Litter Robot 3 Connect: How Genius is it?

Welcome to our honest Litter Robot 3 connect review – where we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the cleverest litter box on the market.

It doesn’t matter how much you adore your fuzzy feline friends – cleaning litter sucks. Litter trays are smelly, gross, awkward, and maintaining a clean litter box is pretty much one of the worst parts of cat ownership all around. However, they’re also something we just force ourselves to deal with as cat owners. If you’re going to own a pet, you need to look after their bathroom habits.

But what if you could invest in a tool that would do the annoying litter scooping for you? Would you pay around $500 to essentially never have to scoop poop again?

After putting the Litter Robot 3 Connect to the text, let's determine whether it’s really worth the money after all.

What is the Litter Robot 3 Connect?

The Litter Robot 3 is the third iteration of the Auto Pets Litter Robot self-cleaning litter box. This globe-shaped rotating litter box has always featured the same central idea – allowing you to avoid poop scooping. The latest edition of this robot (Connect), is a Wi-Fi enabled device, so you can control and monitor the clean cycle from a dedicated smart app.

There are a few other handy features included with the latest version, including a glowing blue night light, quiet performance, and distinctive design. Honestly, the whole product looks like it’s dropped out of an episode of Dr Who.

Specs:

Litter Robot 3 Connect Review: Setting Up

The Setup

The first thing you’re going to notice about the Litter Robot 3 Connect is its size. This is an absolutely massive litter box, so don’t expect it to fit well into any tiny apartments or kitchen spaces. The unit comes pre-assembled at least, so all you really need to do is plug it in and you’re ready to go.

There’s a smartphone app included for control purposes, so make sure you get that synced up with your phone as quickly as possible.

One of the toughest parts of setting this litter box up is likely to be finding the right space for it. An average litter box is pretty compact. The Litter Robot 3, on the other hand, is huge. This futuristic gadget is around 2.5 feet in size, and 2 feet wide. It also has a massive opening for your cats to jump in. There’s a step to get in too, if your cat is having a hard time.

The Design

The Litter Robot 3 Connect looks nothing like a “traditional” litter tray. It’s more like a spaceship or some kind of futuristic pod. With that in mind, you might have a slightly tough time convincing your kitty to step inside and do their business.

On the plus side, this box can look pretty swanky – provided you’ve got the space for it, but the size will make it difficult for a lot of people to fit this tray into their home. It’s also worth noting your cat needs to be at least 5 pounds to trigger the sensor.

There’s no maximum weight limit for this tray, which is nice if you have bigger cats. Plus, you can use the device with multi-cat households. All of the materials throughout this product are very high-quality, and well-made, so you should expect them to last a decent amount of time.

The litter

The Litter Robot 3 Connect gives you the freedom to add your own litter to the machine. Generally, we definitely recommend using clumping litter here, otherwise you’re not going to see the benefits of being able to remove those “clumps” on a regular basis.

While you’re free to choose whichever cat litter you want, it’s best to make sure your choice will fit through the sieve when the litter robot is working. Chunkier pieces of litter and wooden pellets might be more problematic. You’ll also need to pay attention to things like the maximum fill line, so you don’t end up with litter all over the floor.

One point to note is that any cat litter your choose might be tough to actually add to the robot. You’ll struggle with the awkward angle and smaller opening of the entryway for this device if you’re using a larger bag. It might be easier to use a scoop or pour your litter into something easier to tip into the middle of the tray.

How Does the Litter Robot 3 Work? The Functionality

Once your sensor is set off, the unit counts down for a set period of time. You can choose between 3-, 7-, and 15-minute options via the app before you run the cycle. This gives your cat plenty of time to go to the bathroom and get out before things start rotating.

When the cycle begins, the globe begins to move slowly, causing clean litter to fall through a sieve into a compartment on one side of the globe. Solid waste and clumps are left behind and dropped into the base of the unity. According to the company behind the Litter Robot 3 Connect, this reduces litter use by around 50% compared to regular scooping.

After the waste is removed, the globe rotates back to the original position. The full experience is pretty simple, but you might find the noise a little annoying. There’s drawer for the waste, which you can pull out and line with bags. You actually get some waste bags included with the unit.

When the drawer is full, you’ll get a notification sent straight to your phone telling you to empty everything out.

Notably, as well as using the timer function, you can also trigger a waste removal cycle manually, using the cycle and reset buttons, or the smartphone app.

While everything does pretty much work as you’d expect, there are a few issues to note with the Litter Robot 3 Connect in terms of consistency. Sensor issues are commonplace, particularly if you have a smaller cat. However, this doesn’t just mean kittens. Cats under 7kg might struggle to trigger the sensor too.

Notably, as well as using the timer function, you can also trigger a waste removal cycle manually, using the cycle and reset buttons, or the smartphone app.

While everything does pretty much work as you’d expect, there are a few issues to note with the Litter Robot 3 Connect in terms of consistency. Sensor issues are commonplace, particularly if you have a smaller cat. However, this doesn’t just mean kittens. Cats under 7kg might struggle to trigger the sensor too.

Litter Robot 3 Connect Review: Ease of Use

The biggest selling point of the Litter Robot 3 Connect is it promises to make litter box maintenance as simple and convenient as possible. Although actually getting everything set up can be a little tricky, we did find this to be a very useful piece of kit overall.

Getting a push notification to tell you when the waste drawer is full is excellent. It means all you need to do is pull open the drawer, tie the bag of waste, and throw everything away. When you inevitably run out of the bags which come with the Litter Robot purchase, you’ll be able to use any kind of shopping bag or waste bag instead.

