Vector 2.0IIAssistedCompare

Reassessed 2026.08.09Compare

Vector 2.0

Name: Vector 2.0
Brand: Digital Dream Labs (ANKI)

Vector autonomously explores a tabletop and locally recognizes registered faces, but its primary advertised functions, voice commands and ChatGPT-based conversation, require an active paid membership and do not work without one, per the manufacturer's own site.

List price

$199.99

Reassessed 2026.08.09

Autonomy Ladder

Why Level II.

One five-rung scale, every category, from acting only on command to working unsupervised anywhere.

VGeneralized AutonomyAny task, any setting. No consumer robot has reached it.
IVEnvironmental AutonomyCopes with everyday clutter and frees itself, shown by independent testing.
IIIConditional AutonomyFinishes whole jobs in familiar spaces; struggles at the edges.
To reach Level IIIMost sessions finish without intervention. Rescue is occasional, not routine.
IIAssisted AutonomyThis robot

Vector 2.0 runs preset routines on its own, and the owner is its recovery system.
What it does on its own
- Drives around a tabletop during idle/exploration behavior and avoids obstacles and edges using a time-of-flight laser distance sensor, an infrared laser scanner, cliff sensors, capacitive touch sensors, and a 6-axis IMU; displays animated reactions on a color IPS face display; recognizes registered faces locally via a 2MP HD camera; self-navigates to its charging dock and docks itself, or can be commanded to do so; responds to voice commands and holds ChatGPT-based conversations when connected to an active paid membership; integrates with Alexa.
Why this level
- Vector autonomously drives around a tabletop in idle/exploration behaviors, avoids obstacles using onboard sensors, and recognizes previously registered faces locally.
- It does not perform any task.
- Voice commands and ChatGPT-based conversation, its primary advertised interactions, require an internet connection and an active paid membership.
- The manufacturer's own site states voice commands get 'no response' without one.
What holds it at Level II
- Voice commands, ChatGPT-based conversation, and other cloud-dependent features do not function without an active paid Digital Dream Labs membership ($11.99/month or $99.99/year); the manufacturer's own site states voice commands get 'no response' without one. Does not perform any household task. No published dimensions or weight appear on the current official product page. Digital Dream Labs' support subdomain (support.digitaldreamlabs.com) returned an expired-SSL-certificate error when checked for this review, limiting access to some historical support documentation.
3 independent sources reviewed, 1 from the maker
IManual AutomationOne action on command; no independent operation.

How we assign a level →

Behind the classification

Sources on file.

Provisional3 independent sources reviewed, 1 from the maker

Two to four independent sources reviewed. Gaps remain across source types. The word says how much we read. It is not a grade.

Independent sources reviewed3

Monitoring record3 sources

Sources behind the tracker entries following this robot.

From the maker, reviewed1

Specification sources1 source

Pages the published specifications were read from.

manuals.plusmanuals.plus

On file, not yet reviewedNot counted

Manufacturer documentation2 sources

Digital Dream Labs / ANKI product page and a technical specification sheet for Vector 2.0

Manufacturer documentation1 source

Digital Dream Labs support/knowledge base documentation on Anki's 2019 shutdown and Vector's charging behavior

What Happened To Anki?Digital Dream Labs Knowledge Base

Our own recordNot counted

Longitudinal signal2 sources

Robovations dated log for this robot: 4 tracked entries spanning ~43 months.

How we evaluate evidence →

Human Readiness

Known Issues.

One question: what does buying this robot today walk you into? The state is computed from the record, and recomputed daily.

Ready NowAssessed, with a clean record on file. A successor may be shipping; the page says so when it is.
New to MarketOn sale under 90 days; the ownership record is still forming.
WaitA successor is announced and has not shipped; re-read the decision when it arrives.
Known IssuesThis robot

Documented problems stand on the record of Vector 2.0. Read the case before buying.
The documented case
- Voice commands and cloud-dependent features have failed repeatedly since 2023, most recently in March 2026, and Pennsylvania's Attorney General sued the maker in 2024 over widespread unfulfilled orders and unanswered refund requests.
- That recurring core-function breakdown outweighs the device's continued retail listing.
On the record
- Retail listings on file: Amazon
- No current new-stock listing confirmed
- 3 independent sources reviewed, 1 from the maker
What would move it
The record resolving retires the call: a fix shipping, claims aligning with behavior, or independent reports converging.

