Unitree releases the H2 bionic humanoid

Background

Unitree's 2025 was crowded with new machines. Shanghai Securities News reported that the company brought out several new products that year, including the A2 quadruped robot on 5 August and the R1 humanoid on 25 July, and that it had been teasing the H2 before the launch ^[2]. At the Global Digital Trade Expo in September 2025, Wang Xingxing said Unitree would release a 1.8-metre humanoid in the second half of the year ^[2]. The machine announced in October matched that height: Securities Times reported it at 180 cm ^[1].

The announcement

On 20 October 2025, Unitree announced the H2 and presented it as a bionic humanoid robot ^[1][2]. The word “bionic” here points at the most visible change from the company's earlier humanoids: according to Shanghai Securities News, the H2 has facial features and a bionic face, something the earlier models did not have ^[2]. A launch video accompanied the announcement ^[2].

Specifications

Securities Times reported that the H2 is 180 cm tall, weighs 70 kg and has 31 joints ^[1]. Unitree's own H2 product page lists 31 degrees of freedom, a maximum leg torque of 360 N·m, and a 0.972 kWh battery that gives roughly 3 hours of runtime ^[3]. The joint count in the news report and the degree-of-freedom figure on the company page are the same number, 31 ^[1][3].

A few of those terms are worth unpacking, because they describe very different things. Degrees of freedom count the independent ways a machine's joints can move; more of them means a wider range of poses, but also a harder control problem, since every additional axis has to be coordinated with the rest. Torque measures rotational force, and a leg's maximum torque sets how hard that leg can push against the ground, which matters for standing up, climbing, jumping or carrying a load. Battery capacity, given in kilowatt-hours, together with how much power the machine draws, determines runtime; Unitree's stated figure of about 3 hours is the resulting estimate for the H2 ^[3].

What the video showed

Shanghai Securities News reported that the launch video showed the H2 performing ballet, throwing punches, delivering side kicks, and walking a runway in fashion ^[2]. The mix is deliberate in effect if not in intent: ballet and a runway walk emphasise balance and smooth, controlled motion, while punches and side kicks are dynamic, higher-force movements. Showing both in one clip is a way of suggesting that the same machine can be gentle and forceful.

Where it sits

Two things make the H2 a distinct entry in Unitree's line rather than another iteration. The first is the face: earlier Unitree humanoids were reported as lacking the facial features the H2 now carries ^[2]. The second is timing — the H2 is the 1.8-metre humanoid that Wang Xingxing had said in September 2025 would arrive in the second half of the year, and it arrived in October at 180 cm ^[1][2].

The launch also fits a pattern of frequent releases: the R1 humanoid in July and the A2 quadruped in August of the same year came only weeks apart, with the H2 following in October ^[2]. Whether a bionic face changes what such a robot can do is a separate question from what it looks like; the published specifications describe a machine with 31 degrees of freedom, a 360 N·m leg torque ceiling and about 3 hours of battery life ^[3].