Humanoid Robots With the Most Degrees of Freedom in 2026, and Why It Matters

Next-Gen IRON ranks first because XPENG publishes 82 degrees of freedom for it, the highest count we found. Of those, 22 sit in each hand, close to the range of a human hand, and the rest run through a bionic spine, shoulders and legs. XPENG unveiled it at its AI Day in November 2025 and says mass production starts by the end of 2026. It weighs 70 kg. The company has even cut the robot open on stage to show it is a machine and not a person in a suit. The high count aims at smooth, lifelike movement rather than raw strength. It suits people who want to follow the most articulated humanoid announced so far.

Unitree H2 Plus ranks second because Unitree lists 75 degrees of freedom across its body and hands. The body has 31: six in each leg, seven in each arm, three in the waist and two in the head. Two Sharpa Wave tactile hands add 22 each. It carries an NVIDIA Jetson T5000 computer, a rated payload of 7 kg per hand with 15 kg at peak, and weighs about 70 kg. Unitree announced it in June 2026 as a reference robot for NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T platform, aimed at academic research, with availability planned for late 2026. Its limit is that most of its extra count lives in the hands. It suits university labs training robots in fine hand skills.

TORA DoubleOne ranks third because PaXini lists 58 degrees of freedom for the Model X and 56 for the Model P. It rolls on a wheeled base instead of walking, and its upper body folds down, which helps with transport and storage. The hands have 18 degrees of freedom each and carry around 1,956 touch sensors, so the robot can feel what it holds. It runs on an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin computer, has a rated lift of 6.5 kg per arm, and weighs 70 kg for the Model P and 73 kg for the Model X. It was first shown at iREX 2025 in Tokyo. It cannot climb stairs. It suits factories with flat floors and delicate parts.

Atlas (Electric 2025) ranks fourth because Boston Dynamics reports 56 degrees of freedom for the production version it unveiled at CES in January 2026. Most of its joints rotate fully around, so a limb can turn past what a human joint allows and the robot can reposition without stepping around. It has human-scale hands with touch sensing, weighs 90 kg and has an IP67 rating, meaning it can be washed down. It is the electric successor to the hydraulic research Atlas known for backflips. The count is lower than the leaders, but it is built for steady industrial work rather than a lab. It suits factories that want a durable robot for lifting and moving parts.

Star1 ranks fifth because Robot Era's open-source model files list 55 degrees of freedom. The split is 12 in the legs, 14 in the arms, 24 in the hands, 3 in the waist and 2 in the head. Each hand is a 12-joint unit, which makes the hands the largest share of the total. It stands 171 cm tall, weighs 65 kg, has joints that deliver up to 400 N·m of torque and can carry 20 kg with both arms. The company trains its walking and running with reinforcement learning, a method where the robot learns by trial and error in simulation. It suits researchers who want published joint data to build on.

GR-2 ranks sixth because Fourier lists up to 53 degrees of freedom in the version with its 12-joint dexterous hands. Each hand carries six arrays of touch sensors, which let the robot sense force, work out the shape of an object and adjust its grip as it holds it. Each arm carries 3 kg, and the robot weighs around 63 kg. Fourier launched it in September 2024 as the second generation of its GR series, with a detachable battery that doubles the capacity of its predecessor and a runtime of up to two hours. Its hands are simpler than the leaders'. It suits laboratories and rehabilitation research that need a proven, documented platform.