G1 specs and background

G1 Basic or G1 EDU: the decision you cannot undo

The Basic cannot be upgraded later. If the robot will ever run your code, simulation or a learned policy, it has to be an EDU.

Software: what you program against

The G1 EDU runs unitree_sdk2 with Python and C++ bindings, a maintained unitree_ros2 package for ROS 2, an official URDF for NVIDIA Isaac Sim and MuJoCo models for simulation and reinforcement learning. The usual workflow is to train in simulation, deploy to the on-board Jetson Orin through unitree_sdk2, and refine with real-world data collected by teleoperation.

UnifoLM-VLA-0, Unitree's open-source manipulation model built on Qwen2.5-VL-7B, gives EDU builds a deployable baseline for tasks such as pick-and-place, opening containers, sorting, pouring, wiping, insertion, folding and two-handed handover. It does not do navigation, task planning or dialogue. It runs from the EDU Standard up; dexterous hands and the 100 TOPS compute get the most from it.

Under $20,000? Look at the R1, not the G1

No programmable G1 sells under $20,000. Among Unitree humanoids, the programmable options in that band are the R1 EDU Standard at $15,950 and the R1 EDU Smart at $18,900 (US dealer prices, October 5, 2026); the $8,990 R1 Basic, like the G1 Basic, has no SDK. The G1 adds 3D LiDAR, more payload and the more mature SDK ecosystem. The trade-offs are in our R1 vs G1 comparison and the Unitree R1 guide.

Order the R1 EDU Standard → Order the R1 EDU Smart →

Field notes: what we saw with a G1 Basic

Observed across several in-person sessions with a production G1 Basic at an authorized North American dealer's office and outdoor facility, February to April 2026. Not a sponsored review. EDU builds were not tested directly; EDU capability statements on this page come from Unitree documentation.

The wake-up is the show. Switched on lying flat on the floor, it unfolds and stands in about two minutes. At about 4 feet tall it is approachable: in a lobby or a booth, people walk toward it, not away.

Pre-loaded routines are limited. The dance we saw was upper body only, and the dealer's engineer guided the arms through it before it ran reliably. The dealer's sales director told us the most advanced movement policies Unitree pushes by cloud update are only on units sold in China, so the flips and kung-fu clips online are not what a North American Basic does out of the box.

Locomotion drifts. Jogging on flat pavement, it veered left twice within about 15 yards. For precise autonomous paths, you build that layer yourself on an EDU.

Still impressive up close. Calibrate your expectations against the marketing, not against the hardware.

Our own footage from BotInfo's YouTube channel, filmed October 2025: a G1 running in an open outdoor space. We claim nothing from it beyond what it visibly shows. More on the BotInfo YouTube channel.

Don't buy a G1 if you

• need sustained physical labour: arm payload is about 2 to 3 kg;
• need outdoor, all-weather operation: there is no IP rating, so plan for indoor use;
• need reach at standard workbench height: the G1 is 127 cm tall;
• expect human-level dexterity and full autonomy today.

If the robot is for one event, the honest first question is whether to buy at all: our rent-or-buy guide covers where renting wins.

Budget lines buyers forget

Dealer listing prices, October 5, 2026. Spare batteries and the LiDAR kit are the two lines most often left out of a budget.

• Two-hand remote controller: $370
• Spare battery: $750; battery charger: $120
• MID360 LiDAR kit: $3,800
• Depth camera: $1,200
• Two-DOF head module: $3,800
• NVIDIA AGX Orin compute dock: $7,600; AGX Thor compute dock: $15,200
• Whole-body teleoperation kit (requires a G1 EDU): $15,000