PETCUBE PLAY 2

$199 (APPROX. £143.50) WWW.PETCUBE.COM

The Petcube Play 2 is very compact, and certainly looks the neatest of any of the specifically pet-led cameras we’ve reviewed. But it’s not just the refined design that makes it a very cool camera. A wide-angle lens lets you see more of your room, and there’s a quad-microphone array that helps you hear your pet, along with an upgraded speaker so that your pet can hear you more clearly.

Then there’s the smarts: the Petcube Play 2 doesn’t just link with Amazon’s Alexa so you can trigger some of its features with your voice, it actually has Alexa built in, so you can ask it what the weather is like – or any other question that comes to mind – or use it to play music.

The camera is a high-resolution full-hd sensor with night vision and smart motion-sensing, so it can distinguish between whether it’s seeing people or animals. Position one on your kitchen counter, for example, and you could set it up to alert you when your cat decides to investigate those forbidden areas.

There’s no built-in treat-dispensing, but depending on your pet’s proclivities that may be a positive. Instead there’s a rather smooth – and less fattening – laser pointer to keep them entertained.