Headline Feature: Automated Housework
NEO’s standout trick is that it does chores. You give NEO a list of tasks or tell it what needs cleaning, and it wanders around your house to get the work done.
For example, it can fold laundry, organize shelves, empty the dishwasher, vacuum floors, and even offer you a fresh cup of coffee. You can schedule these jobs through an app or by voice command. Basically, NEO turns into your own personal robot housekeeper on demand.
Unlike other metal robots, NEO wears a soft fabric cover and has a very neutral, friendly look. Its materials and low-impact motors are designed so it won’t hurt people (a big safety focus). In other words, it’s built to be gentle and approachable in a home.
NEO Home Robot Specs (Image Credit: 1X Technologies)
Why it’s good:
A home robot that handles boring chores could free up hours every week. Instead of spending time tidying, you could relax, hang out with friends, or just take it easy while NEO takes care of the mess. The idea is that with NEO doing routine tasks (sweeping, folding laundry, etc.), you get “back valuable time and mental space,” as 1X’s materials put it. In other words, it aims to handle the grunt work so you have more time for what you really want to do.
What it doesn’t solve:
NEO isn’t perfect yet. When it first arrives, it only knows a basic set of chores. For new or tricky tasks, 1X will have a human operator (an “expert mode” engineer) watch through the robot’s camera and guide it in real time. That means a 1X person might see inside your home while teaching the robot how to, say, fold a weirdly shaped jacket. Also, NEO’s work won’t always be flawless at first – it learns over time, not instantly. And remember, NEO is strictly indoor-only: it can’t mow lawns or cook meals (yet).
Other Notable Capabilities
Human-like Handling: NEO uses a unique tendon-drive motor system that makes its arms super smooth and strong. It has 22 joints in each hand (22 degrees of freedom) and can lift over 150 pounds, yet it moves gently enough to be safe around people. It’s also very quiet – only about 22 decibels, quieter than a refrigerator.
Senses and “AI Brain”: NEO has cameras for eyes and a built-in language AI so it can see and talk. It can recognize ingredients on a kitchen counter, answer your questions, and remember past conversations to give smarter responses. In short, it’s Alexa on two legs. Neo hears through four microphones, speaks through three speakers, and runs its own custom AI model to decide what to do.
Navigation and Autonomy: It really moves on its own. NEO can walk around, climb stairs, and even find and plug-in its own charger when its battery runs low. One demo shows it locating a wall outlet and plugging itself in – so it can recharge without human help (very handy for 4 hours of running on a charge).
Connectivity and Home Integration: It connects via Wi-Fi, 5G, or Bluetooth, so you can control it through a phone app or talk to it from anywhere. It also has a built-in “home theater” on its body – speakers in its torso to play music or podcasts for you
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Known Deployment Cases
Beta Testing in Homes (2024): Earlier versions of NEO (called NEO Beta) are already being used in a few real houses for testing. In late 2024, 1X sent a limited number of NEO Beta units into select homes to gather feedback on how it performs daily household tasks. This research step is helping 1X improve NEO’s software and safety by learning from real-world home environments.
Demo Videos (2025): Throughout 2025, 1X and the press have shown NEO doing chores in staged videos. These clips show NEO carrying laundry baskets, serving drinks, cleaning the kitchen, and climbing stairs by itself. These demos aren’t deployed products, but they give a sneak peek at NEO’s future abilities.
Pre-Order Launch (Late 2025): As of October 2025, 1X has opened pre-orders for NEO. Early adopters in the U.S. can reserve NEO by paying a deposit (the early-access price is $20,000 with delivery planned for 2026). There’s even a subscription plan at $499/month. This means NEO is moving from prototype to real product, with 1X expecting to start shipping soon.
The robot world is watching. In the WSJ feature, “I Tried the First Humanoid Home Robot. It Got Weird.”, it was revealed that the more complex tasks were executed by a tele-operator, raising security and privacy questions. Will we see a more autonomous version in 2026, when the humanoid housekeeper starts shipping. We will find out soon.
There is a not-so-distant future where we all have our own robot helper at home… But for humanoid robots to truly integrate into everyday life, they must be developed alongside humans, not in isolation.
Outlook
We’re finally at the point where a friendly helper-bot like NEO could become real for ordinary homes. NEO’s debut shows both the excitement and the challenges ahead. It’s encouraging to see a company tackling safety, gentle movements, and real tasks for people. At the same time, the first NEO users will need patience (and a LOT of help training it) to reach its full potential. In any case, robots like NEO are starting to push the boundary between science fiction and everyday reality. And as a sci-fi nerd, I am here for it.
