CES 2025: This Smart Pet Door Is Safer (and Looks a Lot Better)
Since I’ve always had a dog, I’ve always had a pet door. Even the most expensive models are still horribly simplistic—nothing more than a hole cut into your door (or wall) with a plastic flap hanging down that allows your pet to walk out on its own. They leak air, pose a major security risk to your home, and get very dirty when your pet runs in and out of them. This week at CES, Pawport unveiled a solution: a smart door that upgrades your existing doggie door from both the inside and outside, opening only when your pet approaches it. CES was so impressed that it awarded Poport an Innovation Award.
This isn’t Poport’s first time at CES; The company showed off an earlier prototype last year, but the new version is significantly improved over the original. While last year’s version only had a smart door on one side of the pet door (the inside), by adding a matching door on the outside that syncs and works in tandem with the inside door, your pet will be able to tell if the door is closed on both sides. More importantly, the door is already on pre-order , with release scheduled for “early 2025.”
The construction feels solid: thick steel and powder-coated aluminum, with two strong deadbolts, meaning the door will likely be built better than existing pet doors, which often consist of a lot of plastic parts. It has a French door design so the two halves of the door open towards the animal as it approaches the door.
Here’s why I’m excited to try the Pawport on my doggie door: First, the dual-door design will solve the air leak problem. Pet doors have a terrible impact on your heating and cooling bills, even if they are really good. Keeping the door sealed when your pet doesn’t need it will immediately solve this problem, and the double door design inside and out provides double insulation.
While any intruder would have to get past my Doberman, having a man-sized hole in my back door is a major breach in my security system. Pawport is installed securely enough to solve this problem. There are safety locks built into the door that will never lock your pet out and also prevent your kids from getting out through it. A small wearable Bluetooth device alerts the door when your pet approaches it. Controls on the top of the door allow you to manually open and close the door, but this feature can be disabled via the app to prevent children from accidentally (or intentionally) activating the door.
The doggie door itself is always dirty. The dog’s slip-through feature means that the doors pick up all the dirt and oil from your pet. I’d rather look at the Pawport, which will be available in three styles (standard, designer and signature) and at a price point to suit almost any home (though it will always look futuristic thanks to the constant LED lighting you can customize).
The covers that now come with pet doors to keep pets inside or outside are mostly useless – any pet worth their salt can easily paw off that plastic. Poport appears immune to such attacks.
But regular pet doors, with or without lids, also can’t provide as much information about your pet as the Pawport. The Pawport app allows you to set door access based on curfew (keep my pet inside after 10pm) or weather (keep him inside if it starts to rain). You can see how many times your pet has come in and out during the day, and also know whether he is currently in or out.
The door has several power supply options: constant power via USB or plug, hard wiring or battery. With the battery installed, the door can be used even when the power and Wi-Fi are turned off.
Pawports start at $499 and are expected to hit the market in early 2025. They are now available for pre-order.