R1 vs Sophia: Specs, Price & ROS Support Compared (2025)
Unitree Robotics vs Hanson Robotics — independent, side-by-side analysis.
Quick Verdict
Sophia leads in more DOF. Overall, Sophia has an edge in 1 out of 1 compared categories.
R1
Unitree Robotics
Sophia
Hanson Robotics
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R1 Sophia
Specifications
$5,900PriceContact (R&D version available)
122 cmHeight167 cm
25 kgWeight20 kg
20DOF83
—Payload1.2 kg
1hRuntime—
2.5 m/sSpeed—
YesStairsNo
NoLiDARNo
8-core CPU; NVIDIA Jetson Orin (EDU)ComputeIntel Core i7, 32 GB RAM
Ecosystem Openness
72
R1
/100
40
Sophia
ROS2 support, newer platform — ecosystem growing.
Hanson AI SDK + OpenCog. Ubuntu. Partial ROS. Niche community.
Pros and cons at a glance
R1
Pros
- Shipping to customers (verified commercial availability)
- Affordable at $5,900 — accessible to research labs and SMEs
Cons
- Short runtime (60 min) — frequent recharging or battery swaps
Sophia
Pros
- Shipping to customers (verified commercial availability)
- 83 degrees of freedom — full-body articulation
Cons
- Unit price not publicly disclosed (quote-on-request or enterprise-only)
- Low rated payload (1.2 kg) — research or light-handling tasks only
- Cannot navigate stairs — restricts deployment environments
Frequently asked questions
How do R1 and Sophia compare on price?
R1: $5,900. Sophia: Contact (R&D version available). Only one of the two has a public unit price; the other publishes a range or enterprise-only terms.
Are both R1 and Sophia shipping to customers?
Yes. Both are commercially available as of the last review. Delivery timelines and customer geographies vary per vendor — check the manufacturer page for each.
Which is better for ROS-based development: R1 or Sophia?
R1 has ros2; Sophia has ROS 1 only. For research and multi-vendor robotics stacks, native ROS 2 is the strongest signal of ecosystem maturity.
Last updated: 2025