Unitree R1

Unitree R1 is a compact bipedal humanoid robot unveiled by Unitree Robotics in July 2025. Priced at approximately 39,999 CNY ($5,900 USD), it is one of the most affordable full-featured humanoid robots available. Standing 121-122 cm tall and weighing only 25 kg, the R1 packs 26 degrees of freedom powered by 26 joint actuators, enabling human-like motion through multimodal artificial intelligence. The R1 features a lightweight design using a composite shell over an alloy frame. It is equipped with stereo binocular cameras with a 220° field of view, a 4-microphone array for voice localization, integrated speakers, and an onboard 8-core CPU with GPU (likely NVIDIA Jetson Orin-based) running Unitree's custom "UnifoLM" multimodal large language model. This enables on-device voice and image recognition for real-time autonomous interaction without cloud dependency. Key specifications include a top walking/running speed of ~9 km/h, approximately 1 hour of battery life per hot-swappable battery, payload capacity up to ~10 kg, and ROS 2 SDK support for developer customization. The R1 runs on a Linux-based operating system with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. It was recognized by Time magazine as one of the Best Inventions of 2025 in the robotics category.