Last updated Apr 14, 2023
Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
Ratings
- Ease of Cleaning – 4/10
- Odor Control – 4/10
- Appearance – 10/10
- Construction – 3/10
- Price – 4/10
Overall Score: 5/10
ChillX AutoEgg Self-Cleaning Litter Box Review Video
Introduction
We first became aware of the ChillX AutoEgg after receiving numerous requests that we review it, both here and on the Cats.com YouTube channel. This new entrant to the automatic litter box market is marketed as a safe, quiet, and stylish alternative to other self-cleaning boxes.
After hands-on testing and learning that the product is tear-inducingly difficult to assemble, doesn’t work well, and is too small for all but the tiniest of kittens, we concluded that its performance didn’t justify the $399 price tag.
But when bogus comments started pouring in on our reviews, it became clear that this is both a poorly-built product and a dishonest company.
With almost all positive reviews seeming to come from questionable accounts and real reviews—like those on the Better Business Bureau site—complaining of nightmarish customer support and deceptive practices, we can’t recommend that anyone purchases the ChillX AutoEgg.
Unboxing And Assembly
The ChillX AutoEgg comes in several parts, including the base, lid, and waste drawer. It also comes with a bag of accessories. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
The ChillX comes in a large box with all the parts needed to assemble. The litter box itself comes in two pieces and you’ll have to put everything together. Also included in the box is a scooper, a roll of biodegradable waste receptacle liners, and a start-up guide to help with assembly and operation.
The two pieces of this litter box include the base with the motor and rake mechanism, along with the top cover portion, which is designed to snap onto the base.
When assembling the litter box base, the rake mechanism came displaced, so I had to adjust it to get it properly aligned. This is explained in the instructions as something that regularly occurs during shipping.
After attaching the tray and putting a liner into the waste drawer, it became obvious that the pieces of this little box came together loosely.
In no place was this more apparent than when putting the lid onto the AutoEgg.
In theory, putting on the cover is simple enough. You need to seat the lid at the back of the unit and gently squeeze the sides of the lid to get it centered on the base.
But in reality? It’s not that simple. Every attempt to put on the lid was a struggle. And during the weeks of testing, putting on the cover never got easier.
After referring to the instructions, reading several reviews, and asking others to try to put the lid on, I concluded that this wasn’t just my issue—just about everyone is struggling to get that cover on. I also contacted the company about this issue and they said that they were aware of the problem and that they intend to release an updated model that corrects the lid placement issue.
How Big Is The ChillX AutoEgg?
Once the ChillX AutoEgg was fully assembled, it measured 30 inches long, 19 inches wide, and 17 inches high. This is fairly small when compared to other automatic litter boxes. Its small dimensions are also apparent when you measure the litter bed, which is only 11.5 by 13 inches.
The opening of the ChillX AutoEgg is small, making it a relatively tight fit for most medium or large-sized cats. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
Also, the entrance to the AutoEgg measures just 7 1/2 inches in height, which may be a tight squeeze for adult cats.
What Type Of Litter Does The ChillX AutoEgg Require?
Like most automatic litter boxes, the ChillX AutoEgg is intended for use with clumping cat litter. The company advises against using silica crystals, pellet, tofu, wheat, and corn litter to fill the tray. Again, like most automatic litter boxes, it works best with hard-clumping clay cat litter.
Once the AutoEgg is filled with litter and plugged in, it’s time to turn it on.
As soon as the AutoEgg turns on, you will see the display screen which displays a log of your cat’s usage. This display shows details including when your cat used the litter box, how much they deposited, and how much your cat weighed at the time of use.
This display screen will also track and alert you if your cat deposits less than 5 grams, indicating potential problems, including urinary tract disease or constipation.
How Does The ChillX AutoEgg Work?
Once the AutoEgg was assembled, it was time to try it out with my cats. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
Once everything was set and ready to go, I placed the AutoEgg, without the top, next to my cats’ regular litter box, allowing them to explore it and eventually use the box. Fortunately, my cats started using it right away, allowing me to see how it works firsthand.
