PetSafe SmartDoor Connected Review: App Schedules on a $350 Pet Door

Pet doors are an unglamorous purchase until a dog starts using the garden at 5 a.m. or a storm rolls in while you are at work. The SmartDoor Connected is PetSafe's answer to both: a collar-key door with a phone app that sets schedules and locks the flap on demand. The real question is whether those controls are worth $349.99 for the medium, plus batteries.

What the app buys you

The door opens only for a pet wearing a paired Pet Door Key, or, on the medium size, for a microchip PetSafe lists as supported. That alone keeps raccoons and neighbourhood cats out. What the app adds is control over when and which way.

Each pet can have its own schedules, so a dog that is allowed out at 7 a.m. and in by 9 p.m. can share a door with a cat that is never locked out. PetSafe's help pages describe four access modes: in and out, in only, out only, and locked. The in-only mode is the useful one at night, because a dog that has gone out to relieve itself can return, but it cannot go back out to bark at the fence.

You also get notifications when pets use the door and a battery status alert. The remote lock is the headline feature for anyone who has watched the sky turn grey from an office desk. PetSafe's page promotes using it when a storm is coming, and the flap itself has a multi-point lock and weather sealing.

If you do not need any of that, a key-only electronic door does the same basic job for much less. That is the honest benchmark.

Sizes, and what fits your dog

There are two sizes. The medium has a 7.1 by 7.8 inch flap opening and is for pets up to 25 lb. The large has an 11.9 by 16.1 inch opening and is for pets up to 100 lb. The frames measure 10.8 x 14.3 in and 16.5 x 23.1 in.

A large dog over 100 lb is simply outside this product. And a mid-sized dog of 30 to 50 lb falls between the medium's weight limit and the large's size, which means you buy the large and live with a big hole in a door.

The cutouts matter before you commit. The medium needs 8.5 x 10.4 in in a non-metal door, 9.7 x 12.7 in in a metal one. The large needs 13.2 x 19.1 in or 14.8 x 21.5 in. PetSafe sells installation help through TaskRabbit, and a related independent review of PetSafe's non-app electronic door put a do-it-yourself job at about an hour, with a wall harder than a door.

Batteries are the hidden running cost

Here is where the price creeps. The medium needs four C batteries, the large four D, and a mains adaptor is a separate purchase. A related independent review reports that the door "seems to consume batteries fairly quickly", and user reports on the app model say the same. PetSafe does not publish a battery-life figure, so we cannot give you one.

The door's indicator lights tell you the state. Per PetSafe's support page, a solid blue battery light is healthy and a red light or no light means replacing the alkaline cells. Budget for the adaptor if the door sits near an outlet, because dead batteries on a door that locks is the failure that matters.

Wi-Fi, keys and where it goes wrong

The door requires a high-speed Wi-Fi connection with 2.4 GHz capability. PetSafe's own troubleshooting page tells owners with a metal door to remove the unit from the door before diagnosing connection faults, which tells you what a steel door does to the signal. A router in the far corner of the house is a poor match.

Keys are the second weak point. User reports describe the thin flat key working loose from its ring, and some keys working only intermittently or on one side. PetSafe's support page says to pair the key about 8 inches from the door at roughly the height your pet wears it, because holding it too close reduces the detection range.

The sensors can also be blocked. PetSafe says that if the motion sensors are covered, the door will not unlock. In a house with a muddy dog, that is a cleaning chore, not a fault.

Who should buy it

Buy the SmartDoor Connected if you share a house with a dog that needs a curfew, a cat that must never be locked out, or a schedule that changes with your work week. The in-only mode and the remote lock are real conveniences, and the sizing covers most pets up to 100 lb.

Skip it if you want a door that runs for a year on one set of batteries, if the nearest Wi-Fi is weak, or if you simply need to keep strays out. A key-only door does that for far less. Our score sits in the middle: the control is real, but it costs $349.99 and a regular battery habit.