Human-Level Hands? 1X Just Gave Humanoid Robot Neo Something Close
There’s also some runway here. When I spoke with Sleeper, he told me Neo will ship with more hardware capability than the AI currently knows how to use.
Key takeaways
- In July 2026, several milestones marked the humanoid‑robot sector.
- Chinese automaker BYD announced plans to outpace Tesla by deploying humanoids in factories, dealerships, and homes, targeting three units per household.
- 1X unveiled the Neo humanoid, featuring a 25‑degree‑of‑freedom hand that can pour tea, sort grapes and sign‑language, positioning it as a benchmark for dexterity.
- In Korea, Holiday Robotics secured a 155 billion‑won ($103 M) Series A to mass‑produce its 176‑cm wheeled humanoid FRIDAY for manufacturing, aiming for 1,000 units by 2027.
- Robot.com launched the R‑noid, a RaaS humanoid capable of 19 tasks from packing to picking, with first deployments already in logistics and golf‑course packing.
There’s also some runway here. When I spoke with Sleeper, he told me Neo will ship with more hardware capability than the AI currently knows how to use. In other words, the hardware is ahead of the software, which means that over-the-air updates should make each Neo progressively smarter and more capable over time.
Great hands are critically important for great humanoid robots, and there’s a real race on to build them. Genesis AI recently emerged from stealth to unveil the hands behind Eno, its humanoid robot, and they’re impressive as well. Kyber Labs, which doesn’t make the whole robot but just the hands, also has some very impressive hands. 1X has unveiled its Neo humanoid robot hands, showcasing unprecedented speed and precision. These advanced hands feature 25 actuated degrees of freedom and tendon-driven motion, achieving near human-level dexterity and strength. Unlike most robot hands, Neo's utilize low gear ratios for "force transparency," allowing joints to sense contact and provide crucial feedback. High-resolution tactile sensors on the fingertips detect pressure and slippage, enabling real-time adjustments. Uniquely, the IP68-sealed hands are washable, allowing Neo to perform tasks like cooking and self-cleaning. This durability and sensing capability are critical for making humanoid robots genuinely useful for household chores, with hardware currently exceeding AI's full utilization, promising future enhancements. About a month ago I sat down with Dar Sleeper, the head of product design at 1X, and he showed me video of the company’s new humanoid robot hands that was basically mind-blowing: fast, precise motion that I hadn’t seen anywhere else. I mentioned that in my story but I couldn’t reveal exactly what I had seen.
Today I can, and Neo’s hands are even more impressive than I thought at the time. Now you can see them for yourself:
The headline spec? 25 degrees of freedom – all of them actuated (think powered, under control) – and tendon-driven motion, resulting in what 1X calls near human-level dexterity, strength and reliability.
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