Furbo 360° Dog Camera Review | Interactive Pet Surveillance
The Furbo Dog Camera is a perfect way to remotely monitor your pets, relieve their separation anxiety, and dispense treats. Read our full review.
Having a pet camera is a wonderful way to monitor your pets throughout the day, and now I have to say the best one that I have experienced so far is the Furbo 360° Dog Camera.
Adding the ability to rotate the camera a full 360° is a truly fantastic addition to the already great product. Now whatever would normally happen off screen can be viewed and tracked in real time!
Separation anxiety is unfortunately fairly common with our beloved dogs these days – especially due to dog parents being torn away back to the office again after a long time spent working from home.
Impressive video quality, two-way audio, night vision, and a fun treat-tossing function make this your dog's new best friend.
Introducing a pet camera into your home is a great way to help keep track of your pet’s wellbeing, but choosing an interactive dog camera will certainly elevate both your and your dog’s day!
Jasper, my Aussie Shepherd has grown a real affinity for the Furbo 360° Dog Camera. Being able track him throughout the room by rotating the camera, and having the ability to toss treats to him from the office definitely helps keep both him and I entertained and happy.
Furbo 360° Dog Camera Specs
- Great video quality
- Infrared night vision
- Treat tossing
- Real-time smart alert (Dog Activity Alert)
- Two-way audio
- Easy to set up!
- Furbo Dog Nanny benefits
- Not dogproof if they can get to it!
- Paid subscription for the more advanced features
- Cannot adjust frequency of individual smart alerts
– Weight: 760g (1.7lbs)
– Camera: 1080p FHD, 132 degree wide-angle lens, 4x digital zoom, automatic night vision
– Audio: Built-in speaker with a high-quality microphone
– Treat capacity: ~100 pieces
– Recommended treat: Round shaped treats with a diameter of around 0.5 inches (1 cm)
– Power: 5.2V/2A
– Connectivity: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.2 (BLE)
– Warranty: 1 Year Limited Warranty
– Realtime 2-Way Audio
– Rotating 360º view
– Auto Dog Tracking
– Colour Night Vision
– Barking Alert
– Treat Tossing
– Spill-Proof Design
– Android 8.0 or newer (must support Bluetooth 4.2) with Google Play, Google Services
– Broadband internet connection (2Mbps upload recommended)
– 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
– Available power outlet
– 2-meter USB-C cable
– Furbo power adapter
– Quick start guide
Build & Appearance
The very popular original Furbo Dog Camera featured a sleek, clean, and modern design – suitable for every household without looking out of place.
Following on with that winning formula, but improving both the tech and the features, the Furbo 360° Dog Camera continues to utilise a lightweight and shiny hard plastic, while also still featuring a solid wooden lid to seal the food dispenser.
The opening for the treat dispenser still sits right in the middle, ready to toss treats to your fuzzy friend, while the 132-degree wide-angle HD camera sitting neatly above provides you with an unobscured view of their happiness.
The 360° rotation panel is tucked away neatly underneath and the two-way audio is now hidden inside the body. There is also a green light and a white light placed along the base to indicate activity.
You’ll notice it’s quite tall, and that’s to allow it to hold a decent amount of treats for your beloved dog or dogs. Just be sure to take note of your dog’s height so you can keep it out of reach… Especially if your pet is highly driven by treats!
It’s recommended that dog owners always place the camera out of their pets’ reach. Treat tossing is a great way to interact with your pets, but we all know they can get quite excited and may try to access the device themselves!
It’s a very stable device, so if they slam against the shelving unit it shouldn’t topple. I know my pup will probably give it a good go one of these days, but fortunately the team over at Furbo have taken this in to consideration and provided 3 strips of 3M tape on the base of each Furbo unit! That extra security is certainly a welcomed addition.
Software and App
The Furbo App is free to download and is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play store.
You’ll need either Apple iOS 12 or newer (must support Bluetooth 4.2), or Android 8.0 or newer (must support Bluetooth 4.2 and Google Play) to begin using it.
I found the Furbo app to be clean and simple in both function and design, and it’s not bloated with gimmicks and advertising either.
