Sony
Comparison · 2 robots
Sony Aibo ERS-1000 · Xiaomi CyberDog 2
All specialty robots. Every measure below is plotted against the full class, so a difference can be read against how much the class itself varies.
- Sony Aibo ERS-1000
- Xiaomi CyberDog 2
01 Classification
What each one does on its own.
The Autonomy Ladder is the same five rungs for every robot on the site. A rung describes the conditions a robot handles without you, not how good it is.
V
Generalized
Any task, any setting
IV
Environmental
Handles new obstacles without help
III
Conditional
Finishes familiar jobs on its own
II
Assisted
Runs preset routines, needs rescue
Sony Aibo ERS-1000Xiaomi CyberDog 2
I
Manual
One action, on command
02 Assessment
Where they actually differ.
The Robovations Score is nine inputs across three pillars, each weighted as shown and each scored so that more is better. A robot can lead on one and trail on another, which is the point of showing them apart. Cost of ownership and data handling are reported on each robot's own page and are never averaged into the score.
Capability
Task completion16% of score
Does it finish the job it is sold to do, unattended
91
- Sony Aibo ERS-100091
18median 72 across 433 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Coverage and navigation10% of score
Does it work the whole area, and hold that between runs
50
- Sony Aibo ERS-100050
0median 70 across 421 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Edge-case recovery10% of score
Does it recover from the failures its category presents
84
- Sony Aibo ERS-100084
18median 52 across 320 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Operating envelope4% of score
How far conditions can vary before performance drops
75
- Sony Aibo ERS-100075
28median 68 across 397 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Dependability
Field failure rate16% of score
Documented hardware failures per owner-year
100
- Sony Aibo ERS-1000100
6median 70 across 359 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Software stability14% of score
Whether updates fix more than they break
82
- Sony Aibo ERS-100082
15median 65 across 342 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Support longevity10% of score
Committed parts, service and updates, with dates
58
- Sony Aibo ERS-100058
0median 62 across 429 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Ownership burden
Routine maintenance12% of score
Hands-on time it asks for in normal operation
84
- Sony Aibo ERS-100084
22median 67 across 434 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
Consumables8% of score
Parts that must be bought to keep it working
47
- Sony Aibo ERS-100047
8median 69 across 434 scored robots100
Not scored: Xiaomi CyberDog 2
03 Measured against the class
How far apart is a long way?
A number only means something next to the spread it sits in. Each track below is the real range across every classified robot in the class, with the median marked.
Price30 with a published figure
$2,899$1,800
- Sony Aibo ERS-1000$2,899
- Xiaomi CyberDog 2$1,800
$29median $649.50$100,000
Runtime31 with a published figure
120 min90 min
- Sony Aibo ERS-1000120 min
- Xiaomi CyberDog 290 min
30 minmedian 300 min960 min
Charge time19 with a published figure
180 min100 min
- Sony Aibo ERS-1000180 min
- Xiaomi CyberDog 2100 min
30 minmedian 180 min360 min
Weight39 with a published figure
4.9 lbs19.6 lbs
- Sony Aibo ERS-10004.9 lbs
- Xiaomi CyberDog 219.6 lbs
0.1 lbsmedian 24.3 lbs2,646 lbs
Height36 with a published figure
11.5 in18.9 in
- Sony Aibo ERS-100011.5 in
- Xiaomi CyberDog 218.9 in
0.9 inmedian 22.8 in82 in
Not compared, because fewer than two of these robots carry a published figure: Suction, Noise.
04 Ownership
What the numbers leave out.
The trade-off
What each design gives up to be good at what it is good at.
Sony Aibo ERS-1000
You are buying emotional attachment to a proprietary closed system. Sony controls the subscription and the service behind it, and nothing documented lets an owner keep full function locally if either ends. Sony has never closed an aibo cloud service; the precedent that does exist is the end of official repair support for the 1999 to 2006 line, in 2014.
Eight years of ownership stories prove Aibo’s reliability and engagement value. But the lack of practical task capability means the robot does not reduce household workload, it adds one more device to maintain and charge.
Xiaomi CyberDog 2
CyberDog 2 undercuts Unitree Go2 on price but fragments support across Chinese and English communities; language barriers slow troubleshooting and skill transfer.
Modular payload and developer API enable research, but firmware updates and documentation follow Xiaomi’s China-first release cadence; international users lag feature availability.
Who each one is wrong for
Stated by the record itself. A robot being wrong for a household is a fact about fit, not a fault.
Sony Aibo ERS-1000
- Owners expecting autonomous home task capability
- Aibo is a companion, not a task robot. It has no gripper, and it does not clean, carry or fetch. The one exception is aibo Patrol, a named Sony feature on the premium plan: Aibo walks a scheduled route through the home, looks for registered people and reports back through the app. Sony offers it as entertainment rather than as a security system, and it does not reduce any household workload.
- Buyers uncomfortable with mandatory cloud subscriptions
- Full behavioral learning and app interaction require $13/month cloud subscription. Offline mode is severely limited; feature gating is aggressive.
- Owners with poor home network or privacy concerns
- Aibo carries two cameras, the nose camera and a dedicated SLAM camera, maps the rooms it moves through, and enrolls up to 100 faces to tell people apart. It needs Wi-Fi for behavioral updates and interaction syncing, behavior data syncs to Sony's service, and no local-only operation mode is documented.
Xiaomi CyberDog 2
- Users seeking English-language documentation and support
- Official documentation, firmware, and support are primarily in Mandarin Chinese. English community translations trail official releases and vary in technical precision.
- Buyers wanting North American warranty and service
- Xiaomi sells CyberDog 2 in China only and publishes no international warranty, service, or RMA terms. Buyers importing through resellers have no documented repair path.
- Organizations requiring regulatory compliance (FCC, UL, etc.)
- CyberDog 2 carries no North American regulatory certification. Deployments in regulated environments are not practical.
What stays your job
The upkeep ownership hands back to you, whatever the autonomy level says.
Sony Aibo ERS-1000
- Daily: Charging on the station; 2-3 hour runtime per charge.
- Weekly: Clean the eye lenses and the nose and SLAM camera windows to remove dust and fingerprints; light surface wipe-down.
- Monthly: Subscription payment verification ($13/month for cloud features).
- Every 3-6 months: Joint lubrication check if movement becomes stiff or grinding appears.
- As needed: Sony repair service for actuator wear. Sony publishes no price list for repairs.
Xiaomi CyberDog 2
- After every 10 hours of operation: Check leg joint tightness; inspect for servo stiction.
- Weekly: Clean optical sensors and paws; verify Wi-Fi and Bluetooth pairing.
- Monthly: Battery capacity check; confirm a USB-C charge is holding a full cycle.
- Every 6-12 months: Servo joint lubrication; battery replacement as capacity falls. Xiaomi publishes no parts pricing outside China.
- Before firmware updates: Record the current version. Xiaomi publishes no rollback procedure.
05 Evidence
How much each of these is standing on.
Classifications rest on different depths of evidence. A pre-release assessment and a verified one are not the same kind of claim.
| Robot | Evidence status | Sources reviewed | Last assessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Aibo ERS-1000 | Verified | 9 | Aug 2026 |
| Xiaomi CyberDog 2 | Pending | 2 | Aug 2026 |
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