Omlet Playpen Review

[Maz]

Review of the new Omlet playpen

This is a review of the new Omlet Playpen. It's large and rather nice.


Size and measurements

I measured it as

164cm x 81.5cm wide x 26cm tall.

But that was a rough measurement without the playpen floor secured in place. The official measurements are 161.5cm long by 84cm wide and 26cm tall. It's really quite large - an excellent size.

It's suitable for all species of hamster. There are no gaps a dwarf could squeeze through, so it's secure and the plastic is hard and so not really something that could be chewed through. It's tall enough even for Syrians, although it would be important to make sure there are no hides or items close to the edge inside the playpen, that a hamster could climb on and get over the top, but that's the same for all playpens.


General Impressions

It's an excellent playpen and a clever design. It folds away very quickly and easily into a neat compact package and comes with a nice grey soft case to put it in for storage. It also comes with a wipe clean floor with fitted corners that the playpen sits in and this is attached to the outside of the playpen with poppers. If used on its own without the floor (ie just on carpet) it is the quickest and easiest playpen to put up and take down that I've come across and also stores in a smaller neater package than any other playpen I've used. If using the playpen floor it's still easy to put up and take down but takes a little bit longer obviously. It's also a very good size and bigger than most playpens.

It's very well made. The side panels are solid - opaque plastic - and the turquoise coloured hinged supports are a made of a thicker plastic. I was impressed by the hinged supports and that I could actually make it into various different shapes if not using the playpen floor.

This is the large size - they also make a smaller square one.

Here is a photo of it partly assembled - I hadn't fastened all the side poppers or straightened the sides fully.





Packaging and unboxing

You can see the folded size below - it's very neat and compact when folded.










This is the grey soft cover it comes with for storing the playpen in





I was impressed with the grey soft storage case. It's nice. It will protect the playpen itself and look nicer in a living room for example, without it looking like a playpen. The storage case is slightly longer than the playpen itself - you can see from the photos below that the extra length (folded over on the photo) allows for you to pick it up easily at the top for carrying.






After unpacking it I was keen to put it up - with only a brief glance at the instructions. So here's a tip. Don't do what I did and put it up the wrong way round
The end panels on the short sides are a single piece, without hinged sections (except at the corners) and have the word Omlet written on them. It's actually possible to put it up in various configurations and initially I had the wrong pieces at each end and then couldn't understand why the poppers were not in the right place to attach to the orange tabs. Once the end panels were where they should be, the poppers and tabs lined up

 

[Maz]

Assembling

Once unfolded you spread out the playpen floor and the playpen sits inside shaped corners, which hold the playpen floor in the correct position. You then attach the orange tabs to the poppers on the outside of the playpen panels. If you have the room to leave the playpen permanently up and in place, the attached base makes it more sturdy and rigid. I found attaching the tabs to the poppers slightly fiddly, so if wanting to put it up quickly I'd be tempted to just sit the playpen on the wipe clean base without fastening the poppers - which is an option. It's still held in place by the fitted corners. For a really quick set up though, you could just put it up on the carpet, without the playpen floor and this is something I would probably do as I let my hamsters go on the floor/carpet anyway.

Partly unfolded



Making it into an interesting shape (if you'd rather have a more round playpen)



This is where I thought I had it set up ready to attach the playpen floor, but as you can see, I had the end panels at the side instead of at the end. The short end shouldn't have the turquoise strip halfway along as I mistakenly have it below.

Wrong



It should look like this at the short end

Right (although note I haven't straightened the sides at this point



Fitted corners on the playpen base



The little plastic popper ends on the outside panels, that the orange tabs snap onto




Price

The playpen costs £79, including the wipe-clean floor and the soft storage case. While this is fairly expensive, it is much larger than most playpens and very well made - I think it would last for years. The Getzoo wood playpen costs more at £84.48 and is not as large at 113cm by 110 cm. The Happy Henry Homes playpen, while less expensive at £50, is smaller again at 110cm by 76.2cm and not as quick and easy to put up and store away. So while there are less expensive options, I think this is probably the largest playpen available, and what you'd be paying for is size, convenience, ease of use, and it being well made. It's also wipe clean, being plastic. The smaller, square, version is £59 and measures 82.5cm by 84cm.


Conclusion

I found myself getting more and more enthused by the whole experience of putting it up. Clever designs are enjoyable to use. It's practical, spacious and easy to put up and down and store away. Personally, I wouldn't have the space to leave it up all the time which is why it's handy to have one that's easy to fold away. I moved the coffee table out of the way to be able to put it up on the living room floor. I will probably use it without the wipe clean floor most of the time, primarily because it took me less than 60 seconds to put up and take down, without using the playpen floor - it was very quick and easy - and partly because I liked being able to put it into the shape I wanted (to suit the space eg). However it was also very quick to put up using the wipe clean floor as well, if you don't fasten the tabs to the poppers. If fastening the playpen floor in place, it takes a little bit longer. So it would depend on what suits you - I know some people would prefer having a wipe clean floor in a playpen.

Because of the size of it, it's perhaps the next best thing to free-roaming for a hamster. Some playpens can feel quite constrained and enclosed for the hamster, but not everyone can have a hamster free-roaming, for safety reasons. So a large playpen like this is more of a free-roaming experience. Also because of the size, it would be easy to sit inside with the hamster.

