RELEASED 2018.01REASSESSED 2026.08.07

Sony

Sony Aibo ERS-1000

Name: Sony Aibo ERS-1000
Brand: Sony

Aibo is a high-touch luxury companion. Eight years in market proves durability; the subscription model ensures ongoing development. Owners report emotional engagement; behavioral learning is meaningful but not autonomous task capability.

Price$2,899 list priceRetail price not tracked

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

Sony Aibo ERS-1000 runs preset routines on its own, and the owner is its recovery system.

Navigation and control

Dedicated SLAM camera alongside the nose camera; builds and uses a map of the space it operates in, documented in Sony's help guide.
Why this level
- Aibo maps the space with a dedicated SLAM camera, navigates it, and recognizes enrolled faces, and on the premium plan it will walk a scheduled Patrol route through the home and report back through the app.
- What it does not do is task work: there is no gripper and no job that gets finished.
- Behavior is Sony's model responding to stimuli and interaction history rather than a plan the owner sets.
- Level II: assisted autonomy, able to move itself around a known home without carrying out any task in it.
Autonomy dimension 28 / 100 · 9 sources reviewed
IManual AutomationOne action on command; no independent operation.

How we assign a level →

Behind the classification

Sources we reviewed.

Verified9 sources reviewed

Sufficient public evidence across source types to publish a non-provisional classification.

Sources reviewed

Specification sources1 sourceReviewed

Pages the published specifications were read from.

us.aibo.comus.aibo.com

Monitoring record8 sourcesReviewed

Sources behind the tracker entries following this robot.

Also monitored, nothing listed yet

Manufacturer documentationPending

Sony Aibo official product page, subscription terms, technical specifications, and battery ratings.

Owner reportsReviewed

Multi-year owner forum discussions spanning 2018-2026 covering reliability, joint wear, cloud service reliability, and behavioral learning observations.

Press & video reviewsReviewed

Long-form reviews and follow-ups from technology publications evaluating Aibo hardware durability, subscription model, and emotional engagement.

Longitudinal signalReviewed

Eight-year product track record in consumer market with documented cloud service transition and firmware evolution.

How we evaluate evidence →

Human Readiness

Ready Now.

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

Ready NowThis robot

Sony Aibo ERS-1000 is on sale, assessed, and nothing on its record argues for waiting.
How this was derived
- Shipping past the first-90-day ownership window with a published assessment, no documented issues on record, and no announced successor.
On the record
- Shipping since January 2018 · 104 months on the market
- No successor announced
- 9 sources reviewed
What would move it
A documented problem, an announced successor, or a withdrawn listing moves it out; the rating recomputes daily.
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 IssuesDocumented problems stand on the record; read the case before buying.

How we assess readiness →

Robovations Score

How this number was reached

78of 100

StrongAt or above 92% of the 436 robots we scoreand 100% of the 24 scored specialty robots

DeficientLimitedCapableStrongExemplary

What moved itpoints gained or lost against a typical robot

Carried by

Field failure rate100+4.8
Edge-case recovery84+3.2
Task completion91+3.0

Held back by

Coverage and navigation50−2.0
Consumables47−1.8

Capability40% of the score77What it does without you.

Task completion16% of the score91

Evidence

The job for this referent is sustaining the interaction its hardware supports over months without the owner managing it, and Aibo does that job: it recognizes enrolled individuals and treats family members differently, adapts to interaction history over time, initiates rather than waiting to be addressed, and returns to its charging station on its own. Eight years of owner reporting on sustained engagement and attachment is the outcome evidence, and it is independent. Held below the top anchor because 2 to 3 hours of runtime means daily charging and several sessions a day under heavy interaction, so the dock cycle governs a real share of the day, and it cannot climb stairs to reach someone on another floor.

Coverage and navigation10% of the score50

Evidence

Tom's Guide, after a week with the $2,899 Aibo, credits "the accuracy with which it (for the most part) navigates its environment" but the reviewer came home to find it "sprawled beside his charging stand, head lolled, eyes black" after failing to dock. Stuff's hands-on adds that it could not move itself backward out of a tight spot at the edge of the demo area, and handlers picked it up and moved it back toward the middle of the room every time.

Edge-case recovery10% of the score84

Evidence

Re-engaging after a lost or refused interaction is the behavior model's core function, and eight years of owner reporting describes sustained engagement rather than a robot that disengages and stops, which is independent evidence that it works. It also returns to its charging station on low battery. Held down by three things with no machine-side recovery: actuator wear is the documented failure point and there is no self-service for it, no self-righting or unstick behavior is documented for a 4.9 lb quadruped on a rug edge or a cable, and a subscription lapse stops behavioral learning outright with nothing local to fall back on.

Operating envelope4% of the score75

Evidence

Sensors and Sensibility, writing after a year with an ERS-1000 in a normal home, calls it "remarkably reliable" and says it gets off the charger and finds it again when it runs low, but reports one repeated degradation condition: "Our dog regularly gets stuck under our coffee table, bumping his head, causing him to simply go limp and fall into error mode, which can only be recovered by resetting."

