Criticism over its battery life, but orders top ten thousand—who is paying for the U1 from Youbuy?

On July 6, the topic “990k robot companions can’t last through the night” topped the hot search, with the blame pointing directly at UBTECH’s newly released “You World U1 Series” hyper-realistic humanoid robots.

According to media reports, the series’ single-charge battery life is only 2 to 4 hours across the lineup, quickly sparking controversy among netizens. Behind the dispute are both consumers’ psychological disappointment with high-priced products and the real-world barriers that still have to be crossed for bio-inspired robots to move from “showy tech” to “home use.”

The problem with battery life

In response to the battery-life controversy, UBTECH officially said that 2 to 4 hours of battery life is currently the industry technical norm for full-size humanoid robots worldwide. It also emphasized that the product is aimed at the elderly care and companionship direction encouraged by government policy, firmly denying rumors that it is a “virtual companion.”

Cai Bingzhen, head of the GaoGong Robot Research Institute, confirmed to China News Weekly that for full-size humanoid robots with two legs and two arms, battery life generally ranges from 2 to 4 hours, and the U1 is at a normal level for the industry.

But according to media reports, when you look at the specification table, it shows: on a single charge, battery life is 2 to 4 hours. From the Lite priced at 1,198,000 yuan, to the Pro priced at 1,698,000 yuan, to the female Ultra priced at 8,800,000 yuan and the male Ultra priced at 9,900,000 yuan—everything is the same, and none are exempt.

Regarding the above situation, Cai Bingzhen further explained that, limited by factors such as the energy density of liquid lithium batteries, the space and weight in the robot’s torso, and more, the battery capacity of most humanoid robots is generally below 2 kilowatt-hours.

From Cai Bingzhen’s description, in industrial or commercial environments, the battery is not a standout issue. To make battery life as long as possible, many companies adopt a “battery swapping strategy,” meaning that with hot-swap technology, the robot does not need to reboot when swapping batteries, theoretically enabling 24 hours of continuous operation. But once the scenario shifts to indoor environments like homes, battery life becomes a key factor affecting user experience.

Cai Bingzhen told the media that every consumer electronics product has gone through the stage UBTECH is in now and still needs ongoing optimization. Users who are currently buying the U1 are mainly enthusiasts—more driven by the mindset of trying something new, rather than treating it as a functional product or a daily consumer item.

The “order spike” versus the “contrast”

On June 30, UBTECH released its full-size hyper-realistic humanoid robot brand “You World” U1 Series. The product positioning is clear: it doesn’t work—it only keeps you company. The official also stated that the U1 lacks the ability to perform household chores such as sweeping and cooking. Its core functions are human-computer dialogue, lifelike limb movements, and emotional companionship.

It is reported that the U1 Series offers three configuration versions: U1 Lite: a lightweight half-body version, priced at 1,198,000 yuan; U1 Pro: a full-size product with complete limbs, priced at 1,698,000 yuan; U1 Ultra: differentiated by male and female models, with autonomous motion capability and stronger computing power—male at 990,000 yuan and female at 880,000 yuan.

It is also reported that the You World U1 Series has 88 degrees of freedom and a proprietary dual-pivot bio-inspired cervical spine, covering 90% of basic human movements.

Backed by what it claims is the world’s first emotional large model designed for long-term companionship, the product can recognize more than 20 types of fine-grained emotions, with an accuracy rate above 90%. Its bio-inspired fast/slow brain architecture draws on cognitive neuroscience, and it can also achieve coordinated collaboration between 500 ms intuitive responses and deep reasoning with a trillion-parameter scale.

Despite the steep price and the widespread criticism of battery life, the U1 Series’ pre-order performance was surprisingly strong. UBTECH’s published data shows that during the pre-order phase, orders across all channels for the You World U1 Series had already exceeded 13,361 units. This figure is more than 12 times UBTECH’s total full-year sales of 1,079 full-size humanoid robots in 2025.

