max doesn’t wear a collar, so I had buy one, but attaching the device to the collar is as easy as pulling the rubber strap off the hook on the side of metal cover on the back of the device, laying the collar in place and then hooking the rubber strap back over the metal hook.

Then you have to put the collar on your pet. Max did not want his picture taken and did not want to wear the collar. But you can see that the Paby device is small enough for cats and small dogs.

Last but not least, you need to install the Paby app which connects the tracker to your iOS or Android device.

When you first launch the app, it will set up a connection to the Paby tracker and will ask you questions about your pet like if it’s a cat or dog. If it’s a dog, it will also let you search for the breed. It will also ask the age, weight, and health. It uses this info to set daily goals for how much activity the pet should get.

When you launch the app it will sync the data with the tracker to show daily, weekly, and yearly trends.

You’ll see how much your pet was resting, active, and how many steps they walked each day.

In addition to the activity info that is collected about your pet, Paby also uses a combination of advanced 3G GPS, LBS (Location Based Services) and Wi-Fi technologies to provide real-time tracking information.

You can also set a virtual fence and receive real-time alerts when your pet leaves the designated zone that you can set around your location from 100 – 1050 yards. Setting a virtual fence will drain the tracker’s battery faster than not enabling this feature.

Other features include the ability to toggle sound and light on the tracker. If you use the tracking feature to try to find your pet but are still unable to find them, you can toggle sound and light which will cause the logo on the front to blink in blue, red, and green, and the built-in speaker will sound an audible alarm that will freak out your pet and allow you to find them if you’re within hearing distance.

The sound feature is also useful if for some reason that tracker comes off the pet’s collar and is lost in the house or yard.

Another feature of the app will let you watch a replay of where your pet has walked each day.

Paby requires a cellular network connection to track your pet and you have two options when it comes to the cellular coverage for this feature of the device.

Option 1: Paby comes with a free SIM card and offers network subscription plans starting at $4.99 per month at http://www.paby.com/plan/ (those purchasing an annual network service plan through Paby will receive 30 days of free service).

Option 2: customers with AT+T and T-Mobile have the option to use their existing wireless network.

I tested the Paby tracker with my cat Max for a couple weeks and although the advertised features worked, I’m not convinced that knowing how many steps that my cat takes a day or how many hours he sleeps is useful information. I think this info might be more helpful for dog owners since dogs tend to require more exercise than cats. I can see how this device would be a good way to keep tabs on a paid dog walker to verify that you and your dog are getting your money’s worth.

The GPS tracking and virtual fencing features are the features that I was most interested in but Max (my cat) wouldn’t cooperate and go outside the defined virtual fence area. That said, I could use the tracker to see his location on a map. But, the app would show him in the woods behind or in front of our house when he was actually sitting right next to me in my basement. Just like other consumer grade GPS devices, Paby won’t pin point the tracker’s exact location.  If you think this device will be able to help find your lost pet in a city or in the woods, you may be disappointed.

Final thoughts

I have mixed thoughts about the Paby 3G GPS Pet Tracker & Activity Monitor. As a cat owner, I’d advise you to skip it. But as a dog owner who also pays to have their pet walked, I can see that the activity features would be useful.

I’m also not too impressed with the GPS tracking features and would not want to rely on the Paby to help me find my lost pet.

Add in that you have to remember to charge it every few days and it just feels like another device that will end up in a drawer after a few weeks.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Paby. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Pet Gadgets

Paby 3G GPS Pet Tracker & Activity Monitor review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 23, 2017 at 11:55 am.

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The Furbo Dog Camera is a fun way to monitor and interact with your pet remotely. At $249, it’s a little more expensive than most similar remote pet feeders, but it does have some extra features like bark detection, night vision, and a stylish design.

The Furbo arrives in a nicely design box which displays the unit on the front and basic feature list on the back.

The designers of Furbo paid close attention to the overall aesthetic of the product and this is also represented well in the packaging design.

Package Contents

• Furbo Dog Camera
• Micro USB power cable
• Furbo power adapter
• Quick start guide

The Furbo is powered by an included Micro-USB cable and a power adapter.

The only port on the Furbo is the Micro-USB power port on the back of the unit.

Setup for the Furbo is pretty straightforward. The first step is to download the Furbo app and create a new account. Once the app is ready, plug in the Furbo and wait for it to start up. The Furbo has a colored LED status indicator on the front of the unit. When the LED lights up green, you’re ready to begin. The LED will turn white for starting up, blue when in use, purple for no WiFi connection, yellow for standby mode and green for ready to set up.