I have used a couple of different wood playpens previously and they have usually ended up with a wooden tab snapping off at one corner when putting them up and down and are slightly awkward to put up and down. So for me, this is the best playpen I've come across - it's a good product. It isn't cheap but it's a good product for the money and perhaps an investment.

Note: Omlet sent me this playpen to review, so I didn't buy it. However these are my own genuine opinions. I liked it a lot and didn't find any fault with it, except possibly that it was slightly fiddly to attach the tabs to the poppers. However OH found them quite easy to do, so maybe that was just me. They also sent me the wheel on the stand and I'll be reviewing that separately.

A short clip of Higgins in the playpen last night

 

[Lovelyness]

That definitely looks like the best option for a playpen. I looked at a lot for Blossom and gave up in the end as there was nothing that looked like it would do what I needed it to...or what she needed it to! Pity this wasn't around at the time

 

[Maz]

I thought you’d like it

 

[Tulsi]

That looks wonderful. I saw it on their website. Good to have an in depth review.

 

[Socks Mum]

I like that you can sit in the playpen, and that it can't be chewed through easily, although it still needs supervision as hamsters are ninjas

 

[Maz]

Yes it's best to have supervision but I'd say it's chewproof

 

[Maz]

I just added a very short clip of Higgins in it last night. He was a bit sleepy and it was his first time out of the cage at just 9 weeks old so a very short clip!

 

[Dusty's Mom]

I also saw this on the Omlet site and thought it was a wonderful design for a hamster playpen. So glad you did a review and confirmed that it is a great playpen for a hamster. I really like it! Thanks for the great review!!

 

[Jain]

Assembling

Once unfolded you spread out the playpen floor and the playpen sits inside shaped corners, which hold the playpen floor in the correct position. You then attach the orange tabs to the poppers on the outside of the playpen panels. If you have the room to leave the playpen permanently up and in place, the attached base makes it more sturdy and rigid. I found attaching the tabs to the poppers slightly fiddly, so if wanting to put it up quickly I'd be tempted to just sit the playpen on the wipe clean base without fastening the poppers - which is an option. It's still held in place by the fitted corners. For a really quick set up though, you could just put it up on the carpet, without the playpen floor and this is something I would probably do as I let my hamsters go on the floor/carpet anyway.

Partly unfolded

View attachment 8472

Making it into an interesting shape (if you'd rather have a more round playpen)

View attachment 8473

This is where I thought I had it set up ready to attach the playpen floor, but as you can see, I had the end panels at the side instead of at the end. The short end shouldn't have the turquoise strip halfway along as I mistakenly have it below.

Wrong

View attachment 8478

It should look like this at the short end

Right (although note I haven't straightened the sides at this point

View attachment 8481

Fitted corners on the playpen base

View attachment 8475

The little plastic popper ends on the outside panels, that the orange tabs snap onto

View attachment 8480


Price

The playpen costs £79, including the wipe-clean floor and the soft storage case. While this is fairly expensive, it is much larger than most playpens and very well made - I think it would last for years. The Getzoo wood playpen costs more at £84.48 and is not as large at 113cm by 110 cm. The Happy Henry Homes playpen, while less expensive at £50, is smaller again at 110cm by 76.2cm and not as quick and easy to put up and store away. So while there are less expensive options, I think this is probably the largest playpen available, and what you'd be paying for is size, convenience, ease of use, and it being well made. It's also wipe clean, being plastic. The smaller, square, version is £59 and measures 82.5cm by 84cm.


Conclusion

I found myself getting more and more enthused by the whole experience of putting it up. Clever designs are enjoyable to use. It's practical, spacious and easy to put up and down and store away. Personally, I wouldn't have the space to leave it up all the time which is why it's handy to have one that's easy to fold away. I moved the coffee table out of the way to be able to put it up on the living room floor. I will probably use it without the wipe clean floor most of the time, primarily because it took me less than 60 seconds to put up and take down, without using the playpen floor - it was very quick and easy - and partly because I liked being able to put it into the shape I wanted (to suit the space eg). However it was also very quick to put up using the wipe clean floor as well, if you don't fasten the tabs to the poppers. If fastening the playpen floor in place, it takes a little bit longer. So it would depend on what suits you - I know some people would prefer having a wipe clean floor in a playpen.

Because of the size of it, it's perhaps the next best thing to free-roaming for a hamster. Some playpens can feel quite constrained and enclosed for the hamster, but not everyone can have a hamster free-roaming, for safety reasons. So a large playpen like this is more of a free-roaming experience. Also because of the size, it would be easy to sit inside with the hamster.

I have used a couple of different wood playpens previously and they have usually ended up with a wooden tab snapping off at one corner when putting them up and down and are slightly awkward to put up and down. So for me, this is the best playpen I've come across - it's a good product. It isn't cheap but it's a good product for the money and perhaps an investment.

Note: Omlet sent me this playpen to review, so I didn't buy it. However these are my own genuine opinions. I liked it a lot and didn't find any fault with it, except possibly that it was slightly fiddly to attach the tabs to the poppers. However OH found them quite easy to do, so maybe that was just me. They also sent me the wheel on the stand and I'll be reviewing that separately.

A short clip of Higgins in the playpen last night

Higgins seems quite content with the Omlet playpen I'd love one for Pete but it is a bit expensive and O/H said he would still want to get out to be free roaming which is probably true

 

[Maz]

Yes that's true - for some hamsters, no playpen is big enough! Esepecially if they've got used to free roaming.