However, this debut also exposed many issues. In media reports, some buyers felt that the gap between the physical product and expectations was too large. During the on-site live demonstration, the robot’s gait looked stiff and its facial expressions appeared to lag; it was described as completely different from the promotional videos and was mocked for “stiff walking” and “the expressions still feel a bit mechanical.”

In a report by Economic Information Daily, during interaction, the robot shown in the live demonstration could already interact with the audience through voice, but there was a slight delay in responses. It also needs to be clarified that the robot series UBTECH released this time is mainly positioned around emotional companionship and “the more you use it, the more it understands.” Simple Q&A during the on-site session cannot demonstrate the core advantages.

In fact, UBTECH has provided a clear definition of the product labels attributed to it by the outside world. The official emphasized that the core positioning of its bio-inspired robots is service equipment with emotional companionship attributes. The primary development direction is elderly care and companionship with family and friends—encouraged and recognized by national policy—not the “virtual boyfriend/girlfriend” or a replacement for human partners as rumored externally.

In addition, given that global ethical governance for humanoid robot technology has not yet formed unified standards and industry consensus, UBTECH stated that it has taken the lead in implementing a front-loaded governance mechanism. The company specifically established an AI and robot technology ethics committee, and strictly integrated ethics review rules throughout the entire process of product R&D, industrial design, manufacturing, publicity and promotion, market sales, and scenario applications, aiming to avoid all potential ethical risks at their source.

A business built on loneliness

Deep changes in China’s social structure are outlining a huge market for “AI companions.”

According to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2025, China had 851.36 million people aged 16 to 59, and 323.38 million people aged 60 and above, including 223.65 million people aged 65 and above—up by 13.07 million and 3.42 million respectively from the previous year.

According to a prediction by the Beike Research Institute, by 2030, the number of people living alone in China will reach 150 million to 200 million, and the scale of young people aged 20 to 39 living alone will increase to 40 million to 70 million.

Single adults and elderly people together form a potential user pool for emotionally companion-type AI products—an enormous group of people living alone and single people, combined with an increasingly widening gap in emotional needs, making “companion robots” no longer just a sci-fi idea, but a real business with plenty of imagination.

From the perspective of industrial positioning changes, UBTECH’s humanoid robot business is focused on the industrial sector. In 2025, the company sold 1,079 full-size humanoid robots, generating revenue of 820 million yuan, making it UBTECH’s largest revenue source.

From an overall financial performance perspective, financial statements show that from 2023 to 2025, UBTECH was operating at a loss, with net losses attributable to the parent company of 1,234 million yuan, 1,124 million yuan, and 703 million yuan, respectively. Over the past three years, operating cash flow has also been continuously flowing out, with net cash outflows of 1.0 billion yuan, 880 million yuan, and 780 million yuan, respectively.

In terms of overall layout, UBTECH’s humanoid robot products this year launched “three arrows at once,” covering three layers of scenarios—home, industrial, and commercial—forming a complete AI infrastructure and implementing its human-machine symbiosis strategy. Entering the companionship track is precisely a concrete deployment direction in home scenarios.

Looking at the global track, many major companies are also building AI companion robots. Zhang Xinyuan, head of a consulting firm, Ke Fangde, believes that,

Based on the current information, the U1 Series is closer to an “early attempt at finding PMF (product-market fit),” rather than nothing but a gimmick. The high price range of 1,198,000 to 9,900,000 yuan, and the already 13,361 orders (especially mainly from enterprises and high-end consumers) indicate there is some demand foundation, but it still faces challenges in scaling up.

He believes UBTECH needs to validate whether high-cost bio-inspired robots can find a stable, sustainable user base (such as high-end households, elderly companionship, and commercial showings). If future orders can convert into repeat purchases and word of mouth, PMF may be established; if users leave after purchase due to insufficient interaction experience, then it tends to be more of a gimmick. At this stage, it is more likely that technical feasibility testing and market education are being carried out in parallel.

Compiled from Economic Information Daily, Beijing Business Today, NetEase Technology, and others