Watch the 1x NEO household robot attempt to do chores

Robotics company 1X officially launched its humanoid NEO Home Robot this week, opening up pre-orders for customers who want to live in a robot-assisted future.

“Humanoids were long a thing of sci-fi…then they were a thing of research, but today — with the launch of NEO — humanoid robots become a product. Something that you and me can reach out and touch,” 1X CEO and founder Bernt Børnich said in a blog post announcing NEO’s launch.

Understandably, people are a bit skeptical that a $20,000 robot will actually help them. (To be fair, the company also says there will be a $500 monthly subscription option for a robot.)

The videos we’ve seen thus far have shown, let’s say, mixed results.

Here’s 1x’s own video about the robot, which includes it performing chores like answering the door or doing laundry.

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The reality of the NEO robot, however, is that it struggles to do basic things on its own. The Wall Street Journal published a video testing it, and almost everything required a skilled, remote operator taking control of the robot. So that means the robot, as it stands, is often a remote, human-controlled butler with someone who has to look into your home to complete tasks.

On its own, the robot took five minutes — including some comically awkward bending — to poorly load three items into a dishwasher.

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Here’s the full WSJ video, which discusses the experience of testing the NEO robot in more depth.

Here’s the robot doing the 6-7 trend — will it ever die? — while being controlled by a human.

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Here it is dancing, again controlled by a human.

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So yes, you can buy a humanoid helper as if it were the future. But it’s not quite the fully autonomous robot you might’ve expected.