Unitree Robotics has released the Dex5-S, a dexterous, human-scale five-fingered hand featuring 22 degrees of freedom. The initial price in China is approximately 39,900 yuan per arm, and in English-language reviews, it is estimated at around 6,500 US dollars before taxes and shipping.
Unitree asserts that each joint is equipped with a motor and supports backdrivability with dual encoder control. Unlike the previous Dex5 model, this version includes an index finger rotation axis. The manufacturer claims a peak payload of about 2 kg per arm, and about 1 kg for sustained operation. It is important to note that this product is a peripheral manipulation device, not a full humanoid, and differs from recent updates to the UnifoLM-WLA-1.0 models and Unitree's G1+ platform.
According to the AlphaSignal description, the Dex5-S falls into the category of high-degree-of-freedom commercial arms designed for developers who require a wider range of actions for teleoperation, simulation, and reinforcement learning. The backdrivability allows external forces to move the driven joints, which can mitigate contact-related issues. Unitree also advertises impact torque protection in every joint, although the accompanying documentation remains unclear regarding continuous torque limits, fingertip force, bandwidth, and tactile capabilities.
Previously, the Dex5-1 hardware had 20 degrees of freedom (16 active and four passive) and was optionally equipped with dense tactile arrays. The Dex5-S marketing emphasizes fully actuated axes corresponding to a 1:1 human hand size ratio.
Price is a key factor in adoption decisions. A pair of Dex5-S arms will cost from 80,000 yuan, equivalent to approximately 13,000 US dollars before controllers, mounts, taxes, and integration. This cost is significantly lower than many research-level offerings, while Unitree's G1 class humanoids already provide laboratories with a chassis to mount these arms.
Integrators are still missing several elements, such as a complete tactile map for SKU S, ROS and SDK packaging, and published electrical or mechanical mounting guides for G1, H1, and H2 models. Until these documents are available, the main stated fact is that Unitree possesses a dexterous, human-sized arm with 22 degrees of freedom supporting backdrivability, available to developers, and focused on solving manipulation problems rather than creating a new bipedal chassis.
