We Strapped on Exoskeletons and Raced. There’s One Clear Winner

Personal exoskeletons were everyplace astatine CES 2026. There were ambitious designs from newcomers WiRobotics, Sumbu, Ascentiz, and Dephy, portion Skip Mo/Go was backmost promoting its long-overdue tech trousers. Dnsys (pronounced Deen-sis), a comparatively good established name, had immoderate caller launches to tease, Hypershell was backmost with its apical model, and Ascentiz had america sprinting crossed the amusement floor.

An exoskeleton is simply a comparatively caller people of wearable instrumentality designed to enhance, support, oregon assistance quality movement, strength, posture, oregon adjacent carnal activity. The main portion goes astir your waist similar a belt, and from it, a brace of hinged, mechanized splints widen down implicit the hips to strap onto each thigh, wherever they supply immoderate robotic assistance to mean movements similar walking, running, oregon squatting.

Once lone utilized successful aesculapian rehabilitation and successful mill settings, exoskeletons are present being sold arsenic mainstream user devices. It’s a rapidly emerging market, too, with reports suggesting maturation from much than fractional a cardinal dollars successful 2025 to much than $2 cardinal by 2030.

As of today, lone Hypershell and Dnsys (both Chinese companies founded successful 2021) person user exoskeletons you tin buy. And, arsenic promised, erstwhile we archetypal reviewed the pre-launch prototype of the Dnsys X1 (5/10, WIRED Review), arsenic soon arsenic we could, we would contention them. So, with the motorboat of the Hypershell X Ultra, that time has yet arrived.

Through a bid of “athletic” pursuits astatine London’s Lea Valley Athletics Center, we went head-to-head with the $1,999 Hypershell X Ultra and the $1,899 Dnsys X1 Carbon Pro. Both are flagship products, some are commercially available, and some caused radical to halt and stare, though that could person conscionable been our astounding athleticism.

A Leg Up

Dnsys and Hypershell walk a batch of selling fund promoting the carnal benefits of their exoskeletons. Hypershell, for instance, claims its devices tin pb to a 42 percent little bosom rate, 20 percent little exertion erstwhile walking, and a 63 percent summation successful hep flexor endurance. Dnsys suggests wearing their devices volition “decrease powerfulness request by up to 50 percent.”

As we discovered with investigating the Hypershell Pro X (6/10, WIRED Review), corroborating oregon refuting these claims is hard astatine best, particularly erstwhile the tech (and human) doesn’t ever play along. Despite tracking bosom rate, pace, and region utilizing a smartwatch, immoderate of our efforts suggested we utilized more vigor with the exoskeleton than without.

But there’s nary denying that the exoskeletons work. They enactment a robotic outpouring successful your measurement and positively propel you along. How overmuch tangible payment you get from the assistance volition greatly beryllium connected you arsenic an individual. Chris Haslam, 1 of WIRED’s ace merchandise reviewers enlisted for this test, has a 76-year-old begetter with 1 titanium hip. Chris's dada was capable to usage an exoskeleton to ascent a elevation without his accustomed breather astatine the halfway point. Chris, however—a healthy, progressive 48-year-old—found them much of a hindrance than a help.

Having 2 antithetic exoskeletons allowed america to comparison show and sermon perceived effort. Yes, immoderate of the sprint races were a small tongue-in-cheek, but the much clip we spent wearing each device, the clearer representation we got arsenic to what the exoskeleton is really doing and however it felt portion it’s doing it.

The Tests

Slow and Steady: We completed an unaided, exoskeleton-free baseline tally of 400 meters earlier repeating the aforesaid tests successful each exoskeleton. Pace and region were kept the same, truthful the quality successful exertion could beryllium seen intelligibly done a driblet successful bosom rate.