What just happened? Elon Musk has long said he envisions a world where every household has a humanoid robot, but one of several factors preventing this scenario from becoming a reality is the machines’ price. But with Unitree’s R1, the cost of entry into this sci-fi world has been lowered.

The R1, from Chinese robotics firm Unitree Robotics, is four foot tall, has 26 joints, and weighs around 55 pounds.

Much like the humanoid robots of Boston Dynamics, the R1 can perform some impressive acrobatics. The company’s video shows it doing cartwheels and handstands. It also appears quite adept at boxing and martial arts, is able to dance (another favorite hobby of Boston Dynamics’ machines), and can run – or at least jog.

Consumer humanoid robots like the R1 tend to carry weighty price tags, but the R1 sells for $5,900. For comparison, Unitree’s own G1 is one of the cheaper models at $16,000, while its H1 is a massive $90,000. Figure AI has the Figure 02, which is a little more than $30,000.

The R1 can do more than physical tricks. It boasts binocular vision and LLM-powered voice and image identification capabilities. It also comes with integrated Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.

While the video only shows the R1’s agility, the robot is able to respond to voice commands and hold basic conversations. The message at the end of the clip reads: “Movement first, tasks as well (A diversity of movement is the foundation for completing tasks).”

The video promises that buyers can customize their robots, too.

It seems Unitree is a fan of 2011’s Real Steel movie. The company held what it calls the first-ever humanoid robot combat competition, though it looks more like two tiny metal children clumsily flailing their limbs at each other.

Unitree Combat Competition Highlights May 25, 2025😘
A historic moment in human history: The first-ever humanoid robot combat competition(Livestream)#Unitree #HumanoidRobot #Combat #SpringFestivalGalaRobot #MartialArts #KungFu #embodiedintelligence #artificialintelligence pic.twitter.com/Aan2h7RFI0

– Unitree (@UnitreeRobotics) May 29, 2025

There are also some confusing and frankly ominous warnings in the video. “Currently, the global humanoid robot industry is in the early stages of exploration. Individual users are strongly advised to thoroughly understand the limitations of humanoid robots before making a purchase,” reads a message at the end.

“The humanoid robot has a complex structure and extremely powerful power. Users are asked to keep a sufficient safe distance between the humanoid robot and the humanoid robot. Please use with caution.”

That second part of that warning brings to mind an incident that happened in May. A video was circulated on social media that appeared to show Unitree’s H1 robot going berserk on a factory floor, almost injuring workers in the process.

While the R1 is certainly a long way from the Detroit: Become Human-style home helper robots, the fact it costs under $6,000 illustrates how much cheaper this technology is becoming, which could lead to more advanced, mass produced models sooner than we predicted.