Petlibro Dockstream 2 Review: The Best Cat Water Fountain Yet?

0:00 Hey everyone, I'm Sarah from cats.com and today we're going to be reviewing the Dockstream 2. This is the latest and greatest water fountain for your cat from Pet Libro. [music] You may recall about a year ago I reviewed a bunch of different water fountains from Pet Libro and they're all good in their own ways,

0:16 but each of them kind of has their own trade-offs. So Pet Libro has really tried to solve a lot of the problems that existed in the earlier models with the Dockstream 2. [music] So let's talk about it. Pet Libro has a bunch of different Dockstream models, so it can be a little bit confusing understanding the

0:33 differences. I have tried all of them at this point, so hopefully I can give you a good idea of the differences. So, first we have the Dockstream or Dockstream 1, original Dockstream. Then we have the Dockstream 2, which I'm reviewing in this video. And then we have the RFID Dockstream. [music] First,

0:49 let me get the Dockstream RFID out of the way first. This is the most differentiated model. I would say this one is really meant for multi-at households. Essentially, it will require your cat to wear an RFID collar. And then with that collar, you can basically tell which one of your cats is drinking

1:04 from the fountain at any given time. So, you can see all kinds of analytics for different cats and how much of your different cats are drinking from the fountain versus not. That's really what this model is. Now, let's get into the Dockstream models. So, first we have the Dockstream one or the original

1:20 Dockstream. This one comes in two different variations. It has the cordless model and then the corded version. Basically, the the biggest drawback of the original Dog Stream is you basically have to make a trade-off when you're choosing between the cordless and the corded version. Because

1:35 first, we have the cordless version, which is great because it doesn't have a cord. You can put it anywhere. But with the cordless version, you don't have any Wi-Fi connectivity, [music] and you also can't connect to the app, so you can't get any analytics of your cat's water drinking habits. Then you

1:51 have the corded version, which is great because you get Wi-Fi connectivity. You can see the analytics, but you're attached to [music] the cord. So, it's a little bit more unsightly with the cord and you're also more limited in terms of where you can put it. So, that's where the Dockstream 2 comes in. This is the

2:08 newer version of the Dockstream. It's a little bit more expensive. Basically, this one is $89.99 versus the cordless version here is $69.99. So, it's about $20 more, but you get basically both of the best worlds of these two combined. So, with this version, you can use it with a cord or cordless, but you also

2:28 have access to all of the Wi-Fi connectivity. You get the apps and statistics and all of that all rolled into one. Also, they actually have a little bit new and improved version of the analytics with this with the new Dockstream 2. So, it has better analytics where you can see things like

2:44 the trends over time and some of the more advanced alerting features. Also, as you can see, this version is a little bit bigger. It's 20% bigger. It's actually the same uh water capacity as the Dockstream RFID. So, this one is 3 L, so it's 20% more, which means a little bit less often you'll have to

3:02 change out the water uh water basin. Also, the Dockstream 2 has better Wi-Fi connectivity. So, this one can connect to 5 GHz Wi-Fi network as well as 2.4 GHz. So, it means the Wi-Fi is more stable and will just work with more Wi-Fi networks. [music] Um, this is actually a big deal to me personally

3:22 because I cannot tell you how annoying it is to set up something with a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi system if you don't have that already. Especially if you're not very techsavvy and you don't want to have to set up a whole another Wi-Fi network. It's much better to just have more connectivity. So, trust me on this one.

3:38 This one is definitely better for that. And then the final big difference is this one is pump versus the Dockstream one has a pump inside of it. Basically, this means it's going to be lower maintenance. There's fewer things that can kind of go wrong, break, [music] it's going to be easier to clean, and

3:54 that's really the biggest difference with the Dock Treat 2. [music] The setup of this water fountain is super easy. Pretty much everything is done. Really, the only thing that you have to do is take out the water filter, soak up the water filter just to saturate it, and then of course you need to fill up the

4:09 water tank with water, snap on the stainless steel lid, and then snap on this little fountain portion. So, there's a few pieces you have to assemble, but overall, it takes just a few minutes. Also, what I like is you can completely use this water fountain without using the app. I'll talk about

4:26 the app in a minute, but if you just want to have a water fountain that just works that doesn't need an app and you don't want to monitor stuff on your phone, then this will definitely work completely by itself without using the app, which is great in my opinion. But when you do have the app set up, there

4:43 are a few things you can do. So, you can see a history of every time your cat has used a water fountain, as well as how much water they have drinken each time. Um, also, this is the reason I personally like the app is the alerts. So, it'll tell you when the water level is going low, when you need to change

4:58 the filter, or when the whole thing needs to be cleaned, or when the battery is about to die. So, I like that. That just gives me a little bit more confidence that I'm not going to be missing something. That is my fear is that I'm not going to realize that the like the water is out and the water

5:13 fountain is and Gordon is just like [music] dying of thirst. That is my fear. So, this gives me a little bit more peace of mind. The default setting for this water fountain is to only have water flowing when your cat activates [music] it by standing in front of the water fountain. So, I can kind of do it

5:30 with my hands by kind of putting my hand in front like that. What's [music] nice about that is it means that it is virtually silent. There's no like water flowing sounds or anything like that. Even when the water is flowing, there's literally no sound. There's literally no sound. And maybe a little

5:46 bit of like the water flowing sound, but that's it. I do believe that this is because of the upgraded pump mechanism. So, it's all one piece and also quieter. The only negative I will say of this sort of mechanism is if your cat is coming from the back or from the sides, it may not activate right away. So, if

6:06 that's the case, then you may need to set up for the continuous flow mode so your cat will have fresh water. Overall, I do really like this water fountain. It really solves pretty much every issue I had with the earlier versions. Um, I particularly like that it is cordless now, but you can still get all of the

6:23 alerts. For me, the cordless is the way to go. I I like to put the water fountain in like weird places that don't have outlets. So, for me, that is the biggest [music] game changer with this version. But, I will say if you have an earlier water fountain and you're happy with it, there's no reason to rush out

6:39 and upgrade to this one. But I think that if you're in the market for a new one and you're choosing which one, then I would recommend the Docstream 2 because it really has the best of everything of Pet Libro that Pet Libro has to offer at this point. So that would be my recommendation. But if you

6:54 are checking out other water fountains, check out my last review from last year for a little bit more detail on the other models. You'll see even more there. [music] Until next time. Bye.