How we assess readiness →

Robovations Score

How this number was reached

48of 100

LimitedAt or above 5% of the 456 robots we scoreand 12% of the 25 scored specialty robots

DeficientLimitedCapableStrongExemplary

What moved itpoints gained or lost against a typical robot

Held back by

Support longevity20−4.2
Consumables18−4.1
Task completion48−3.8

Capability40% of the score54What it does without you.

Task completion16% of the score48

Evidence

Locally, Vector does the job: it roams its surface, recognizes and names faces, emotes, and returns to its own charger unaided, which is real self-service under this referent. The interaction that constitutes the job is not local, however. Without the $99/year subscription the robot drops to Lite Mode, in which voice commands, Alexa, weather and AI responses all go offline. Worse, subscribers have lost it too: an independent owner forum documented in July 2023 that 'Vector no longer responding to voice commands' as Digital Dream Labs' servers faltered, with Wire-Pod, a community-built local server, 'the only avenue for people who wish to regain Vector's full functionality'.

Coverage and navigation10% of the score68

Evidence

The strongest input on the record and genuinely attentional. Vector carries a camera and a four-microphone array, localizes a speaker by sound, turns toward and approaches people on the surface it occupies, and recognizes named individuals between sessions rather than re-learning them each run, which is the retention 4.2 asks for. The work area is honestly small, being the desk or table it is placed on, and it is scored against that space rather than a dwelling.

Edge-case recovery10% of the score52

Evidence

Mixed, and the cloud is what caps it. Physically it is sound: drop sensors stop it walking off a table edge, and it takes itself back to the dock when low rather than stranding. Re-engagement after a refused interaction works locally, since the behavior loop that looks for faces is on-device. But the failure mode that actually stops the job, a server outage taking the voice layer down, has no recovery path the robot can execute: owners recovered it by installing third-party server software, which is the owner's remedy and not the machine's.

Operating envelope4% of the score45

Evidence

Narrow and prepared. Vector needs a flat, bounded, well-lit surface, and its drop sensors misread on dark and patterned surfaces. Nearly everything above the local behavior loop needs Wi-Fi and a reachable vendor server, so the envelope includes the vendor's operational state as a condition, which for this platform has already failed once. It works well in the setting it was designed for and does not generalize past it.

Dependability40% of the score41Whether it keeps doing it.

Field failure rate16% of the score56

Evidence

A long record: the hardware has been in owners' hands since the 2018 Kickstarter, roughly eight years, with no recall and no systemic hardware defect established across the line. Scored in the middle rather than high because the independent record is fragmented rather than rich. Anki's official owner channels closed with the company in April 2019, and what remains is a scatter of enthusiast forums, so there is no sustained owner reporting of the kind that would justify the top states. Section 4.5's caution applies directly here: a quiet record on a platform whose vendor collapsed is not the same evidence as a quiet record under observation.

Software stability14% of the score40

Evidence

Updates do still ship, including a late-2024 release adding multilingual support and ChatGPT integration, so the mechanism has not lapsed and the 45 ceiling does not bind. It is scored below 50 because a regression removed advertised capability for a documented cohort and persisted: through 2023 the voice layer stopped answering as the vendor's servers degraded, which is squarely the 25 anchor's 'broke the robot for a documented cohort'. It is held above 25 because service was subsequently restored and development resumed rather than stopping.

Support longevity10% of the score20

Evidence

The weakest input in this group, and both of the 25 anchor's limbs fire at once. The vendor has orphaned the line: Anki shut down abruptly in April 2019 leaving cloud-dependent robots running only as long as someone paid for servers. And a subscription gates core function at $99/year, without which the conversational layer, the thing this referent calls the job, goes dark. Section 4.7's rule that conduct follows the platform and the engineering organization rather than the brand makes Anki's collapse Vector's record. Digital Dream Labs' own commitment, that 'we have taken over the cloud servers and are going to maintain them going forward' so owners 'no longer have to worry', is a promise this platform has already seen break once in 2023.

Ownership burden20% of the score50What it asks of you.