Dependability40% of the score83Whether it keeps doing it.

Field failure rate16% of the score100

Evidence

A well-evidenced dependability record. Eight years of continuous production since January 2018 with an established owner base, no recall and no systemic defect, against a genuinely longitudinal independent source set: owner forums running 2018 to 2026 covering joint wear and reliability, plus 8 to 12 long-form press reviews and follow-ups, both marked complete. The documented failure point is actuator wear, a wear mode on a machine carrying dozens of servos, arriving after years, with a vendor repair service available. Held below the top anchor because Sony publishes no repair price list, so proportionate cost cannot be established, and no service life longer than eight years has been observed.

Software stability14% of the score82

Evidence

Above the floor on genuinely independent evidence: the behavior model has been updated continuously for eight years and owner forums spanning 2018 to 2026 specifically cover cloud service reliability and behavioral learning observations, with no reported pattern of updates regressing behavior. That is longitudinal outside-observation of how the software actually behaves. Well short of the upper anchors because no changelog is published, no individual update is named as fixing or breaking anything, and the record is not inspectable: Sony controls both the subscription and the service behind it.

Support longevity10% of the score58

Evidence

Scored as commitments. An eight-year production run on a current model with a live Sony repair service is real, and Sony has never closed an aibo cloud service. Against that, no repair price list, no parts catalog, no end-of-support commitment and no documented way to keep full function locally if the service ends. The one precedent that exists is this manufacturer withdrawing official repair support from the 1999 to 2006 aibo line in 2014, and the $13 monthly subscription is a standing dependency whose lapse disables behavioral learning and app interaction.

Ownership burden20% of the score69What it asks of you.

Routine maintenance12% of the score84

Evidence

Light in hands-on terms. Weekly cleaning of the eye lenses and the nose and SLAM camera windows plus a light surface wipe-down, a monthly subscription check, and a joint lubrication check every three to six months only if movement becomes stiff. Charging is daily but the robot docks itself, so that is scheduling around it rather than handling it. Nothing to empty, rinse, refill or anchor. Not credited higher because actuator service is a vendor-only event with no published price, so the maintenance path for the one thing that actually wears runs entirely through Sony.

Consumables8% of the score47

Evidence

There is nothing to buy on a cadence, but that earns little here, because the part that does wear has the worst possible purchase posture. Actuator wear is the documented failure point, and it is not an owner-replaceable part: it goes back to Sony, which offers the service and publishes no price list for it. So the owner's recurring parts exposure is zero right up until it becomes a single-source repair of unknown cost on a $2,899 machine. The $13 monthly subscription is a standing cost and is recorded in cost_five_year rather than here.

middle half of the databaseits medianthis robot

Reported, not scoredneither measures how well the robot works

Five-year cost$4,080

A high five-year cost for a consumer robot. $2,899 at purchase plus $780 in cloud subscription at $13 a month across five years, plus an allowance for at least one actuator repair. The subscription is not optional in any meaningful sense: cancelling it stops behavioral learning and app interaction, which is what the product is. The repair allowance is an estimate rather than a quote, because Sony publishes no price list for aibo repair, so the largest single uncertainty here is what happens when the servos wear.

Data postureCloud-dependent

Core function stops without the vendor cloud.

What leaves the homeNot documented

Read the full methodology →

FIT CHECK

Will the Sony Aibo ERS-1000 fit your application?

Describe your use case using the controls. Each choice reads the spec sheet for you, flagging where the Sony Aibo ERS-1000 is built for your space and where it isn’t.

Household

Primary purpose

Tech comfort

Commitment

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

SPECIFICATION

The full spec sheet.

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

Dimensional drawing

Key specificationsManufacturer-published

Footprint: 7.1 × 11.9 in · 11.5 in tall✓
Weight: 4.9 lbs✓
Battery: 31.5 Wh · Li-ion
Wi-Fi: Supported✓
Degrees of Freedom: 22✓

Where it lands · ranked across 44 specialty robotsThis robotMedianTypical range

Runtime120min

30 min960 min

Near median

Price$2,899

$29$100,000

Bottom of range

Charge time180min

30 min360 min

Near median

Weight4.9lbs

0.09 lbs134.8+ lbs

Bottom of range

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

OWNERSHIP

Living with it.

Durable hardware with proven eight-year field track record; cloud dependency is the primary fragility.

Owner reports span eight years of consistent interaction and minimal hardware failures. Joint actuators (neck, legs) show wear after 18-24 months of heavy use. Software stability improved significantly in firmware updates post-2020. Primary risk is cloud service discontinuation, as occurred with original Aibo.

Owner effort~30 minhands-on per month

Consumables$156replaceable parts / yr

Reliability trend Stableowner-reported arc

What goes wrong · 3 documented · 0 self-recover

Occasional

Joint actuator wearNeck or leg movement becomes stiff or develops grinding noise; reduced range of motion.

Owner fixProfessional Sony service; actuator replacement costs $150-$300 per joint.

Occasional

Cloud connection lossBehavioral learning freezes; app features become unavailable; offline mode severely limited.