The AutoEgg has 4 weight sensors, which allow it to detect when a cat weighing at least 4.4 pounds enters the litter box.
Five minutes after the cat exits the litter box, it initiates a raking cycle. The rake moves very slowly across the litter bed, taking about 5 minutes to complete a cycle. Once it picks up waste, it carries it into the waste receptacle.
The ChilllX AutoEgg works by raking across the litter tray, picking up clumps and feces, and depositing them into the waste drawer at the back of the unit. Note the amount of urine and litter at the back of the box—my cats tended to urinate and kick litter onto this area as the litter tray was too small. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
In addition to these cat-triggered cycles, the AutoEgg runs 4 automatic cycles at 3 AM and 9 AM, and again at 3 PM and 9 PM to ensure a cleaner litter box for your cat.
The cleaning process is similar to other popular self-cleaning litter boxes. It includes both a 70-degree cleaning rake and a zigzag litter tray, which ChillX promises will allow the unit to pick up smaller bits of waste.
The ChillX AutoEgg’s slow movement is very quiet. Unlike other automatic litter boxes that whirr, clank, and grind, it makes quiet creaking and shuffling noises as it cycles.
This slow movement may also help to make the ChillX AutoEgg safer.
In addition to its slow and steady raking, the ChillX AutoEgg has an auto-stop feature—they call it Cat-Stuck Prevention—that halts a cycle when a cat is detected in or around the box.
This ultra-sensitive system will detect anything weighing more than a pound—including something as subtle as the pressure of a paw on the tracking step—and trigger an emergency stop. Once weight is detected, the unit will pause the cycle for a period of 5 minutes, helping to ensure that the coast is clear and it’s safe to resume.
But, like so many other automatic litter boxes, the ChillX AutoEgg doesn’t deliver the thorough clean it promises.
The ChillX AutoEgg was not the most thorough cleaner, leaving pieces of litter behind after every cycle. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
Unfortunately, the raking is not very thorough and tends to leave crumbled waste sitting in the litter box. I never saw the ChillX AutoEgg complete a cycle that left the litter box completely clean. While it did manage to pick up larger clumps, the rake left more behind than would any human cleaner.
In addition to leaving some waste behind, I noticed that pieces of litter and waste had stuck along which the rake moves, as well as other areas that the rake couldn’t reach. This type of accumulation means that you’ll regularly have to take the entire unit apart for deep cleaning.
Because the ChillX AutoEgg has so many crevices and openings, a lot of waste tends to stick in areas that the rake cannot reach. Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
During my second week with the ChillX AutoEgg, it encountered a malfunction. Halfway through a cycle, the AutoEgg rake stopped moving completely. I had to unplug and reset the unit to get it back to its starting position.
Deep cleaning the ChillX AutoEgg was more difficult than it should have been.
Because significant amounts of litter and waste drop down along the sides of the litter tray and accumulate around the box, the ChillX AutoEgg tends to get dirty in ways that the rake can’t resolve.
About once a week, you’ll have to take the unit apart and clean up all of those parts. This is a more frequent deep-cleaning routine than you’ll encounter with other automatic litter boxes, which detracts from the convenience of having an automatic litter box.
Litter Disposal
It is recommended that you change out the waste receptacle every three days to one week, for one cat. This is done by pulling the tray out from the back of the litter box and removing the bag with the waste in it which is a pretty clean and easy process. During this time, it is ideal to also do some regular maintenance by removing the litter tray and cleaning it and around it.
Scatter And Tracking
While litter definitely built up around the litter box, it managed to stay inside the tray and there was very little tracking onto the floor around the AutoEgg.
The AutoEgg’s cellular tracking step captures litter on your cat’s paws as they exit the unit, helping to prevent litter from escaping the litter bed.
And besides the benefits of the AutoEgg’s litter-catching step, the lid of the unit provided even more defense against litter tracking and scatter. Compared to most of the other automatic—and non-automatic—litter boxes I’ve tried, this one did an outstanding job of controlling both scatter and tracking.
