Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box, Automatic Cat Litter Box with APP Control Odor Removal Safety Protection for Multiple Cats

This is the first time I have ever written an Amazon review because I want to ensure those of you reading this do not make the same mistake I did. I purchased this automatic litter box in February 2024, and it is now June 2025. The device began breaking down within a few months, and it is currently unplugged (I use it like a normal litter box for now and scoop out the dirty clumps until I have the money to rectify this frustratingly painful mistake).Set Up- Similar to what others have said, this litter box's manual is in a different language, and unlike actual brands, it does not have any sort of help website, replacement parts, or customer service- I had a friend come over and it took us hours trying to set everything up. The app is glitchy and poorly designed because, again, this is a budget-friendly knock-off of the Litter-RobotDurability- The orb and the litter sifter thing both broke. They are made of plastic, but they do not last long and I tried using Gorilla Super Glue to keep everything togetherCleaning- You will have to manually scrub this device nearly every day to keep it clean. At that point, why invest in an automatic device? The poor quality build and functioning causes tremendous feces stains, litter and poop falling all through the crevices and mechanical parts, and constant need to take everything apart to clean up. It is a physical burden to just maintain cleanliness for the device, as its contents will spill all over each compartment, hole, your floor, and all the plastic parts.Odor- I don't think the deodorizer works properly. I had to plug in a Glade scent plug-in to help mask the odorsCat Likeability/Sound- I used this for 2 adult cats and they shared the box, were not afraid of the sound, and had no issues with feeling comfortable, so at least there's that. You, however, will undergo stress and duress in trying to keep the machine clean, deal with mechanical failures, and have to research a replacement within 1 year of purchase because the plastic pieces are so fragile (especially with the amount of taking apart and cleaning you will have to do)As a first-time cat owner and on a budget I tried to save money and make my life more convenient by buying the $300 version when I should have just gone for the $500-$800 brand name device that would have a longer warranty, replacement pieces, real customer service, and much higher reviews. Even if Amazon puts this on sale for half the price, I hope nobody is as desperate as I am to endure such a headache of a purchase!!!

Have had other similar boxes to this in the past and they were much more expensive (not that $500 is to be sniffed at). I use the PrettyLitter litter, which is obviously part of the equation with smell control etc.First things first, I'm impressed with the quiet operation of the device. I keep it in the room next to my bedroom, and my prior version I had to keep on a timed switch so that it didn't activate at night as I'm a light sleeper. This one might run once or a hundred times a night. I don't notice it.I have a sphinx cat, which are generally known to not have the least smelly bathroom trips of all cats. As I say, I use pretty litter, which does a good job in the box, and for the most part works well with the unit. The mesh on the box is a little wide, such that some "smaller particles" get returned to the waste, so that after 2-3 weeks, I need to switch out the remainder of the litter, but this is much in line with the recommendations of prettylitter, and to be honest, I usually let it go four weeks and I have no problems.The box has some interesting features like ionic deodorization I couldn't say if it actually helps, but certainly if I run the deodorizer cycle it smells "ionic" (i.e. a bit electric, which is better than my kittens smells). The unit connects to SmartLife and it works great from there in terms of configuration and so on. I also have it linked in through my home assistant system, so if I really need to, I can tell it to run a cycle, though as it runs after a few minutes of the cat leaving, I have never had to use this feature much. Once it's set up it pretty much runs on its own.As there is only one button on the machine, that can be a bit confusing (hold for three seconds to do this, 10 seconds to do that...) and I didn't find the language in the SmartLife app particularly intuitive ("CLEARANCE vs. CLEAN") - I know what it means now but i learned by pressing the button and then saying lots of rude words while the box emptied all the litter into the trash when I just wanted it to scoop.The monitors in the app (and therefore home assistant) seem pretty good (if it says full, empty it...!) I haven't thought of any fun things to do with my home assistant integration (maybe one minute after the cat has left, fire up a shot of febreze and run the roomba?) but I'm sure I will find some way to geek out over it.On the downside, I do find that the robot body is a little smaller than other units I have used, which occasionally means my little fella goes in to do his business and treads through his waste before he backs out and then treads it around a bit. There is also no good protection against litter being kicked up out of the unit, meaning that I do spend a lot of time vacuuming, sweeping and running a roomba if there are no "paw prints" on the ground) to keep things clean. Also, my little guy is a kitten and at first struggled to get into the bulb - Your cat has to be able to make the jump into the unit, there are no stairs.In terms of reducing litter "pollution" I have had to work with a few different mat types to find something that works outside of the litter. The curved front coupled with extremely sensitive feet (which I believe are used to detect the cat in the unit) means that a traditional litter rug has to be gone at with an X-acto knife in order to make all the pieces and my feet happy. Still haven't found a good solution to this yet, would probably be a good add on for the company to just sell me something that works! :)Overall very pleased. Manages the poop and the pee for several weeks at a time. It can be a little hard to clean when the little guy has more loose stools (thanks Spinx breed and kittens) but I wouldn't swap it out for the world (unless someone wants to offer me a different free one to try). Would recommend. Nothing is going to get cat poop perfect, and this does more than enough to make me happy.