Owner fixRestart Wi-Fi connection and Aibo unit; retry cloud sync.

Rare

Eye display failureDisplay ceases to render; Aibo loses facial expression capability.

Owner fixProfessional Sony service; display replacement is expensive.

Upkeep routine

Daily365×/yr

Charging on the station; 2-3 hour runtime per charge.

Weekly52×/yr

Clean the eye lenses and the nose and SLAM camera windows to remove dust and fingerprints; light surface wipe-down.

Monthly12×/yr

Subscription payment verification ($13/month for cloud features).

Seasonal4×/yr

Joint lubrication check if movement becomes stiff or grinding appears.

As neededno fixed schedule

Sony repair service for actuator wear. Sony publishes no price list for repairs.

Cost over time · past the sticker

PurchaseRunning cost

Year 1

$3,055

Year 3

$3,367

Year 5

$3,679

$2,899 to buy, then about $156 a year in replaceable parts. Over three years that is roughly $468 past the sticker price. Excludes electricity and any repairs.

Safety notes

CautionCloud service discontinuation risk: Sony discontinued original Aibo cloud service in 2022; current ERS-1000 units have no guarantee of long-term support.

NoteSmall joint pinch points: Leg and neck joints can pinch fingers during rapid movement; not suitable for unsupervised interaction with very young children.

NoteDaily charging requirement: 2-3 hour runtime requires charging every 1-2 days depending on interaction level.

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 revised 83 → 78
Aug 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score rescored under v4.2: 82 → 83
Aug 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score rescored under v4.0: 50 → 82
Jul 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score revised 44 → 50
Jul 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score recorded at 44 of 100
Jun 2026 · NewsSony discontinues Japan sales of the aibo ERS-1000 robot dog
Oct 2023 · NewsAibo ERS-1000 Eldercare Deployment Programs Expand Across Care Facilities
Mar 2019 · UpdateAibo ERS-1000 software update adds home patrol and security monitoring
Sep 2018 · ReleaseSony launches aibo ERS-1000 First Litter Edition in the US for $2,899
Jan 2018 · ReleaseSony launches revived aibo ERS-1000 robot dog in Japan at 198,000 yen

Editorial comparisons

How Sony Aibo ERS-1000 compares.

All comparisons →

Goal-based

Which companion robot is right for your home?

Sony Aibo ERS-1000 + 3 more

Read comparison

Common questions

What people actually ask.

6 answered

OperationDoes Sony Aibo require a paid subscription?

Yes. The cloud subscription ($13/month) is required for behavioral learning, app interaction, and software updates. Offline mode exists but is extremely limited; Aibo functions primarily as a scripted animatronic without cloud connection.

OperationHow long do batteries last on a single charge?

Runtime is 2-3 hours of active play. Owners report daily charging is required for typical use patterns, or several charging sessions per day for heavy interaction.

OperationWhat happens if Sony discontinues the Aibo cloud service?

There is no precedent to point at. The original AIBO line, ERS-110 through ERS-7, had no cloud service to close; what Sony ended for those units was official repair support, in 2014. What reached early ERS-1000 owners around 2021 and 2022 was the three-year AI Cloud Plan bundled at purchase running out, which is a subscription lapsing rather than a service being withdrawn. The exposure is still real: behavioral learning, app interaction and updates all run through Sony’s service, and no local-only mode is documented to fall back on.

OperationCan Aibo recognize individual people or learn owner preferences over time?

Yes. Aibo uses facial recognition and stores up to 100 faces, and treating recognized family members differently is one of the behaviors Sony sells the product on. Cloud-backed learning then adapts responses to interaction history. That recognition is biometric, which is the fact to weigh before placing Aibo in a household where not everyone has agreed to be enrolled.

OperationIs Aibo suitable for young children?

Sony publishes no age rating for Aibo. The $2,899 price and the fine actuator mechanisms make it a poor candidate for unsupervised handling by small children. It does recognize and respond to individual family members, which is much of why children attach to it.

OperationWhat is the actual lifespan of an Aibo unit?

The ERS-1000 launched in January 2018, so the oldest units in owners’ hands are around eight years old and no longer service life than that has been observed. Actuator wear is the reported failure point. Sony offers repair service; it does not publish a price list for it.

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Robovations. "Sony Aibo ERS-1000: Autonomy Level II (Assisted Autonomy)." Autonomy Ladder™, assessed August 2026. https://robovations.com/robots/sony-aibo-ers-1000/

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Where to next

Three ways to keep going.

For evaluators

Compare with a peer.

See the Sony Aibo ERS-1000 and temi V3 side by side: autonomy level, Robovations Score, readiness, and price. Classification, not a verdict.

See the full comparison

Or compare with Xiaomi CyberDog 2, Unitree Go2, LOVOT 3.0.

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.

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Updated weekly with new entries and reclassifications.

Sony Aibo ERS-1000

Will the Sony Aibo ERS-1000 fit your application?

The full spec sheet.

Living with it.

How the assessment has moved.

How Sony Aibo ERS-1000 compares.

Which companion robot is right for your home?

What people actually ask.