The humanoid robot Unitree R1 is now available for purchase online from Chinese stores: watch out for the price
Unitree R1
The Unitree R1 is set to become available for purchase on AliExpress in Europe, North America, Japan, and Singapore, with its debut on the e-commerce platform expected as early as next week. Unitree has not yet announced an official price for Western markets: the figure of approximately €5,000 circulating online is an estimate, and the final price, once duties, European VAT, and shipping are considered, could be significantly higher.
The official list price in China remains 39,999 yuan (approximately $5,900) for the standard version, positioning it as the most affordable commercial humanoid robot on the market. To understand the scale: Unitree's larger sibling, the G1, already available on AliExpress and through European retailers like Reichelt and MekoSrl starting from about $16,000, is a product designed for advanced research, featuring an open SDK and more advanced specifications. The R1, on the other hand, is born to further lower the entry barrier: it differs significantly from what is offered with the G1 as it focuses on consumer use, entertainment, and education.
Attention to Unofficial Listings
The growing visibility of the Unitree brand has already attracted third-party sellers leveraging its name. On Alibaba, product listings circulate that faithfully list the technical specifications of the R1, such as 26 DOF, 25 kg, 8-core CPU, and a 4-microphone array, but they come from service robot manufacturers from Jiangsu province, unrelated to Unitree Robotics headquartered in Hangzhou. The signs are recognizable: inconsistent warranties, lead times of 7 working days for single units, and descriptions that mix functionalities of a waiter robot with specifications copied from official documentation. A seemingly convenient price compared to authorized channels is the first alarm bell.
Three Lines, Custom Specifications
The R1 is not a monolithic product. The range is articulated into three main lines: R1 Base (formerly AIR), R1 Standard, and R1 EDU, with six sub-variants from U1 to U6. The base version boasts 24 degrees of freedom overall, an 8-core CPU, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, a 4-microphone array, and a stereo binocular camera; it does not support SDK development and is intended for demonstrations and events. The R1 Standard increases to 26 DOF with 2 additional degrees of freedom for the head, while maintaining the same perceptual capabilities.
The EDU versions are the real playground for developers: the U2 integrates a computation module with 100 TOPS compared to the 40 of the U1, while the Pro variants (U3-U6) add dexterous hands like Dex3 or BrainCo Revo 2 with or without touch sensors for a total of degrees of freedom up to 40. In all cases, the height remains fixed at 1,210 mm, the weight with battery is about 25 kg, and the runtime is around an hour. The payload per arm is 2 kg for the base and standard versions, with declared improvement margins for the EDU.
Acrobatics and Integrated AI
From a kinetic standpoint, the R1 is capable of running, doing handstands, executing flips, and autonomously recovering from falls, abilities demonstrated during the Spring Gala 2026, where 49 units performed coordinated martial arts sequences. For those who want to delve deeper into the differences with the previous model, here you can find our analysis on the G1, already purchasable through official international channels.
On the AI front, the robot is equipped with a Large Multimodal Model locally capable of integrating vocal and visual inputs for environmental perception. The casing is fully customizable in appearance. Software updates occur via OTA; connectivity also includes a physical remote control included in the box.
With R1 EDU deliveries already underway in some markets and consumer versions now set to launch on AliExpress, Unitree adopts a distribution strategy that bypasses traditional channels to reach the end consumer directly. The pricing issue for the West remains open: in the coming hours, with the official publication of international product sheets, it will be clear how much of the Chinese cost advantage will actually reach Europe.
What is certain right from the start is that the availability of humanoid robots on these widely accessible platforms, even in the West, significantly brings such products closer to the end user. With affordable prices for a broad segment of the population, one can assume an important spread for AI robots in the coming months.