Cyborg Index · July 2026

Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) vs Unitree H2

Both humanoids read on the same 8 axes and 40 sub-axes, using the published Index scores. Every difference below carries the public evidence behind it, and sub-axes with no public evidence count as 0 rather than being skipped.

The public record is still thin on at least one side of this pair, so treat the ordering as provisional rather than settled.

Overall standing

Capability score · 0–5 over 40 sub-axes
0.68of 5
Rank
#10
Coverage
14/40
Proof
0.11
Unitree H2
Unitree
0.78of 5
Rank
#9
Coverage
17/40
Proof
0.05
The short answer

Unitree H2 scores 0.10 higher than Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric), but that lead rests mostly on vendor claims and demos.

Only 6% of Unitree H2's score is carried by independently verified material — the rest is claimed or shown in demos. Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) has more unscored ground than the gap between them, so this could change next month.

Where Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) is ahead
  • Manipulation+0.40Rests on claims and demos
  • Deployment+0.40Rests on claims and demos
  • Learning+0.20Not enough public record yet
  • Safety+0.20Not enough public record yet
Where Unitree H2 is ahead
  • HRI+0.80Rests on claims and demos
  • Perception+0.60Rests on claims and demos
  • Locomotion+0.40Rests on claims and demos
  • Autonomy+0.20Rests on claims and demos
What would change it

7 sub-axes on the trailing side have no public evidence yet. If all of them scored full marks they would be worth 0.88 — against a gap of 0.10.

  • HRI · Social presentationup to +0.125
  • HRI · Speech ioup to +0.125
  • Perception · Spatial memoryup to +0.125
  • Locomotion · Disturbance recoveryup to +0.125
  • Learning · Data flywheelup to +0.125
There is more unscored ground than there is gap, so this result could turn over after the next research month.
How much we know
39%of sub-axes covered

We have public evidence for 39% of the 40 sub-axes across these two. Treat this as an early read.

Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) · 35%
Unitree H2 · 43%
Early read
The shape of each score
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric)0.68
LocomotionManipulationPerceptionAutonomyLearningHRIDeploymentSafety

14/40 sub-axes have evidence

Faint outline = Unitree H2

Unitree H20.78
LocomotionManipulationPerceptionAutonomyLearningHRIDeploymentSafety

17/40 sub-axes have evidence

Faint outline = Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric)

Reading the wheels — clockwise from the top
  1. 1 Locomotion
  2. 2 Manipulation
  3. 3 Perception
  4. 4 Autonomy
  5. 5 Learning
  6. 6 HRI
  7. 7 Deployment
  8. 8 Safety

Each wheel has 40 spokes — five per axis. A longer spoke is a higher score, and the dashed rings mark 1 to 4. Hover or tab onto any spoke to read the axis, the sub-axis and the exact value. A missing spoke means there is no public evidence for that sub-axis yet, which is not the same as scoring zero. The faint outline on each wheel is the other humanoid, drawn on the same scale.

