Head to head
NEO vs Sophia
NEO (1X Technologies, from $20,000) against Sophia (Hanson Robotics, no public price), side by side on price, realism, specifications and availability.
The short version
- NEO and Sophia tie on our Realism Index at 40/100.
- NEO has a public price ($20,000); Sophia doesn't.
- NEO is on preorder; Sophia is still a concept.
- NEO also carries a $499/month software subscription.
Composed from the two directory records, so it updates when they do.
NEO40/100
Sophia40/100
Realism Index sub-scores — six weighted dimensions built from public evidence. How we score
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Pre-order | Concept |
| Type | Consumer | Humanoid |
| Form | Full body | Torso |
| Presents as | Non-gendered | Female-presenting |
| Price | $20,000 outright, or $499/month | Not sold to consumers — a research and exhibition platform. The desktop Little Sophia retails around $149. |
| Subscription | $499/mo | — |
| Availability | Preorder · 2026 deliveries promised, none confirmed | Operational since 2016 |
| Origin | USA | Hong Kong |
| Realism index | 40/100 | 40/100 |
| Height | 167 cm · 5 ft 6 in | ~167 cm · 5 ft 6 in (with legs; usually shown as a torso on a base) |
| Weight | 30 kg · 66 lb | — |
| Skin & materials | 3D-lattice polymer body in a woven knit suit | Frubber face and neck; transparent rear skull; decorative body |
| Actuation | Patented Tendon Drive compliant actuators | 30+ motors in the head and face |
| Power | ~842 Wh battery | — |
| Runtime | ~4 hours typical use (est.) | — |
| AI & conversation | Onboard 'Redwood' vision-language model | Hybrid — scripted dialogue, a chatbot, OpenCog reasoning and LLMs; neural-net face and emotion recognition |
| Voice | Conversational LLM; speaks when addressed | Synthesised speech; primarily English |
| Mobility | Walks ~5 km/h; quoted max speed unconfirmed | Very limited — static or wheeled; a legged variant has been demoed but barely walks |
| Expressions | No face — communicates by voice and motion | 60+ facial expressions; gaze tracking |
| Languages | — | Primarily English; multilingual demos |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 5G | Wi-Fi; cameras in the eyes and chest |