How Well Did The Health Monitoring System Work?
When I started researching the ChillX AutoEgg, I was excited to see what its health monitoring system could do. As you guys know, monitoring your cat’s litter box activity is a vital part of keeping tabs on their health. Particularly after my experience with the Toletta litter system, I know how useful this kind of built-in litter box monitoring system can be.
While the health monitoring system is a great concept, its execution was imperfect.
Over the testing period, the AutoEgg’s usage tracker did a few useful things. It helped me to get a better understanding of my cats’ weight and how often they were using the litter box. It helped me to understand which of my cats were using the box more often. For example, Forest used it when the lid was on, while Wessie steered clear of the enclosed egg.
But the positioning of the screen significantly detracted from its usefulness.
The ChillX AutoEgg’s screen is positioned on the side of the tray, which is covered by the lid when the unit is fully assembled. This makes it virtually impossible to evaluate readings when the litter box is put together.
Positioning the LCD in a different location or connecting it to a smartphone app would make it much more helpful.
How Much Does The AutoEgg Cost?
The ChillX AutoEgg costs $399 on their website. The biodegradable drawer liners are also available for purchase on their website for $39 for a 160-bag supply, which should last you for over 2 years if you have one cat. Especially considering that you can also use plastic grocery bags instead of biodegradable liners, the AutoEgg has fewer recurring costs than other automatic litter boxes.
That said, that $399 price tag seems excessive given the device’s shaky construction and unreliable performance.
Is The AutoEgg Worth It?
As much as we loved the idea of a self-cleaning litter box with a health tracker—similar to what the Litter-Robot 4 offers for a couple hundred dollars more— the ChillX AutoEgg just didn’t meet our performance standards. It’s a nightmare to assemble, too small for most cats, the rake leaves dirty litter in the bed, and the usage tracking screen is on the inside of the unit where you can’t see it.
But what adds insult to injury is that this company is lying to customers—including us.
Reviews on the ChillX Better Business Bureau page give it a 1 out of 5-star rating or F grade. Customers describe completely unresponsive customer support, warranty violations, and, of course, fake reviews.
We’ve noticed a pattern of bogus comments on our content related to the ChillX AutoEgg.
As soon as our review of the ChillX AutoEgg went live on YouTube, we started getting comments from users whose accounts had been made on the same day, all speaking highly of the product.
For instance, SeriousSammy’s comment may look legitimate, and over 100 people found it helpful, but Sammy gave himself away by claiming to be a long-time viewer who’d hit the notification bell two months ago. Sammy’s account had been created on December 3rd, 2020—the same day the ChillX AutoEgg review went live.
Some of the comments weren’t on the AutoEgg review. Instead, they appeared on our review of the competing Litter-Robot 3. This person going by “TomCatLover” wrote the following on our LR3 review—they’d created their account on the same day.
When we contacted the company about this, our contact said he didn’t know anything about this. Instead, he said that it wasn’t common for these types of dishonest comments to speak positively about the ChillX AutoEgg—it was more common, he said, that they’d say negative things about it.
In our second interaction about this issue months later, he still said he didn’t know where the comments came from but now acknowledged that positive comments could be an issue, too. This time, he insinuated that a competitor may have been putting out these fake, overly-effusive comments on AutoEgg-related content in a complex scheme to make it look like ChillX AutoEgg was doing something underhanded.
Yet, after our second conversation, the comments stopped coming in.
The idea that ChillX was paying people to put bogus comments on our content was irksome enough, but we found that the other so-called reviews on YouTube seemed to be dishonest as well.
For instance, this very enthusiastic gentleman reviewed the AutoEgg and the AutoEgg alone after leaving his channel dormant for 10 years.
This couple made their first-ever YouTube video about getting the ChillX AutoEgg.
And this tech guy reactivated his channel after 9 years to honestly unbox and review the Egg.
