Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't part ways with $500-600 easily, so when I do you better believe I'm going to get what I'm expecting, I won't settle. So to say I'm *happy* I spent the money speaks volumes. I have three cats and was tired of cleaning two boxes daily. Tired of lifting heavy waste bags from my Litter Genie...just tired of it all. So I did a lot of research and truly came up short (to my requirements) until I came across the Pura Max. Everything as advertised seemed a dream come true but naturally was skeptical as they really ever live up to their hype. However, just about all my expectations were met. The app (after the update, downloading the original app from the QR code in the manual was a nightmare, thank god there was an update or I'd have returned the Pura Max) was easily to configure even with the language barrier and chock full of features, connecting the Pura Max to my Wi-Fi was even easier and physically setting up the litter box was pretty much fool proof. The operation is damn near silent with just a little whir of the motor, the waste of cat litter is minimized due to the design of the box and all of the notifications have been on point (when to add litter, when to change the waste bag, etc). As someone who was learned to scrutinize "functional" engineering in products, I appreciate the fact that everything pertaining to the Pura Max has a purpose. Nothing was built or designed to be "showy" or "flashy", nothing is overdesigned or more importantly under designed and the important parts of the Pura Max don't seem like they'd easily break. It was designed as almost entirely purely functional and was done well. The single complaint I have is the scale is sometimes a nuisance. The Pura Max uses scales built into the feet to weigh how much litter there is, the weight of the cat(s) (helps identify which cat is in the box if there are multiple and if there is a cat inside so it doesn't accidentally rotate with a cat...though that would be a funny sight) and sometimes it tells me there's a cat inside when there isn't. Now, that has been resolved by simply double tapping the "Ok" button on the front of the box to "recalibrate" the scale, but I've also had to do it when I simply change the waste bag out which I believe it should only need to be recalibrated when you add litter. Other than that...I truly have no complaints and even though it is significantly more complex than a plastic square with litter in it, I conduct much less maintenance on my cats' waste than with traditional litter boxes. Edit: I wanted to add some of the features the Pura Max has I found convenient: Multiple cat profiles (in the app) - This is based off weight so it's not fool proof. Do your best to weigh your cats and enter the weights into their profile in the app. Try to keep an eye on when one of the cats enters the box. The app will tell you which cat it believes is in the box and the calculated weight so if the weight is off, adjust it to what the app says. This will help the app better identify which cat is actually using the box. It really is an awesome feature for multiple cats and it actually helped me identify one of my cats having a small urinary tract issue. All of this of course isn't as important if you have one cat. Deodorizer - There's mixed reviews on whether or not it works, but I can personally say it works for me. And I have one cat in particular...he can clear a room. It may not work perfectly every time but I've smelled the pleasant odor of the deodorizer much more often than I've smelled any of my cats. I'd say it's worth ordering the refills The desiccant cage in the waste bin lid- ***Use it***. You can try to find the ones from Petkit, or any that will fit the cage but it's helpful. If you have one cat, that waste can sit there for potentially a week. The desiccant helps remove the moisture which definitely helps reduce the bacteria that'll accumulate and ultimately the smell. Litter: This a bit of a crapshoot. I'll try to give pros and cons of what I tried so far: -Sodium bentonite based litter: Mosted "clay" clumping litters are made from this. My brand was Arm and Hammer Slide and it worked well, but between three cats and the clumps swelling when absorbing the urine in particular I was changing the waste bag every 3-4 days. Still better than manually scooping daily, but I was shooting for 6-7 days. And the dust is unhealthy -Crystalized type (silica gel based): I went for the "revolutionary" Pretty Kitty litter. Pretty good stuff honestly in regards to its advertised benefits, but take caution when using it in any automatic litter box. First, there is a potential that even more solid fecal matter will streak the side/top of the box when it rotates to empty, let alone if a cat has a "post-Taco Bell" event. The Pura Max in general is easy enough to clean, but no one wants to deal with...that. However, because it's non-clumping the rate of having to change the waste bag went down DRAMATICALLY. So in essence, the trade-off would be paying less for the Petkit waste bags, but potentially more on (almost all of these types of litter are more expensive, especially with multiple cats) and maybe some occasional streak cleanup. If you have one, maybe two cats and they have a healthy diet this may be the route to take. -Natural litter: I can't say a whole lot about it. I decided Pretty Kitty wasn't the best litter for my needs so as of this writing I'm trying World's Best (corned based?) litter which on the face of it sounds like the best of both worlds, clumping AND natural/healthier litter. I'm not too worried about the mixed reviews on odor control as, as I stated above, the Pura Max does a good job deodorizing but time will tell. If there's no update to this post (after 2022APR14) then you can assume I decided to stick with this litter. I hope this incredibly lengthy review helps anyone on the fence about buying this.