It’s quick to register an account through the app, and it’s very easy to set up your Furbo 360° Dog Camera.
Every Furbo device comes with 30 days of free access to the premium Dog Nanny subscription service (cancel anytime if it’s not for you). But a subscription is not necessary to enjoy the included features of your fancy new device.
In order to use your Furbo camera, you will need to be connected to the internet or Wi-Fi on both devices. So if you’re one to shut down your Wi-Fi upon leaving the house, you won’t be able to view the live feed remotely.
With the wide-angle view provided by the camera and utilising the two-way audio, capturing a video of a dog selfie is an easy task! Especially after building a positive association with the Furbo 360° Dog Camera.
Oh, and don’t forget to set up your dog’s profile!
Image Quality and Low Light Performance
If picture quality is important to you, you will not be let down by the Furbo 360° Dog Camera.
I was delighted with both the picture and video quality produced by the HD camera. It’s a step above competitors, that’s for sure.
It’s fun watching what happens during the day in a dog’s life at home, especially with a couple of cats roaming the house too.
The dog diary feature plays back the whole day’s worth of notifications in a quick 60-second clip. My phone is also filled with screenshots and videos I’ve captured manually in the app!
At night things are often quite different. That’s when the cats really get up to chaos! Hearing a concerning bump in the night is one thing, but being able to pop open the app and quickly stream from the Furbo 360° Dog Camera is helpful to ease a tired mind.
The night vision offered on the dog camera is pretty good, especially for a product at this price range! The video clips just don’t stop coming, I have so many saved to my phone now.
You will also notice that the exposure settings which the Furbo 360° Dog Camera uses automatically adjust – so if there are items that get in the way of the screen, it’ll expose to show them and will shroud your pet in darkness.
Included and Useful Features
In this section, I will only discuss the standard included features and will exclude the premium subscription additions (I’ll display them in the next section).
One of the signature improvements over the original Furbo Dog Camera has to be the ability to rotate the device a full 360°. Where the original static model may have allowed mayhem to happen off-screen, it can now all be followed manually within the app, or automatically via AI within the software.
Along with great video quality and smooth two-way audio, the new Furbo 360° Dog Camera also features 360-degree dog tracking along with a barking sensor.
Combining all of these features allows you to log on, live stream, and have the camera automatically track your dog around the room. So, you can get a full clear snapshot of what’s going on!
Listen to the sounds and hear what may be distressing them, speak through the microphone to get your dog’s attention to help calm and settle your pet, and rest assured knowing all is now OK.
Just be mindful of where you place the camera as it rotates by itself when tracking your dog, and may lose track of them behind something.
This leaves you to manually rotate the camera back with the app by using the buttons. In doing so, also be mindful of the latency experienced as it tends to have a second or two worth of lag, which causes me to overshoot often!
With clever in-built A.I. software, the Furbo 360° Dog Camera also begins to learn and study your dog’s behaviour.
Furbo’s smart alerts notify you of whatever dog-related events are happening within your home, which can in turn help you monitor their well-being, or notify you of something fun happening.
Whatever your furry friend gets up to in front of the camera, it gets recorded and the device automatically assumes certain behaviours. Then, it actually asks you to confirm these within the notifications centre, which helps it to develop better and more accurate smart alerts.
Treat tossing really is the signature feature of this dog camera, and the treat dispenser has quite a decent capacity to it too.
The new and improved adjustable mechanism within the Furbo Camera allows you to choose between small or large treats (or kibble) to best suit your dog or pet.
Pop open the app and swipe on the treat icon to toss treats to your dog (or cat!), but I wouldn’t recommend using all the treats in a single sitting. The dispenser can hold anywhere up to 100 pieces within it!
I had small kibble in mine, but “large” set in the settings. Upwards of about 6 pieces would go flying in the air, sending Jasper on a rampage around the home to eat them all.
Upon adjusting that setting, only 1-3 pieces would now go flying.
But as soon as he hears that little squeaker sound bellowing out of the Furbo, and the mechanism getting ready to fire, he’s on the ball and ready to go for it! Treats!