All of them repeat similar talking points, and none of them show the difficulty of putting on the lid, the mess that appears when the box fails to rake everything, or confronts the fact that the readout is on the inside of the unit where you can’t read it.
In short, ChillX seems to be a dishonest company, and, until they confront these issues and improve their product design, we wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
While we normally give pros and cons for each product and feel that even flawed products have a perfect customer somewhere, ChillX’s deceptive practices are a huge red flag, and the product’s performance isn’t much better.
Not recommended.
It looks kind of interesting and has possibility. The litter-box that cleans its self in perfection and harmony is the dream of all cat owners.
Agree 100% , I am going through it right now!
Took over 6 weeks to get it, only worked for 2 months before stopped working.
Now they want me to pay shipping back to them and pay for shipping again to myself after repair.!
Waste of money !
Horrible customer service , and what company has NO phone number to call and deal with ?
Stay away from this piece of trash products !
I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST NOT PURCHASING THIS PRODUCT.
It took them 2 months to deliver. to my Canadian address, without any information of it being delayed.
The product did not work, it was always stuck and extremely extremely annoying to clean.
I had to pay $120 USD to send back out of pocket and I was not reimbursed $65 USD for the initial shipping.
The customer service rep was not helpful and didn’t seem to care at all about my experience.
THE WORST was the product was returned to their facility on January 13th and it was not until I contacted them directly on March 5th that would they refund me.
I can not exaggerate enough, DO NOT give this company your business.
SECONDED. Waste of time and money. It has exponentially INCREASED the amount of work I do with the litter box. Their support is useless and could not care less about customer service or experience. I’ve given up hope and am returning.
Third this comment. Do not buy from this company. They are horrible to work with and at times rude. I purchased this product from my sons wedding registry and by the time his shower came around he did not want it. Customer service would not take it back because they said it was over 30 days old. It was never opened or never used. So with tax I am out for $123. They really screwed me over.
Third this comment. Do not buy from this company. They are horrible to work with and at times rude. I purchased this product from my sons wedding registry and by the time his shower came around he did not want it. Customer service would not take it back because they said it was over 30 days old. It was never opened or never used. So with tax I am out for $123. They really screwed me over.
Agree 100% , I am going through it right now!
Took over 6 weeks to get it, only worked for 2 months before stopped working.
Now they want me to pay shipping back to them and pay for shipping again to myself after repair.!
Waste of money !
Horrible customer service , and what company has NO phone number to call and deal with ?
Stay away from this piece of trash products !
I would like to enter the sweepstakes. I have a bad spinal injury so I need an automatic litter box because bending over is a big deal.
Hi Christopher, I’m sorry, but the giveaway is now closed. I’m going to update the article to avoid further confusion. Apologies. Best, Mallory
Purchased this rotten egg in hopes that it would lessen my workload but in fact tripled it. Starting off with the cord that sticks 3 inches out of the wall making it impossible and top-heavy to stay plugged in. The cord is in the worst place ever. The panel you cannot see because it’s covered by the top that you can barely get on and barely stays on when an average size cat knocks it off every time he tries to use the egg. The rake accumulate so much litter behind it and the grooves in the litter box floor get full of litter that you have to clean out every single time you scoop your automatic litter box does this seem odd to anybody? As a nonprofit rescue this was a total waste of money which could’ve been used on better products. I feel bamboozled and the rescue animals are going to suffer for that. And if they say you can use any litter in there you can but it doesn’t clean the litter no matter what you use. People say it comes with the scoop? I didn’t even receive a scoop for mine but I got nifty bags that don’t stay in the container and a whole lot of headache. None of the cats fit in there and they are average size cat without peeing or pooping on the sides of the machine. This is by far the worst purchase I have ever made for this animal rescue. Feeling ashamed.I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau as well as disputing this charge is on my PayPal.
I can’t believe there is not a class action lawsuit against this company for fraud. The screen does not respond to touch , the rake always gets stuck and the product is simply poorly designed. This company has the audacity to charge $399 but does not have an effective means of communication. Facebook my @ss! This product is a complete disaster!
