This LiDAR-equipped 30-pound robot dog can be yours for $1,600

The Unitree Go 2. Unittree

A complete view of the robot. Unittree

It looks like the battery in the side body. Unittree

The front LiDAR is spinning all the time. Keep your fingers free. Unittree

The other side. Unittree

Sure, he can go down stairs, but he can also go down stairs doing a handstand! Unittree

If Spot, Boston Dynamic's $75,000 robot dog, is too rich for you, how about a simplified consumer version? The latest robot dog from Chinese robotics company Unitree is the Unitree Go 2, which starts at an incredible price of $1,600. After shipping and customs and all that, it'll cost over $2,400, but it's still a bargain compared to an industrial robot.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if these rookie robotics companies are serious and have real products to sell, but we'd like to point out that this isn't Unitree's first robot dog. It's the company's third-generation consumer product, along with two more powerful "industrial" bot models that compete with Boston Dynamics.

Unitree Go 2 stands just under 16 inches tall, measures 27 inches from head to tail, and weighs 33 pounds. It has a camera, a flashlight and a 360-degree LiDAR sensor that rotates constantly on the face. The robot has 12 motors - we're guessing that means three for each leg - making it a pretty nimble robot capable of dealing with all sorts of uneven outdoor terrain and, like any good dog, doing a ton of tricks. The Go2 has an 8000mAh battery that lasts about "1-2" hours, along with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth for communication with the app. The base model has a maximum speed of 2.5 meters per second.

A more expensive $2,800 "Pro" model adds a speaker and microphone combo for voice commands, media playback and intercom functions. There is a "Wireless Vector Positioning Tracking Module" for the following commands, 4G connectivity, faster processor and higher peak speed of 3.5m/s. There's also an "EDU" model at an unknown price, which can reach 5m/s, and adds a 9A quick-charge system and a 15,000mAh battery. It also has a "foot force sensor", which seems very important for some of the tricks that occur in the video.

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The accompanying video is a relentless barrage of tricks, but it's not entirely clear which versions of the dog are capable of performing them. Some versions of this dog can jump, roll over, stretch, shake hands, sit...