Enabot Ebo Max review: The cute home robot that watches pets and patrols rooms

Back in the 1950s we were quite convinced that we'd be living with a small team of robot assistants by the year 2000. Over half a century has passed, and that still hasn't really happened yet.

But that's not to say robots in some form aren't part of our lives. We have robot vacuums now, robot lawnmowers, and each year a new suite of tech firms comes along to crowdfund some sort of humanoid robot that never quite seems to make the mainstream.

Ebo is different, though. While it's a long way from the futuristic utopia we all imagined in The Jetsons, it is designed to be part of the family. It can stand guard, keep you entertained, or alert you to problems.

The Ebo Max "FamilyBot" is the most high-tech (and most expensive) in a growing line of Ebo launches from Enabot, which has been working on small, spherical robots for years now.

I've tested most of them, and they're all quite fun, so I was keen to see how far the technology had come.

Ebo Max looks like a little crash helmet crossed with a cartoon character, complete with huge digital eyes and a set of tracks that allow it to trundle around the house. Behind the playful design is a serious collection of home-monitoring, communication and artificial intelligence features.

In one small football-shaped device is a roving security camera, a family messaging system, pet companion, and even a babysitter. It can patrol rooms, stream 4K video to your phone, make two-way calls, recognise faces and respond to voice commands.

It can also learn household routines over time, remember names and respond differently depending on who it is talking to.

It sounds, then, like it more than justifies its £549.99 price, but then you remember it can't pick things up, clean the floor, load the dishwasher, feed the pets, or even climb the stairs.

This is still not too far removed from a fun toy. And there aren't that many toys that cost over £500.

Of course, there are serious applications for Ebo Max. As a smart smart camera that can move around, find people and pets, and provide a source of entertainment, it's more like having another pet. Except it can pipe messages and footage to you, so if you have a dependent relative you want to keep an eye on, or you need to know your pets aren't tearing up the furniture while you're out, it's good at that. Just as long as they don't go up to another floor.

What I liked about the Enabot Ebo Max

Taken as a smart camera, which is most of what Ebo Max is, the obvious advantage over an ordinary indoor security camera is mobility.

A fixed camera can only show whatever happens in front of its lens. The EBO Max can move between saved locations, follow a person or pet and patrol different areas of the house before returning to its charger.

It uses visual mapping to learn the layout of a floor and can remember several useful waypoints. You might save the kitchen, hallway and living room, then send the robot to any of them through the app.

The camera is excellent. It uses an 8MP sensor with 4K resolution and a 131-degree viewing angle, producing a much clearer picture than many conventional pet cameras. Night vision also means it remains useful once the lights go out. Photos and video can be stored locally on the included 32GB memory card, with support for cards up to 256GB.

The app gives you a live view from the robot and a simple on-screen controller for driving it manually. You can take photographs, record video, make calls and create patrol routes without needing to be at home.

Being able to steer a camera around the house while you are away is genuinely useful. You can check whether the back door is closed, see what the dogs are doing or investigate a noise without covering every room with separate cameras.

The two-way communication is another strong feature. Rather than speaking through a faceless camera in the corner, family members can see and hear you through the robot’s screen and speakers.

That could be handy for checking in on children, speaking to an older relative or simply confusing the life out of your pets while you are at work.

The tracking features are entertaining, too. The EBO Max can follow people and pets, keeping them within the camera frame as they move. Owners can also use the app to drive it around manually and capture photographs from a perspective that no ordinary phone camera could manage.

Then there is the artificial intelligence. You wake it by saying “Ebo Ebo”, after which it can answer questions, set reminders, tell stories and respond in a selection of different character modes. It supports facial recognition for up to 10 people, although voice recognition is currently limited to one registered user.

The long-term memory is designed to let it learn names, interests and routines, making interactions feel more personal over time.

There are also more serious monitoring features, including scheduled patrols and alerts for falls, prolonged inactivity or unusual pet movement. This is another area where Ebo Max could be genuinely useful.

What I did not like about the Enabot Ebo Max

The biggest limitation is one shared by almost every wheeled home robot. Like any Dalek, stairs stop it dead.

It can patrol one level of a home, but it cannot move between floors without being carried. It can also cross obstacles of only around 12mm, so raised thresholds and thick transitions between rooms may cause difficulties.

During my time with it, Ebo occasionally loses its way and, while it can move beneath furniture and travel around without dominating a room, it's also surprisingly easy to miss when it is near your feet.

Voice recognition is not perfect either. Ebo can react to speech from a television or radio, and it occasionally misunderstands names or questions.

The wake phrase is generally responsive rather than completely dependable, so there will be moments when you find yourself repeating “Ebo Ebo” at a plastic ball while wondering what has become of your life.

The AI features also require a degree of trust. The robot works best when it knows who lives in the house, remembers names and routines, and has permission to watch and listen. That makes the privacy settings essential rather than optional reading.

And then we come back to the price. You might occasionally see Ebo Max on offer, but I've yet to see it below £500, so it costs considerably more than a good indoor security camera and far more than a basic pet monitor.

You are paying for mobility, 4K imaging, autonomous patrols and the companion features. Households that only want to check on a dog occasionally could achieve most of what they need for much less.

Overall verdict

The Enabot EBO Max is one of those products that sounds faintly ridiculous until you find a use for it.

As an AI companion, it is amusing, charming and only occasionally confused. As an intelligent, versatile, and constantly mobile home camera, it makes considerably more sense.

The ability to patrol different rooms, follow pets, make video calls and inspect the house remotely gives it a genuine advantage over fixed cameras.

The 4K picture is strong, the app offers plenty of control and the robot’s oversized digital eyes make it difficult not to become slightly attached to it.

It is not essential, and it is not cheap. It can get lost, struggle with thresholds and mishear conversations. It just isn't a flawless family companion, just yet.

But if you like the idea of remote home monitoring, easy video communication and a more entertaining way to keep an eye on pets, it offers something genuinely different.

And, at the very least, it's going to be the ultimate conversation starter when you have guests round. Even if it won't serve them a pot of tea.