Figure 03 vs Unitree G1 EDU: An Industrial Fleet Against a Research Platform

The Figure 03 is bigger and stronger: 172 cm and 61 kg, 35 degrees of freedom (DOF), a 20 kg payload, up to 5 hours of runtime and 2 kW fast charging. The G1 EDU is 132 cm and 35 kg, with 43 DOF, a 3 kg payload, a walking speed of up to 2 m/s and about 2 hours of runtime. At first glance the G1 EDU wins on joint count, but in the hand the picture reverses: the Figure 03 has 16 DOF in the hand and touch sensors with 3 g resolution on each fingertip, the G1 EDU 7 DOF (the top “Ultimate D” configuration adds hands with a sense of touch). How to read these numbers is explained in “Degrees of Freedom (DOF) in Humanoid Robots”. The “brains” differ too: the G1 EDU runs on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin computer (NVIDIA Jetson) with SDK access, while the Figure 03 runs its own Helix, a vision-language-action (VLA) model that the company develops after ending its cooperation with OpenAI; wider background is in “VLA Models: How AI Controls Humanoid Robots in 2026”. The Figure 03 has cameras in the palms and a wide-angle camera system, the G1 EDU a 3D LiDAR, a depth camera and a microphone array.

The G1 EDU has no official Unitree price list. US resellers quote twelve configurations from about USD 43,900 to 73,900 (at 3.8762 zloty that is roughly PLN 170,200–286,500 (≈ EUR 38,930–65,540)), and in Poland in late September 2026 they were offered from about PLN 149,900 (≈ EUR 34,290) (U1, Ceneo) through PLN 190,000 (≈ EUR 43,460) (U2, Botland) to PLN 250,000 (≈ EUR 57,190) (Edu Ultimate A, x-kom). These prices come from sellers, not the manufacturer. The Figure 03 has no public price; it goes to customers under fleet contracts, for example BMW, and the robot is not offered in Poland; nor is there any information about sales to research institutions outside industry. The difference is therefore fundamental: you can order the G1 EDU today in a Polish shop, whereas the Figure 03 you can at most negotiate for as a partner of a large plant. A total-cost calculation is shown in “Humanoid Robot TCO: How to Calculate Total Cost”.

The G1 EDU is a tool for a university and laboratories that develop their own control algorithms; it also suits the teaching projects described in “Educational Robots for Schools and Universities”. The Figure 03 works in BMW’s factories in Spartanburg under the Physical AI project, and the manufacturer also names logistics (warehouses). That is work alongside people, so the requirements in “Robot Safety Standards” count. With a 3 kg payload the G1 EDU is not a substitute for an industrial robot, and the Figure 03 is not an open research platform. For a school the G1 EDU is an outlay of roughly PLN 150,000–250,000 (≈ EUR 34,310–57,190), and the Figure 03 is not available at all.