Routine maintenance12% of the score72

Evidence

Genuinely low, and it is achievement rather than absence. Vector returns to its charger by itself and resumes, so the owner is not in the power loop at all, which is the distinction that separates it from every stationary companion in this category. What remains is occasional cleaning of the treads and lift mechanism and clearing the space around the dock. It is held short of the top state because the battery is sealed and degrades, and restoring runtime means opening the shell rather than ordering a part.

Consumables8% of the score18

Evidence

The 0 anchor reads 'subscription required for core function', and for a companion robot whose job under 4A is sustaining interaction, a $99/year charge that gates voice, conversation and assistant response is exactly that. There are no filters, pads or media to buy, which counts for very little against a recurring fee attached to the capability the buyer bought the robot for. Held marginally above 0 only because the machine retains local presence, movement and face recognition in Lite Mode, so lapsing does not leave an inert object.

middle half of the databaseits medianthis robot

Reported, not scoredneither measures how well the robot works

Data postureCloud-dependent

Core function stops without the vendor cloud.

What leaves the homeDocumented

Vector carries a 2MP HD camera used for local face recognition of registered users and a beamforming 4-microphone array. Voice commands and ChatGPT-based conversation require an internet connection and an active paid Digital Dream Labs membership; the manufacturer's own site states these features are non-functional without a membership, meaning that data round-trips to Digital Dream Labs' cloud infrastructure for any spoken interaction. No detailed manufacturer disclosure of voice-data retention was found during this review.

On-device processingNo

Read the full methodology →

FIT CHECK

Will the Vector 2.0 fit your application?

Describe your use case using the controls. Each choice reads the spec sheet for you, flagging where the Vector 2.0 is built for your space and where it isn’t.

Membership Fee

Cloud Uptime Trust

Desk Surface Type

Smart Home Setup

A classification of fit for the conditions you set, not a recommendation. Verdicts describe engineering design intent, not test results.

OWNERSHIP

Living with it.

One full service death already; current function rides on a small company's servers and fees.

Mixedowner-reported arc

The record so far

Anki's 2019 collapse darkened Vector's cloud features until Digital Dream Labs restored service, and the product remains sold and supported. The current manufacturer's support subdomain returned an expired SSL certificate at review, a maintenance signal for a cloud-gated product.

What goes wrong4 documented · 0 self-recover

Common

Membership lapseVoice features stop responding

Owner fixRenew membership; autonomous exploration continues

Occasional

Docking failure in glareBattery drains off the charger

Owner fixMove dock away from reflections and glare

Occasional

Battery wearShortened runtime between charges

Owner fixFit the user-replaceable battery

Rare

Vendor server shutdownCloud features go dark entirely

Owner fixNone; it happened once in 2019

Upkeep routine

Monthly12×/yr

Keep the Digital Dream Labs membership current ($11.99/month or $99.99/year); voice commands and ChatGPT-based conversation get no response without it.

Wipe the camera window, cliff sensors, and laser scanner aperture; docking and edge detection degrade when they are dirty.

As neededno fixed schedule

Keep the charging dock in an open, well-lit spot; the manufacturer states direct light, reflections, and poor lighting can prevent docking.

Apply software updates through the companion app.

Replace the user-replaceable battery when runtime degrades; the manufacturer publishes no replacement interval.

Cost over time

$199 to buy, with no regularly replaced parts. The purchase price is effectively the full cost of ownership.

Safety notes3 notes

Desk-edge operationCliff sensors detect table edges; a dirty sensor or cluttered edge risks a desk-height fall.
Camera and microphones onboardA 2MP camera and four-microphone array; voice interaction routes through the vendor cloud and paid membership.
Lithium battery handlingUser-replaceable lithium-ion battery; standard precautions against puncture, heat, and non-approved cells apply.

SPECIFICATION

The full spec sheet.

Priced below the category median, with every figure charted against the category below.

Dimensional drawing

Key specificationsManufacturer-publishedSources: Owner manual Manufacturer support Product page

FootprintThe width, depth and height of the robot itself, without its dock.: 2.4 × 3.9 in, 2.7 in tall•
WeightThe robot alone, without its dock, as the maker states it.: 0.35 lbs•
Onboard compute: 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon
Smart home: Alexa built-in

Where it lands · position among 46 specialty robotsThis robotMedianTypical range

PriceThe maker's list price, not a price found in a shop.$199.99

$29$100,000

Bottom of range

WeightThe robot alone, without its dock, as the maker states it.0.35lbs

0.09 lbs131.59+ lbs

Bottom of range

Position shows where the figure sits across the tracked category, not a quality judgment.