After setting up your Furbo to connect to your WiFi, the Furbo app will walk you through the steps of acclimating your dog to the Furbo and how to operate it. The next step is to make sure your Furbo is filled with delicious treats for your furry friend.

To fill the Furbo, you need to remove the lid. One stylish design element of the Furbo that I really like is that the lid is made from natural bamboo. It’s a nice flourish and, more importantly, the lid has a rubber seal to keep the treats fresh for your pup.

In my testing, the setup was flawless up to this point. The manufacturer has very clear instructions on what size treat should be used with the Furbo, specifically “round shaped treats with a diameter around 0.4 inches”. I first chose to go with some small training treats that my dog, Addy, loves. I broke them up a bit more to make sure they would fit in the unit.

There’s a “max fill” indicator inside the unit that’s pretty hard to miss to help avoid overfilling. The Furbo doesn’t hold a lot of treats, but there’s enough room to hold about 20-30 pieces of kibble.

The Furbo works by activating a small plunger that pops up and knocks a few treats at a time through the dispenser hole and out the front of the unit.

My first treat dispensing test went fine, but on the second run the unit promptly jammed. I’ve read several other reviews that mentioned jamming issues, but I was surprised it happened this quickly.

The jam was a lot worse than I first realized and while trying to free the offending treat, a piece of the internal plunger came loose.

After about 30 minutes spent disassembling the unit under the hungry stares of Addy, I was able to remove the jammed treat and reset all of the pieces of the unit properly.

Moving forward, I played it safe by using Addy’s kibble as treats. She already loves it and they met the size specifications indicated by Furbo.

The following tests of the unit went very well and aside from some small jams that were easily fixed, we haven’t had any other dispensing problems.

The Furbo can be placed anywhere in your living area and there is 3M double-sided tape on the bottom to help keep inquisitive noses and paws from knocking the unit over in search of treats.

The camera on the Furbo is great for monitoring your pet during the day and making sure all treats are received, but its video quality leaves a bit to be desired. The camera is 720p with a 120° wide-angle lens and automatic night vision. There’s also a built-in microphone and speaker so you can speak to and soothe your pet. Like the camera, the quality of the mic and speaker are a bit subpar, but they do the job.

The speaker plays a short sound before each treat is dispensed, which helps to prepare your pet for the yummy arrival. A great option is the ability to record your own treat sound to personalize the experience a bit. The mic can also be set to monitor continually for barking. When the Furbo senses barking, it will alert you via the app so you can calm your pup or assess the situation. I didn’t have much luck with this feature. Even after adjusting the sound sensitivity via the app, the alert was still easily triggered by ambient Brooklyn noises.

The Furbo app can take stills and videos of your pet while you’re using the app. There are no cloud services or timeline recording options like on devices such as the DropCam.

You get the live-view only when you have the app open, there isn’t a web version, so all treat dispensing has to happen via the app.

The screenshots and videos are of good enough quality for sharing via social media, but that’s about it.

The app itself is well done, but a bit cartoony for my tastes. You activate the treat dispensing by clicking on the treat symbol. The small size of the treats I used meant that three or four treats were dispensed at a time, but Addy didn’t seem to mind at all. There are clear icons for adjusting settings, switching between stills and video, and for activating the mic.

One problem I did have was that once Addy realized the little white thing on the floor was a source of treats, she spent a lot of time watching it, waiting for it to deliver something yummy. But, that’s more of an issue with my particular furry friend than with Furbo.

Overall, I liked the Furbo and found it was a fun way to interact with my dog while I’m away at work during the day. There are some shortcomings when it comes to the technology, especially at the higher price point of $249, but if you’re willing to spend the money and make sure you don’t use treats that may jam it, the Furbo is a great way to have some fun with your furries.

Specifications

• Size: 5.91×4.72×8.86 inches (15x12x22.5cm)
• Weight: 1.76 pounds (800g)
• Camera: 720p HD, 120° wide-angle lens, 4x digital zoom, automatic night vision
• Audio: Built-in speaker, high-quality microphone
• Treat capacity: 30 pieces Recommend round shaped treats with a diameter around 0.4 inches; (1cm) .
• Power: 100-240V, 5V2A
• Connectivity: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Furbo. Please visit their website or and use this link to save $15 of the purchase price.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Pet Gadgets

Furbo Dog Camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 20, 2017 at 9:19 am.

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