My mental images of robots include friendly Rosey the Robot of Jetsons fame, R2-D2 and C3PO from Star Wars, and the various cyborgs from the terrifying Terminator franchise. There’s a big range between a dutiful, rolling maid, helpful but sometimes hapless droids and a cyborg that’s either going to kill you or try to help you escape another robot that’s out to kill you. CNET writers visiting the enormous 2025 CES tech show in Las Vegas ran into plenty of robots — though thankfully, none of them were murderous.
Watch this: Sorry, There Are No ‘Best Robots’ at CES This Year
CNET’s Jesse Orrall said he didn’t feel ready to crown any of the CES robots as the best in show.
“Some look like science fiction, some look like toys, and some were made to look almost human,” Orrall said.
Read more: These Are the Official 2025 Best of CES Winners, Awarded by CNET Group
Humanoid robots
The Unitree G1 robot was CNET’s Jesse Orrall’s pick for the most fun humanoid robot at CES 2025.
The Unitree G1 was the most fun of all the robots Orrall saw at CES.
“It was the only humanoid robot at CES that I had the opportunity to control,” he said. “The controller itself felt very natural and familiar, like the video game controllers I grew up with. And the experience of controlling it felt like test-driving a really cool car that I’ll probably never be able to afford.”
Watch this: Hands-On with Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot
Other humanoid robots, including Apptronix Apollo and Digit from Agility Robotics, showcased their abilities in controlled environments, or without letting journalists get their pesky hands on them.
Another humanoid robot at CES 2025 was Apptronix Apollo.
“Autonomy is a major milestone for robotics developers,” Orrall said, noting that it will make their products more appealing to businesses that will want the robots to work with minimal supervision and inputs.
Agility Robotics calls their robot Digit, which is a very Jetsons name.
But because of the chaotic nature of the sprawling CES event, this focus on autonomy meant those robots were separated from the public, more like a piece of art in a museum than a tangible tool.
To Orrall, the remote-controlled robots are more accessible. Comparing it with some self-driving cars without steering wheels, he said, “I don’t know about you, but I still want the steering wheel. I still want a human to be able to step in and take control when needed.”
His experience using the controller to direct the Unitree G1 robot made him feel like the robot was an extension of human ability.
Social robots
Another robot group Orrall saw at CES was what he’d dub social robots. These look more like humans, a la The Terminator cyborgs, and less like metallic structures from early sci-fi. (Sorry, Rosey from The Jetsons.)
Watch this: Making Robots Look and Feel More Human
Aria from Realbotix, who looks like a Swedish supermodel, is one of those social robots.
Aria from Realbotix is one of the class of robots that look more like humans, not metal structures.
“Realbotix is on a mission to make their robots as human-like as possible,” Orrall said. This includes a skin-like covering, motors in the face to create expressions and a vision system that can lock on to and track nearby people and objects.
“What really struck me about my visit to Realbotix was their idea of putting RFID tags inside the silicon faces, so when you take off a robot’s face and put on another one, the hardware and software will recognize that specific face and adjust the movements and AI personality to match,” Orrall said.
He compared that technique with how smartphones and computers can run different operating systems and applications, and be customized to suit different tastes.
Toy-like robots
Some robots Orrall saw at CES steered clear of both the uncanny valley of human-looking robots and the industrial metallic look, making them look like cuddly animals or toys.
TCL Ai Me, pronounced “Amy,” is a concept for a robot companion.
One of those, still a concept right now, is the TCL Ai Me (pronounced “Amy”) robot concept, which rolls around in a little chair, kind of like Baby Yoda in his hover-pram. A camera on its head can record video, and it can use AI to answer questions.
Watch this: TCL Ai Mi Companion Bot Is Just a Baby That Follows You Around
These robotics companies are hoping the cute factor will make their robots appealing.
“Overall, my impression is that the robotics industry, especially humanoid robotics, is still maturing,” Orrall said. Thus, that “top spot in the robotics category” is still up for grabs, he said, and he can’t crown the best robot of CES.
That’s probably a good thing. If what I learned from gleefully out-of-date sci-fi movies still holds, the robots that didn’t win might take some kind of revenge.