Subscription Features
The Furbo Dog Nanny subscription is an optional service that adds a number of extra and helpful features. It’s not necessary to enjoy the Furbo Dog Camera, but it is certainly a value add.
Every dog owner will appreciate these at some point, and the 30-day free trial allows you to experience them and decide for yourself. You’ll receive a video of every single thing that your dog does!
Event-Based Cloud Recording:
All of the 15-second video clips recorded by the Furbo Dog Camera will be automatically backed up and stored in the cloud. This protects the footage of your pup for you, in case anything unfortunate happens to your device.
Doggie Diary:
The Doggie Diary is essentially a highlight reel of your pup throughout the day. The Furbo Camera will record all of your pup’s best moments and will automatically prepare a video for you to save and share with friends and family.
Real-Time Smart Alerts:
With a wide array of alerts, the Furbo will send you push notifications for each of the below:
- Dog Activity Alert
- Dog Selfie Alert
- Person Alert
- Home Emergency Alert (Smoke/CO alarm sound)
- Continuous Barking Alert
- Dog Crying Alert
- Dog Howling Alert
- Dog Chewing Alert
- Dog Potty Alert
- Dog Running Alert
Some dogs are active, and some are lazy, now you can find out which based on the level of notifications!
In saying that, though, it would be great to adjust the frequency and/or active time frame of each individual available smart alert. You can only turn them on or off individually, and the frequency is pre-set and done based on a grouping of alerts.
For example, the person alert does get quite annoying as you and your family roam about the household, and I don’t need to see a video of them each time they walk through the dining room.
On the other hand, I would appreciate it to be active when everyone is meant to be out, in case an intruder enters the house.
Alternatives to Furbo
There are a few other pet cameras out there, as well as the option of using simpler in-home security or spy cameras as well. Personally, I feel that the Furbo 360° Dog Camera is of higher quality than competitor devices.
The quality, barking alert, and treat dispenser are just so smooth and seamless to use. The throw of the treats is great, and it gives Jasper a chance to try and catch them instead of them just popping onto the floor.
If you find that the features on offer are a bit too much for your needs, you can always try one of the aforementioned in-home security or spy cameras instead. But you won’t have the same real-time smart alert features that are offered on the Furbo 360° Dog Camera.
I am one for purchasing an item specific to a purpose, so if I’m watching my pup from afar, then a pet camera is what I want to use. A treat dispenser is definitely an extra value add to this!
Value for Money
This device is helping Jasper deal with my wife and I to head to the office regularly, and the treat tossing feature definitely adds some extra joy to our day.
Thanks to the barking alerts, we’ve become aware of how much noise Jasper tends to make throughout the day, so now we can try and train him out of it.
The video quality is quite decent, including the night vision as well. Person alerts were something to get used to, as they would regularly be triggered by my mother-in-law roaming around the house while I am at the office!
Though it’s a device designed specifically for dogs, I’ve found it can work quite nicely for cats as well. They too love treats!
It’s great fun and great value for money. Certainly a value-add to your pet’s home life; just be sure to make the effort of building a positive association with it before heading out and expecting them to know what’s going on.
Oh, and don’t forget to pre-load the treats too!
Furbo 360° Dog Camera Review | Conclusion
If separation anxiety is something your pet is presently suffering from, the Furbo 360° Dog Camera may be of great assistance to you.
Treat tossing is a great additional feature, and I’m sure all dog owners will enjoy seeing their pet’s happy little faces as they chase the treats down!
Two-way audio is a definite bonus for every dog owner because talking to your furry friend through the day is a definite stress relief.
Jasper runs to the dining room every time he hears that signature sound, excited and happy to chase down those flying treats! Definitely always a fun video to have!
I’ve had a lot of fun with my time using the treat tossing feature, and the amount of dog treats I have gone through since starting this Furbo 360° Dog Camera review is probably not the best for Jasper. Time to take him out for plenty more walkies, and maybe less treats!
Impressive video quality, two-way audio, night vision, and a fun treat-tossing function make this your dog's new best friend.