Private exoskeletons have been all over the place at CES 2026. There have been formidable designs from newcomers WiRobotics, Sumbu, Ascentiz, and Dephy, whereas Skip Mo/Go was again selling its long-overdue tech trousers. Dnsys (pronounced Deen-sis), a relatively effectively established title, had some new launches to tease, Hypershell was again with its prime mannequin, and Ascentiz had us sprinting throughout the present ground.
An exoskeleton is a comparatively new class of wearable gadget designed to reinforce, assist, or help human motion, energy, posture, and even bodily exercise. The primary piece goes round your waist like a belt, and from it, a pair of hinged, mechanized splints lengthen down over the hips to strap onto every thigh, the place they supply some robotic help to regular actions like strolling, operating, or squatting.
As soon as solely utilized in medical rehabilitation and in manufacturing facility settings, exoskeletons are actually being offered as mainstream client units. It’s a quickly rising market, too, with studies suggesting development from greater than half a billion {dollars} in 2025 to greater than $2 billion by 2030.
As of as we speak, solely Hypershell and Dnsys (each Chinese language corporations based in 2021) have client exoskeletons you should buy. And, as promised, after we first reviewed the pre-launch prototype of the Dnsys X1 (5/10, WIRED Evaluation), as quickly as we might, we’d race them. So, with the launch of the Hypershell X Extremely, that day has lastly arrived.
Via a collection of “athletic” pursuits at London’s Lea Valley Athletics Middle, we went head-to-head with the $1,999 Hypershell X Extremely and the $1,899 Dnsys X1 Carbon Professional. Each are flagship merchandise, each are commercially accessible, and each triggered folks to cease and stare, though that would have simply been our astounding athleticism.
A Leg Up
Dnsys and Hypershell spend lots of advertising and marketing funds selling the bodily advantages of their exoskeletons. Hypershell, as an illustration, claims its units can result in a 42 p.c decrease coronary heart fee, 20 p.c much less exertion when strolling, and a 63 p.c improve in hip flexor endurance. Dnsys suggests sporting their units will “lower energy demand by as much as 50 p.c.”
As we found with testing the Hypershell Professional X (6/10, WIRED Evaluation), corroborating or refuting these claims is tough at greatest, particularly when the tech (and human) doesn’t at all times play alongside. Regardless of monitoring coronary heart fee, tempo, and distance utilizing a smartwatch, a few of our efforts recommended we used extra vitality with the exoskeleton than with out.
However there’s no denying that the exoskeletons work. They put a robotic spring in your step and positively propel you alongside. How a lot tangible profit you get from the help will tremendously depend upon you as a person. Chris Haslam, considered one of WIRED’s crack product reviewers enlisted for this check, has a 76-year-old father with one titanium hip. Chris’s dad was in a position to make use of an exoskeleton to climb a hill with out his typical breather on the midway level. Chris, nonetheless—a wholesome, energetic 48-year-old—discovered them extra of a hindrance than a assist.
Having two totally different exoskeletons allowed us to match efficiency and talk about perceived effort. Sure, a few of the dash races have been a little bit tongue-in-cheek, however the extra time we spent sporting every gadget, the clearer image we obtained as to what the exoskeleton is definitely doing and the way it felt whereas it’s doing it.
The Checks
Sluggish and Regular: We accomplished an unaided, exoskeleton-free baseline run of 400 meters earlier than repeating the identical exams in every exoskeleton. Tempo and distance have been stored the identical, so the distinction in exertion may very well be seen clearly by way of a drop in coronary heart fee.
