Skip to main content

These kickass telepresence robots are the next best thing to teleportation

best telepresence robots
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Ever needed to be in two places at once? Well, thanks to miracles of modern engineering, you finally can be … sort of. Using an internet-connected telepresence robot, it’s now possible to see, hear, and navigate spaces that you do not physically inhabit. For obvious, reasons, this ability is extremely useful in a variety of different settings — whether it be a corporate office, a hospital, or even just a distant relative’s house.

As such, the number of manufacturers who make and sell these telepresence robots has ballooned in the past few years, and now there are dozens of different makes and models to choose from. But who makes the best telepresence robots? Keep reading to find out!

PadBot P1 $1,297

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The first on our list is the PadBot P1 — which also happens to be the cheapest. With a built-in screen, 720p camera, and speakers; the P1 has all the features you need in a telepresence machine. The robot can be controlled over WiFi via a smartphone or tablet, but can also be equipped with a 4G card for hassle free roaming through locations where WiFi might be unavailable or slow.

Thanks to extra features like a downward facing camera for better control, Auto-Answer (remote activation), and automatic docking, using the PadBot P1 is a breeze. And don’t worry about constant trips back to the charging dock, either. With this bot’s 10-hour battery life, you should have all the time you need to check up on the office or your family at home.

VGo $3,995 -4,995

Image used with permission by copyright holder

VGo offers two main models: the E-1000 and V-1000. Marketed heavily to medical facilities, the both machines feature a camera with tilt and zoom abilities, as well as bright LEDs for lighting up otherwise hard-to-see areas. The E-1000 and V-1000 also boast the ability to link up with modern medical hardware to pipe back a patient’s metrics to the doctor behind the screen.

Featuring Auto-Answer, and automatic docking on the V-1000, as well as an impressive 12-hour battery life, VGo telepresence bots can be activated on the fly for even those tediously long checkups. They also come with built-in WiFi and 4G compatibility as well, you’re sure to stay connected as you roll around the office or hospital — even in the dark of night.

Ohmni $1,899

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Affordable and easy to use, the Ohmni is ready to roll almost immediately after it comes out of the box. With it’s 10.8″ screen and booming speaker, the bot definitely won’t have a problem bringing your presence to the room. Plus, with a stylish design, custom covers, and customize-able LED’s, the Ohmni may be the best looking telepresence robot on the market.

It’s also quite easy to control. the Ohmni can be piloted from any computer or Android device capable of running with Google’s Chrome browser, and is controlled with simple arrow key inputs. With dual cameras (one forward, and one down), the device also provides plenty of spacial awareness, so you’ll have no problem getting around. It also features built-in WiFi, 4G, and surprisingly, Bluetooth connectivity.

Beam $1,995-3,995

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Beam has been a mainstay in the Telepresence market for a bit now, and for good reason. With multiple models and options to choose from, the Beam can satisfy all of your out-of-office communication needs. Featuring a four-microphone array for maximum office banter pickup, and a 2.2 inch speaker to banter back with; you will hear and be heard across the office. The 2x enhanced digital zoom will give you the peeping power you need to know exactly who said your new tie looked dumb last week, and the 10-inch edge lit LCD screen will help convey show everyone how nice this week’s tie is comparatively.

Operable on almost any platform you can think of (sorry Linux, not you), you can control the Beam from any PC, Mac, Android, or iOS phone. The Beam is also one of the more rugged of the bunch, and is able to clear “bumps” up to 0.75 inches high. However, due to the bot’s annual service fee, this might not be the best choice for the home user — but the high-performance tech specs make it ideal for businesses with employees that need to collaborate from afar.

Editors' Recommendations

Forrest Daniels
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As a young woman Forrest discovered her passion for technology and art through her family's monstrous collection of goofy 90s…
This AI cloned my voice using just three minutes of audio
acapela group voice cloning ad

There's a scene in Mission Impossible 3 that you might recall. In it, our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) tackles the movie's villain, holds him at gunpoint, and forces him to read a bizarre series of sentences aloud.

"The pleasure of Busby's company is what I most enjoy," he reluctantly reads. "He put a tack on Miss Yancy's chair, and she called him a horrible boy. At the end of the month, he was flinging two kittens across the width of the room ..."

Read more
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards
Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Read more