Every axis, every sub-axis
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric)Unitree H2
Shared 0–5 track · widest gap first
HRI
0.40 / 1.20 0.80
Rests on claims and demosEvidenced cells · 1/5 vs 3/5
Speech io
/ 2.00 2.00
Nl instruction
/
Intent recognition
/
Safe proximity
2.00 / 1.00 1.00
Social presentation
/ 3.00 3.00
Perception
0.40 / 1.00 0.60
Rests on claims and demosEvidenced cells · 1/5 vs 2/5
Sensor stack
2.00 / 3.00 1.00
Scene understanding
/
Spatial memory
/ 2.00 2.00
Object permanence
/
Semantic world model
/
Locomotion
1.00 / 1.40 0.40
Rests on claims and demosEvidenced cells · 2/5 vs 3/5
Flat ground walking
3.00 / 3.00
Uneven terrain
/
Stairs
/
Disturbance recovery
/ 2.00 2.00
Speed endurance
2.00 / 2.00
Manipulation
1.40 / 1.00 0.40
Rests on claims and demosEvidenced cells · 3/5 vs 3/5
Grasp variety
2.00 / 2.00
Bimanual
3.00 / 3.00
Force control
2.00 / 2.00
In hand reorient
/
Tool use
/ 1.00 1.00
Deployment
1.20 / 0.80 0.40
Rests on claims and demosEvidenced cells · 4/5 vs 2/5
Named pilots
2.00 / 2.00
Field hours
/
Customer diversity
1.00 / 1.00
Supportability
2.00 / 2.00
Commercial posture
1.00 / 2.00 1.00
Autonomy
0.20 / 0.40 0.20
Rests on claims and demosEvidenced cells · 1/5 vs 2/5
Unattended operation
1.00 / 1.00
Task horizon
/
Generalization
/ 1.00 1.00
Instruction following
/
Recovery from failure
/
Learning
0.40 / 0.20 0.20
Not enough public record yetEvidenced cells · 1/5 vs 1/5
Imitation learning
/
Sim to real
2.00 / 2.00
Foundation policy
/
Data flywheel
/ 1.00 1.00
Transfer fine tune
/
Safety
0.40 / 0.20 0.20
Not enough public record yetEvidenced cells · 1/5 vs 1/5
Functional safety
2.00 / 1.00 1.00
Certifications
/
E stop arch
/
Incident transparency
/
Force impact limits
/
Segment length and thickness are the gapNo public evidence yet
Which is better for what

Each row is decided by the axes that matter for that kind of work, read off the same Capability scores as the ranking. Rows only appear where both humanoids have enough public record to answer.

Manufacturing and warehouse work
Named pilots and field hours, backed by what the hands can actually do.
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric)
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) scores higher on Deployment and Manipulation — 1.27 against 0.87 for Unitree H2.
Running without a human in the loop
Unattended operation and task horizon, backed by what the robot can perceive.
Unitree H2
Unitree H2 scores higher on Autonomy and Perception — 0.60 against 0.27 for Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric).
Moving through difficult ground
Uneven terrain, stairs and disturbance recovery.
Unitree H2
Unitree H2 scores higher on Locomotion — 1.40 against 1.00 for Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric).
Working alongside people
Functional safety and certification, plus how it reads and answers people.
Unitree H2
Unitree H2 scores higher on Safety and HRI — 0.53 against 0.40 for Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric).
Picking up new tasks
Imitation learning, transfer and generalisation across tasks.
Level
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) and Unitree H2 read the same on Learning and Autonomy (0.33 vs 0.27).
Research and developer use
How much of the stack is documented and reproducible.
Level
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) and Unitree H2 read the same on Learning and Perception (0.40 vs 0.47).
How solid the record is on each side
Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric)
Sub-axes on the record
14 of 40 · 35%
Carried by verified material
16%
Rests on claims and demos
0.57
Best documented — Manipulation, Deployment
Nothing on the record — every axis has at least one read
Unitree H2
Sub-axes on the record
17 of 40 · 43%
Carried by verified material
6%
Rests on claims and demos
0.72
Best documented — Locomotion, Manipulation, HRI
Nothing on the record — every axis has at least one read

What this comparison cannot settle

  • Neither humanoid has a public read on 19 of the 40 sub-axes, so those cannot be compared at all.
  • 11 sub-axes are read on only one side. A one-sided cell is undecided, not a zero for the silent side.
  • Public evidence covers 39% of the sub-axes across the two. Treat the overall ordering as an early read.
  • Most of Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric)'s score rests on vendor statements and demo footage rather than independently verified material (16% carried by verified evidence).
  • Most of Unitree H2's score rests on vendor statements and demo footage rather than independently verified material (6% carried by verified evidence).
  • Demonstrations happen in different environments and product revisions are not always equivalent, so like-for-like uptime and throughput figures do not exist for most of the field.
Cyborg IndexJuly 2026 editionCapability scoremethodology