We were promised this for decades, and here it is, available for pre-order: a life-sized robot that walks through your kitchen, opens the door for guests, waters the plants and tidies the shelves. It’s called NEO, it is made by the Norwegian company 1X Technologies, and the first deliveries to real homes are scheduled for 2026, starting in the United States[1].

On the pricing front, two options: $20,000 to buy outright, or $499 per month on a subscription, with a six-month commitment[2]. For this price, NEO is about 1.68 m tall, weighs around thirty kilos, can carry up to 25 kg, lasts four hours on a single charge and hides its motors under a flexible shell. It even features a conversational AI to answer your questions[1].

What it can do (on paper)

The list is dreamy: opening doors, bringing objects, turning off the lights, and a “Chores” function that programmes laundry folding and the tidying of shelves and rooms[1]. Unloading the dishwasher, watering the plants: NEO is supposed to handle these[2]. In short, the sci-fi butler, delivered to your home.

The detail that changes everything: a human at the other end of the line

Here is the bit that the demonstration videos don’t shout from the rooftops. During a trial conducted by a journalist from the Wall Street Journal, none of the tasks were performed by the robot autonomously[2]. For slightly more complicated chores—cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming—it is a 1X employee, wearing a virtual reality headset, who takes remote control: they see through the robot’s cameras and guide its movements, while the machine “learns”[2][1]. And every now and then, NEO falls over[2].

And your privacy, in all this?

A camera-equipped robot walking and talking in your living room is already a presence. But when a remote operator can, on demand, see inside your home through its eyes, the question becomes serious. 1X claims to have put safeguards in place to protect your privacy[2]—the question remains whether the idea of a stranger peeking into your kitchen to help you fold your towels keeps you sleeping soundly.

So, are you going to buy it?

Let’s be clear: NEO is not a scam, it is a genuine first. But at $499 a month, you are not (yet) buying an autonomous butler—you are renting a robot that is learning, supported by humans when it gets stuck, and which should improve over time[1]. The home robot is finally here; it just needs a bit of human hand-holding for now. And if you live outside the United States, you will have to wait until 2027[1].