Unitree H1 vs Unitree H2: Two Flagships, Two Years of Development Apart

Both robots are 180 cm tall, and the similarity ends there. The H1 weighs 47 kg and has 18 degrees of freedom (DOF), of which according to the detailed data 5 are in each leg and 4 in each arm. The H2 weighs 70 kg, almost half as much again, and has 31 DOF. That is a leap towards range of motion and expressiveness: the H2 is the first Unitree humanoid with a bionic face, and its compute unit delivers 2070 TOPS. The H1 relies on a different strength, speed. The manufacturer quotes a measured 3.3 m/s for it (theoretically up to 5 m/s, not independently confirmed), a peak torque density of 189 N·m/kg, an 864 Wh battery at 67.2 V and an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor. For the H2 the sources we gathered give no confirmed speed, payload or battery capacity, so those values can be neither compared nor guessed. For the H1, in turn, payload and runtime are missing. How to read such incomplete sheets is explained in “How to Read a Robot Datasheet”, and what DOF figures hide is covered in “Degrees of Freedom (DOF) in Humanoid Robots”.

According to the manufacturer’s shop the H2 costs USD 29,900, or about PLN 115,900 (≈ EUR 26,510) at 3.8762 zloty to the dollar, and the H1 USD 90,000, or about PLN 348,900 (≈ EUR 79,810). The newer robot is therefore three times cheaper in dollars. A variant called “H2 Plus” is said by an outside source to cost USD 100,000, but the manufacturer has not confirmed it. One caveat matters: only the EDU version supports further programming (secondary development), so the base price does not describe the robot you would use for research. Polish listings from late September 2026 paint a different picture: Botland listed the H1 at PLN 439,000 (≈ EUR 100,420), while the H2 cost PLN 219,900 (≈ EUR 50,300) at Delta Robots and PLN 240,000 (≈ EUR 54,900) at x-kom (EDU Smart A configuration). Older x-kom entries ran from PLN 269,000 (≈ EUR 61,530) (EDU Smart F) through PLN 432,000–497,500 (≈ EUR 98,820–113,800) (PLUS Flagship) to PLN 1,000,000 (≈ EUR 228,750) for the top configuration. Listing prices do not always describe the same equipment. Total cost of ownership is discussed in “Humanoid Robot TCO: How to Calculate Total Cost”.

The H2 in its EDU version is the natural choice for a university or laboratories that develops its own software and needs plenty of compute, for instance for the models described in “VLA Models: How AI Controls Humanoid Robots in 2026”. The H1 remains a reference point for research on fast walking and for record demonstrations. Neither is suited to a factory, since neither has a documented payload; real deployments are described in “Humanoid Robots in Factories 2026”. If the robot is to appear only at events, renting is often more sensible than a purchase worth hundreds of thousands of zloty; see “Renting a Humanoid Robot for an Event”.