Max discovered the neighbour’s ginger tom had been eating his food for three weeks before I figured it out. Not because I’m unobservant — because the old magnetic flap on the back door had all the security of a revolving hotel entrance. If that scenario sounds familiar, the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door Connect is exactly the kind of product that exists to fix it. Whether it does so at a justifiable price is a different question entirely.
SureFlap Microchip Pet Door Connect Without Hub – Flap Opening is 6 3/4 inches by 7 inches
👍 Pros
- ✅ Reads existing microchip — no collar tag needed
- ✅ Remote lock/unlock via app is genuinely useful for curfews
- ✅ Activity monitoring flags behavioural changes over time
- ✅ Solid 6¾ × 7 inch opening fits most cats and smaller dogs
👎 Cons
- ❌ Hub sold separately — full smart functionality costs extra on top of an already steep $291 base price
What You’re Actually Getting
The core function is straightforward: the door reads up to 32 pets’ microchips and only unlocks for registered animals. No collar tags to lose behind the sofa, no fiddling with magnetic keys. The opening is 6 11/16″ wide by 7″ tall — roomy enough for a chunky Lab mix pup or any domestic cat short of a Maine Coon that’s been on the Christmas biscuits. Build quality is reassuringly solid, with a proper weather seal and a flap that doesn’t rattle in the wind like a crisp packet.
The ‘Connect’ part of the name refers to app integration via the SurePetCare platform, which lets you lock and unlock the door remotely, set curfew windows (useful if your cat treats 3am as prime exploration time), and review long-term activity logs. That last feature is more useful than it sounds — gradual changes in how often a pet uses the flap can flag health issues before you’d otherwise notice them.
Installation and Setup
Installation is standard cat-flap fare: you’re cutting a hole in a door or wall, following a template, and screwing in the frame. The instructions are clear and the process took me about 45 minutes including chasing Max away from the power drill twice. Microchip registration is done through the app and took under five minutes per animal. The mechanism itself — the learning mode where the door reads and stores a chip — works first time, every time. That part, at least, is not fussy.
One note: if you’re installing into a double-glazed door or a wall thicker than standard, you’ll need the tunnel extension, sold separately. Sense a pattern forming?
The Hub Problem — The One Honest Caveat
Here is the thing that needs saying plainly: the app features do not work without the SureFlap Hub, which is sold separately. The product page lists this in small print; the price listed ($291.78 at time of writing) does not include it. Without the Hub, you have a very good microchip flap with no remote control, no curfew scheduling, and no activity monitoring. You have, in other words, a $291 door that you can only lock manually. The Hub currently adds roughly another $80–100 to the bill. For a product marketing itself on smart connectivity, burying that dependency feels like a genuine consumer unfriendness rather than a minor footnote.
With the Hub installed and connected, the app experience is competent rather than exciting. It’s not the most polished interface I’ve used, but it’s stable, the push notifications are reliable, and the curfew feature works exactly as advertised. Mochi tested the lock function thoroughly by sitting at the flap and staring at me with sustained disappointment when it didn’t open at 11pm. Result: it held firm. System works.
Real-World Performance
After several weeks of use, the microchip reading has been essentially flawless. Max — whose microchip has apparently never caused a scanner problem in his life — was recognised on the first attempt in learning mode and has had zero false rejections since. The flap returns to the closed position quickly enough that draughts aren’t an issue, and the four-way manual lock (in only, out only, locked, unlocked) is a useful fallback when the app isn’t needed.
The 3.9-star average across 566 Amazon ratings is about right. This is not a flawed product — it’s a very good one with a pricing structure that creates justified frustration.
Who Should Buy This
If you have multiple pets, a cat that’s been bullied by neighbourhood intruders, or genuine need for remote curfew control — and you’re prepared to factor in the Hub cost — the SureFlap Connect is the most reliable microchip flap I’ve tested. It does what it promises, the build quality justifies a premium over budget alternatives, and the activity monitoring is a legitimate welfare tool.
If you’re looking at the $291 price tag and expecting a complete out-of-the-box smart system, adjust your expectations before checkout or you’ll be annoyed before you’ve even picked up a jigsaw.
Score: 7.5 / 10
A genuinely excellent microchip door with well-implemented app features — docked points specifically for the separate-Hub dependency, which is a meaningful additional cost that should be front and centre in the product listing rather than buried in the small print. The underlying technology earns its price; the purchasing experience doesn’t quite.