DO NOT BUY THIS OVERPRICED PIECE OF JUNK! Oh how I wish I had found this site before I invested $400 in a hunk of plastic that failed pretty much as soon as the return period ended. Not only is it hard to clean and requires cleaning about once a week (and we have one very small adult cat), at this point the touch screen not longer works so I can’t even clean it. It’s going to end up in the city landfill.
Hi Sherry, thanks for sharing your experience with the AutoEgg.
DO NOT BUY this product. Initially, it worked somewhat fine – cat waste would get stuck on the rake, and honestly, the plastic kind of seemed to take on the attributes of the waste as well. it was super quiet, but I think that concerned my cat more than anything. He always BOLTED from the egg, rather than how he would normally leave a standard litter box.
However, I contacted Chillx customer support to notify them that my automatic cat litter box was no longer working after having the product for ~60 days. It became unable for my cat to use, even as a normal litter box, since the motor would just get stuck in the middle of the tray, and this touch screen would flash. I notified them that the box was used “residentially”, as was stated in their warranty, and the team asked many individual questions rather than having me evaluate the potential issue in one go, making the entire resolution process take longer than necessary.
The representative tried to offer me a reconditioned (refurbished) unit, after I had purchased a brand new Egg. The representative said my option was to return the egg, at my cost, to receive a new unit. I informed them that was outrageous and I would not pay (as stated on their website) 60-170 additional $. In place of returning, they send me a replacement motor since it was covered under their 12 month warranty. They said the touch screen flashing is usually and indicator of a motor problem. Apparently not a wiring problem?? When replacing the motor (based on their instructional video on this youtube page), I discovered a design flaw. The wire that powers the motor and therefore the cleaning of the egg, was completely severed – by their own designed clamp (unable to be touched by me or my cat.)
Since this egg is ~400 brand new, I would expect them to back their own product. Their warranty states you can “return the chillx” within 30 days for any reason, however their 12 month warranty states they will only send you a new egg if there is a “defect”. If they design their own product poorly, there is absolutely no reason that the customer needs to shoulder that flaw. Their support team is embarrassingly brief and dismissive of customer concerns. There has been zero empathy displayed from the numerous representatives I have spoken to, and no admittance of fault, even when I showed (the very same) images of the wire being severed. Their only answer, given the circumstances, was to send me another (likely defective) product. AVOID AVOID AVOID.
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your experience. Since you mentioned that the company seems to have been designed poorly, I thought you’d be interested in knowing that this doesn’t appear to be an original design—the generic version of this litter box is sold through Alibaba, so it appears that this is a product that’s been private-labeled by ChillX.
We were considering buying this product and found this review. Reading the text of the review, I expected the numerical score to be a 1 or 2 out of 10, so I was pretty surprised to see a 7/10. Really? You guys even gave it only a 5.5/10 for litter cleaning so how can it rate any higher than 5.5? This is a litter box! That said, whoever wrote the text of the review and took the photos seems to be stop-on! This is a crummy product from a poor company. I think you’re doing a terrible disservice to your readers by giving such a high numerical score based on such an excellent, thorough, and well written product evaluation. I won’t be buying this product.
Hi Phil, thanks for the observations. The higher rating is mostly based on the perceived consistency of the product’s performance, but I agree that we could take it down a few points for service as well. I appreciate you sharing your experience and giving your input on both the quality of the article and the numerical score. I’ll make a few adjustments to the score to better reflect the overall quality of the product and experience.
I agree with everyone else. Does not work. It’s not deep enough to allow the litter to clump well. The rake gets crooked and gets stuck; it leaves as much inside the box as it takes out. The tines get clogged with wet litter. Once, a wheel fell off. Also, I find that lots of clean litter gets put into the trash tray. A waste of money.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Donna.
