I personally think they’re a huge quality of life improvement. When my old model 3 gave up after something like 5 years, I ordered a new one the same day. Scooping is gross and tiresome, and if you like to travel on short notice, this can buy you about 4 days for two cats or 7-8 days for one if you also have an automatic feeder (much cheaper than this) or free feed them. By that point, it’s almost nice to get a sitter just so your cat(s) won’t get lonely while you’re away.

Yes, it’s expensive. But if you spend 5 minutes a day scooping, that’s about 1800 minutes a year or 30 hours. In my experience, the units last at least 4 years usually. Up to you.