In general, if you’re only looking after one cat, you’ll be able to leave the tray un-emptied for around 7 to 10 days. On the other hand, if you’ve got multiple cats in your household, you might get notifications more often.

You’ll also need to clean the inside of the globe somewhat thoroughly every one to three months to keep it working at its best. Thankfully, everything does break down into pieces, so it’s a little easier to clean. You can pop the top section of the litter robot off and remove the waste drawer completely.

Do Cats Like the Litter Robot 3 Connect?

We found the Litter Robot 3 to be a little daunting to our cats upon arrival – perhaps because it looks nothing like a litter tray. However, if you can convince your cats to use it, they’ll gradually get used to the experience in most cases.

One point to note is that though this litter tray looks huge, the internal section isn’t as spacious for big cats as you might like. For larger breeds you’re going to really struggle to give your cat a lot of space to move around. Inside the tray measures around 14 x 14 inches.

Smaller cats, on the other hand, might take to this tray a lot more readily. If you have lightweight cats with more delicate frames, you should be able to get everyone used to the Litter Robot 3 within very little time. Plus, you’re more likely to impress cats who hate going to the bathroom in dirty litter trays with this device.

Is The Odor Control Effective?

Surely a litter tray which sifts through waste automatically is great for reducing odor, right? Once your litter is sifted by the Litter Robot 3, it’s dropped into the waste drawer, which contains a trash bag. You can use either the custom bags for the robot, or your favorite trash bags (which is a lot cheaper). There’s also a set of carbon filters, which helps to keep odors from leaking out.

With a single cat using the litter robot, you should find it’s pretty good at locking away unwanted smells. However, multiple cats can quickly cause the odor to add up to something a lot harder to ignore. The smell may begin to bother you within a week if you’re not consistent with cleaning the system.

Despite a few smells, the Litter Robot 3 Connect does do a lot better at capturing smells than your standard litter tray – even if you have one of those hooded trays at home.

Is There a Lot of Litter Scatter?

If you’re concerned about your litter tray throwing litter all over the place whenever it tries to clean up unwanted waste, there’s nothing to worry about. If you follow the instructions about how much you should fill your litter tray, you shouldn’t have too many problems.

There’s also a little mat included with your robot which helps to capture litter. However, we ended up using a different mat, as the included option was extremely small. If you have cats who dig a lot, you might have a higher chance of dealing with messes.

Even if you use the best low-stick litter, waste and litter will also gradually accumulate inside the Litter Robot 3 Connect. This is why it’s so important to stick to a consistent schedule of cleaning your bot every few months. You’ll need to completely empty the litter at this point, take the bag out of the waste drawer, unplug the base, and take everything apart.

Hosing the full system down will take a little while, particularly if you’re going to be using paper towels, soap, and water.

Litter Robot 3 Connect Review: The App

The wifi Connect app is one of the most important parts of the Litter Robot 3 Connect. It allows you to monitor your waste drawer and get instant notifications when you need to clean it out. You’ll even be able to keep a closer eye on your cat’s litter box usage, with daily, weekly, and monthly analysis.

You can also use the app to access features like the embedded night light, a sleep mode, and more. The sleep mode allows you to stop the Litter Robot from cycling during an 8-hour period of your choice – which could be ideal if you’re not going to be around to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Because the Litter Robot 3 Connect essentially stops you from having to do most of the litter cleaning work yourself, it’s helpful to have the app available so you can keep track of important information and functionality. The fact you can actually track and monitor your cat’s bathroom activity is also extremely useful. We think this would be particularly helpful if you needed to keep an eye on your cat’s health during a difficult period in your life.

Of course, you can only get a decent amount of usage out of the app if it’s working properly, and your cat is using the litter tray. If you can’t convince your kitty to step inside, then you’re not going to see the benefits of being able to track their usage.

Is the Litter Robot 3 Connect Worth It?

The Litter Robot 3 Connect version costs around $500, so it’s leaps and bounds ahead of other litter trays and boxes in terms of overall price. If you want to cut back on costs, you might be able to find a reconditioned unit in some cases – and there is financing available too. However, for the most part, you can expect to pay a lot.

Overall, the Litter Robot is one of the most versatile and consistent automatic litter boxes you can buy, offering tons of freedom for today’s cat owners. You can select from a wide range of different litter types, which isn’t the case for a lot of other automatic litter trays. Plus, the sifting mechanism seems to work reasonably well compared to other boxes.

If you have the cash to splash on an automated solution for litter management, the Litter Robot 3 Connect really is a decent choice. If you’re just about willing to spend anything to spend less time cleaning the litter box, this could be the ideal solution for you. It’s also a good choice for people who often struggle to find enough time to track their cat’s litter activity.

If you’re worried about your cat’s health, or you know they’ve been struggling with symptoms which indicate poor bowel or urinary tract health, the Litter Robot 3 Connect may be able to help. Plus, if you have mobility issues or disabilities yourself, you can avoid bending to scoop the litter box on a daily basis. A device like this should mean you have an easier time taking care of your cats.

Litter Robot 3 Review: Verdict

The Litter Robot 3 Connect is one of the most valuable automated litter boxes out there (and one of the most expensive). It could help with a wide range of litter box cleaning requirements – but it won’t be the right investment for everyone. The sensor isn’t always as consistent as you might like, and you might find you’re having to regularly trigger manual cycles instead.

We also probably wouldn’t recommend this litter tray for larger cats who need more space to move around in their litter tray, or felines who don’t like covered trays very much.

On the plus side, if you’re interested in trying the Litter Robot 3 Connect, there is a 90-day money-back guarantee and 3-year warranty, so you can always send the product back if you’re not happy.

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