Petlibro Scout Smart Pet Camera Review

Katelynn Sobus / Cats.com

A lot can happen when you’re out of the house, especially if you have long work hours or travel frequently. Pet cameras are a game changer when it comes to the ability to monitor and even communicate with our pets while we’re away from home.

The Petlibro Scout smart pet camera allows you to check in on your cat anytime, with the ability to watch live in the Petlibro app and even tilt or turn the camera for a better view. It includes 1080p HD footage, two-way audio, and both manual and automatic recording of important moments.

I purchased the Scout smart pet camera myself and tested it for several months. Here is my honest review.

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As an anxious pet parent with many senior cats, pet cameras provide peace of mind. I know the comfort that comes with being able to check on your cats anytime, even if you’re far from home.

In our reviews here at Cats.com, we seek to provide honest reviews based on real world experience with a product. I tested the Petlibro Scout pet camera for several weeks, taking notes on its functionality, AI technology, app interface, and more.

Scout Smart Pet Camera & Petlibro Overview

Petlibro Scout Smart Pet Camera features

Katelynn Sobus / Cats.com

I was surprised to learn that Petlibro was founded in 2019, because the popularity of their automatic feeders makes them feel like a much older brand. While they’re mostly known for their feeders and cat water fountains, Petlibro has also expanded into selling automatic litter boxes and cameras to help build their Video Cloud AI subscription service.

The Scout smart pet camera is sold individually and in bundles with other Petlibro products, helping you to monitor your cat’s eating and drinking habits. Its primary features are multi-pet recognition, activity tracking, and auto-tracking using the camera’s ability to pan 360°.

Petlibro Scout Smart Pet Camera Features

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The Petlibro Scout smart pet camera recognizes up to five pets, labelling videos and photos with their name. If you have the Petlibro Video Cloud Service, which starts at $11.99/month, you can also get short AI-generated descriptions of their day and activity tracking. This tells you when your cat is eating, drinking, using the litter box, or “taking a selfie” (approaching the camera). Unfortunately, it isn’t entirely accurate, especially for pets that look alike.

Setting up the camera is a breeze and takes just minutes. Place it on any flat surface or mount it to the wall using the included hardware. You can then choose an angle or enable auto-tracking, which allows the camera to track your cat as they move around the room. Move the camera anytime using the app. Tilt it up and down and pan 360° to observe your cat no matter where they are in the room.

When you’re away from home, you can also talk to your cat using two-way audio or play chirping bird sounds to quickly capture their attention.

What We Liked:

1080p HD camera with night vision
Camera pans 360° and can tilt up or down to view your entire space
Two-way audio allows you to speak to your cat and hear what’s happening at home
Simple set-up and easy to navigate phone app
Several optional features in-app, including human detection, pet auto-tracking, and more

What We Didn’t Like:

Key features such as activity tracking and daily summaries require a subscription service
AI technology often mixes up different cats or behaviors, even after consistent corrections
AI technology tends to recognize assorted objects as pets, especially packaging with cats on it or soft, furry materials

What Did Our Test Cats Think?

Katelynn Sobus / Cats.com

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Initially, I was impressed by the Scout smart pet camera. Set-up was a breeze, and I loved being able to adjust the camera from my phone. The camera can move up and down and twist, which allowed me to see my entire living room easily.

I enjoyed being able to talk to my cats and to hear what they were up to during the day, and it was fun to get notifications as they moved around. You can also play a chirping sound through the camera, which is a cute detail.

It picks up on movement well, and the “human detection” feature works great, though its tendency to take a photo the moment someone is detected can lead to it not capturing the entire person or their face. The camera will let you know if someone is in your home who shouldn’t be, but it may be difficult to identify the intruder.

I’ve learned to be skeptical of lofty claims when it comes to AI technology in recent years, so I was admittedly worried about the multi-pet and behavior recognition. Unfortunately, this is where things went downhill.

My cats were regularly mislabelled in the app, even those who look completely different from one another. Of course, it struggled the most with cats who are the same color, but it also confused my gray cat for my calico, and my buff tabby from my orange tabby. The pet recognition feature also didn’t seem to take into account the size of the cat or the length of their fur, even when there were drastic differences in appearance. It even confused my grandmother’s red hair for a cat!

Constant corrections helped somewhat, but these mix-ups were still a regular occurrence. The videos and photos captured in the app also seemed somewhat random, rather than capturing significant moments.

There is also a subscription required for behavioral recognition, to save and watch footage, to share the camera with multiple devices, or to have the camera recognize multiple pets at once. The behavioral recognition was good at recognizing basic things like sitting or lying down, but struggled with more complex behaviors. The AI summaries were cute at first, but quickly grew repetitive and often got details wrong.

Overall, I think that the technology still has a ways to go, and isn’t worth the added expense–especially after accounting for the subscription service. That said, there are plenty of things to like about this camera, including the image quality, adjustability, and easy-to-use phone app.

What Do Customers Think of the Scout Smart Pet Camera?

Positive Reviews

“The video quality is clear and the app is easy to use. I mainly use it to check on my pets when I’m not home, and the motion alerts are helpful. The connection is stable and the two-way audio is smooth.” — Chloe on Amazon

“I travel for work and although I have the best pet sitter, I love to check in with my kitties. This camera has a bird chirp sound which makes my kitties come running. I can talk to them and I can also just check in on their daily activities because the camera does a great job of tracking them.” — Nancy and her kitties on Chewy

Reviewers like that the Scout smart pet camera has two-way audio and can play chirping noises to get their cats’ attention. Many positive reviews say that the camera does well at recognizing different pets, though this was not my experience with the product.

Negative Reviews

“Honestly, a pretty terrible product. It takes every single dog toy and thinks it’s one of my pets even though I’m paying for the premium package to recognize which one of my dogs is walking by. It goes off throughout the entire night saying there’s motion when my dogs are actually in bed with me.” — Woods on Amazon

“After ordering these I realized that I would need to have two separate subscriptions to use two cameras if I want to have the full functionality.” — Thomas Salvato on Amazon

The majority of negative reviews focused on the camera’s inability to differentiate between their pets, poor image quality, and the need for a subscription service to access its advertised features. Some reviewers also noted that the camera was mistaking other items, such as pillows or dog toys, for their pets.