Head to head
Compare humanoid robots
🏆
Tesla Optimus Gen 2 comes out ahead
Wins 4 of 7 decisive categories — leads on overall score, payload, degrees of freedom.
3
Unitree
4
Tesla
Overall score
58/100
85/100
Payload
2 kg
20 kg
Top speed
2.5 m/s
2.22 m/s
Degrees of freedom
26
28
Hand dexterity (DoF)
—
11
Battery
199 Wh
2300 Wh
Runtime
60 min
—
Height
123 cm
173 cm
Weight
29 kg
57 kg
Choose Unitree R1 if you want…
- Better top speed
- Better weight
- Better price
- An ultra-lightweight, low-cost bipedal humanoid starting at $4,900, aimed at developers, researchers and STEM education.
Choose Tesla Optimus Gen 2 if you want…
- Better overall score
- Better payload
- Better degrees of freedom
- Better battery
- Tesla second-generation humanoid with in-house actuators, 11-DoF hands and tactile fingertips, targeting low-cost mass production.
Key facts
$5,900
Price
$20,000
Available
Status
Prototype
2025
Released
2023
Unitree Robotics
Brand
Tesla
Electric (PMSM)
Actuation
Electric
Full specifications
Overview
Unitree R1 (Standard)
Model
—
Available
Status
Prototype / internal factory use
$5,900 (R1 AIR from $4,900)
Base price
—
—
Manufacturer
Tesla
—
Generation
Gen 2 (Dec 2023)
Body
123 cm
Height
173 cm
~29 kg
Weight (with battery)
—
1230 × 357 × 190 mm
Dimensions (H×W×D)
—
—
Weight
57 kg
—
Weight saving
10 kg lighter than Gen 1
—
Payload
20 kg
Locomotion
26 DoF
Total DoF
—
6 each
Leg DoF
—
2
Waist DoF
—
2
Head DoF
—
~9 km/h
Max speed
—
—
Walk speed
8 km/h (~30% faster than Gen 1)
Actuation
Low-inertia high-speed internal-rotor PMSM
Motor type
—
—
Actuators
Tesla-designed actuators
—
Neck
2-DoF actuated
Manipulation
5 each (AIR: 4)
Arm DoF
—
~2 kg
Arm payload
—
Optional (EDU only)
Dexterous hand
—
—
Hands
Redesigned 11-DoF, faster
—
Hand DoF
11 DoF
Sensors
Binocular stereo (AIR: monocular)
Camera
—
4-mic
Microphone array
—
—
Tactile
Tesla sensors on all fingers
Compute
8-core high-performance CPU
Processor
—
NVIDIA Jetson Orin (40–100 TOPS)
Optional GPU
—
AI & Software
UnifoLM multimodal LLM
AI model
—
Linux SDK, ROS 2
Interfaces
—
—
Control
Improved balance & full-body control
Power
199 Wh
Battery
2.3 kWh
6000 mAh
Battery (mAh)
—
33.12 V
Voltage
—
~60 min
Runtime
—
Yes
Hot-swap battery
—
—
Battery location
Torso-integrated pack
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 6
Wi-Fi
—
5.2
Bluetooth
—