I agree with all of the above. I too shelled out $400 for the AutoEgg in December, 2020 and received it in March, 2021. It worked fairly well for about 6 months and now the rake has stopped working. I have been communicating with customer service with little success. I have been asked to send videos and pictures multiple times and then I am asked to send more pictures and videos and then again. One representative said they could send a new motor or I could send the AutoEgg back at my expense. I asked to have the new motor sent. Their response to that was to ask for more pictures and videos and then another response was to do more troubleshooting w ith video. I don’t know how long this will continue before they honor the 1 year warranty.
I do not recommend this product.
Helen, so sorry you’ve had this experience with the AutoEgg. Unfortunately, I’ve found that this is typical of both the product and the customer service the company provides.
I agree with all comments regarding this product. It’s more WORK than a regular litter box. Waste of $!!
My wife purchased this after reading reviews online for our 2 cats. After having problems with the operation of the unit she tried to communicate with them. No live person to speak with, EVERYTHING IS COMMUNICATED VIA EMAIL. We live in Indio, CA. Their resolution after countless hours of emails and frustration on my wife’s end. Ship the product back to LA, CA area for $70 and then they would send a refurbished one. In addition, we would have to pay shipping back to us. So essentially, another $140.00! It’s a terrible product!!! Mostly, ABSOLUTELY PLAN ON GETTING MORE FRUSTRATION AFTER THE PRODUCT STOPS WORKING CORRECTLY AFTER LESS THAN 2 MONTHS, THEN WATE YOUR TIME GOING BACK AND FORTH WITH EMAILS TO FIND YOU ARE SCREWED! DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! THE REVIEWS YOU SEE HERE MUST BE PAID OR FRAUD AS THIS IS SIMPLY NOT CORRECT!!!
I would leave zero stars if I could! At first I was truly excited about this product but it has been nothing but problems. The rake constantly falling off and getting clogged, the screen not working and then the motor cable( which is terribly designed to be exposed!) was damaged on one of the occasions the rake popped off. I have spent months trying to reach customer service with no response! I filed a complaint with the BBB and the company has also refused to respond to them!! A complete waste of $700!!!
I’m having this Autoegg for 1y8m. It was broken after I had it for 8mo. The wire connected to the motor was broken because it was squeezed back and forth by the motor wheel. Then I had a free replacement. The replacement was also terrible. The cable connects to the control panel was not fixed properly. It stopped working after a week. Then I had to open the screws on the side and open the control panel to fix it. It was running fine for 1y. And it is broken again because the motor can’t move. The costumer service didn’t reply my first email, which has a video to indicate the issue. Running fine means it could move. If everything running fine, a large amount of litter would fall to the bottom through the gaps around the litter pan. Urine clumping would stick on the rake almost everyday. The rake stops moving when it detects the cat entering. I found a lot of feces behind the rake after cycles. The volume of the litter pan is not enough, as well as the trash tray, which means you need to frequently check if the litter level is enough and if the trash is full. I think I spend more time on this Autoegg than a normal litter box. I got it with a discount and paid ~$300. I don’t know if I want to fix the issue again or just completely change it to LR4. I’ll score it 1 out of 5. Not recommended.
Sorry to hear you’ve had such a frustrating experience with the AutoEgg, Lulu! Both Mallory and I had some of the same challenges, and it sounds like other customers have as well. If you’re ready to make a switch, the Litter Robot 4 has a lot of great features. It’s pricey, however, so it’s understandable if you want to consider other options.
You can see our reviews of other automatic self-cleaning litter boxes here:
https://cats.com/reviews/best-self-cleaning-litter-box
Do NOT buy from this company! Unfortnately, I ordered the product and then read the reviews about the company refusing to acknowlege customer service issues. I sent in an email to cancel the order on the same day, no reply. Repeat, no reply. I opened a dispute with my credit card and after nearly 3 months the company said they just shipped it, which closed the dispute. It is marked as unfulfilled so I again sent another cancellation email with no response. I am now in the process of reopening the dispute. 100% a TERRIBLE company!
Sorry to hear you had such a negative experience 🙁 Hope you’re able to resolve the dispute soon!