Official referencesOwner manual Manufacturer support Product page

RECORD

How the assessment has moved.

Every announcement, release and reassessment behind the current classification.

Coming soon

Just launched

Active updates

Settled

Discontinued

Aug 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score rescored under v4.2
Aug 2026 · AssessmentRecord status: Pending → Provisional
Sep 2024 · NewsPennsylvania sues Digital Dream Labs over unfulfilled Vector 2.0 orders
Jul 2023 · NewsDigital Dream Labs cloud servers go down, degrading Vector 2.0 features
Oct 2022 · ReleaseDigital Dream Labs begins shipping Vector 2.0 robots internationally to 65 countries
Mar 2021 · AnnouncementDigital Dream Labs signs retail deal to bring Vector 2.0 to store shelves

Editorial comparisons

How Vector 2.0 compares.

All comparisons →

Expectation vs. Reality

On a home-office desk, Sharp Poketomo stands in front with its belly ring lit, EMO walks forward behind it, and Vector 2.0 pushes its cube across the desk in front of a wifi router plugged into the wall.

Specialty Robots4 robots

Do companion robots live up to their marketing claims?

Sharp Poketomo, Vector 2.0, EMO and PetKit Purobot Max Pro 2 each advertise autonomous recognition, and three gate a core advertised function behind an ongoing subscription.

vs Sharp Poketomo · EMO · PetKit Purobot Max Pro 2

Questions

What people actually ask.

5 answered

OperationDoes Vector work without a paid subscription?

Only partially. The manufacturer’s own site states voice commands get ‘no response’ without an active paid Digital Dream Labs membership ($11.99/month or $99.99/year). Idle exploration and local face recognition function without it.

OperationWhat happened to the original Anki Vector?

Anki, the original manufacturer, ceased operations in May 2019 after running out of funding, and Vector’s cloud-dependent features went dark along with Anki’s servers. Digital Dream Labs acquired the assets in December 2019 and restored cloud service.

OperationDoes Vector self-charge?

Yes. The manufacturer states Vector autonomously navigates to its charging dock and docks itself when its battery is low, or can be commanded to do so with a voice command.

CompatibilityDoes Vector have Alexa built in?

Yes, per the manufacturer’s current product listing.

OperationIs Vector's behavior an expression of real emotion?

No independent evidence supports that characterization. Vector’s reactions are sensor-triggered animation and, for cloud-connected features, scripted or generated dialogue; there is no verified internal emotional state.

Availability

Where it's sold

Some links earn Robovations a commission. It does not change any classification. Affiliate disclosure.

We are no longer finding a current new-stock listing for this robot. Remaining offers may be used, refurbished, or third-party — confirm the condition and price on the retailer’s page before buying.

Amazon See current listings

Cite & Embed

Reference the Vector 2.0 classification.

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Clear space 3222 on all sides

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Citation

Robovations. "Vector 2.0: Autonomy Level II (Assisted Autonomy)." Autonomy Ladder™, assessed August 2026. https://robovations.com/robots/vector-2-0/

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Where to next

Three ways to keep going.

For evaluators

Compare with a peer.

See the Vector 2.0 and Sharp Poketomo side by side: autonomy level, Robovations Score, readiness, and price. Classification, not a verdict.

See the full comparison

Or compare with EMO, Miko 3, Tertill Garden Weeding Robot.

For browsers

See every Level II.

Every robot we’ve classified at assisted autonomy. Sorted by readiness, score, and price. Filter by category, manufacturer, or release date.

Browse every Level II robot

Updated weekly with new entries and reclassifications.

Vector 2.0

Will the Vector 2.0 fit your application?

Living with it.

The full spec sheet.

How the assessment has moved.

How Vector 2.0 compares.

Do companion robots live up to their marketing claims?

What people actually ask.

Other specialty robots we have classified.

Sony Aibo ERS-1000

Pollen Robotics Reachy 2

Sharp Poketomo

Litter-Robot 4

Where it's sold

Reference the Vector 2.0 classification.

Three ways to keep going.

Get the next reassessment.

Compare with a peer.

See every Level II.