Name: Dephy Sidekick
Brand: Dephy
Price: 4500 USD
Availability: InStock

$4,500shop.dephy.com sells the Sidekick Starter Pack for $4,500 with free shipping and a four-instalment plan; it includes the pair of exoskeletons, two batteries, a dual charger, one pair of Dephy shoes and a case, and spare batteries are $250, the charger $300 and extra shoes $150.

AvailableButtons onlyAnkle exoskeleton1.4 kg per side8 km per chargeNot a medical device

Possibly ≤ 1 weekShipping: Within 14 business days. Sold direct from shop.dephy.com in the US with free shipping; units are custom-fitted and ship within 14 business days, with a 30-day return window and one-year warranty. Satin Silver and Blush trims are in stock, Black, Charcoal Green and Blue Titanium are sold out. Official store ↗

Control: Not possible. On-device buttons only.

Official store ↗Official site ↗Engadget hands-on (CES 2026) ↗

Overview

The Sidekick is the consumer version of the ankle exoskeleton that Dephy, an MIT Media Lab spin-out in Maynard, Massachusetts, has sold to research labs and the US Army as the ExoBoot. Each unit clips magnetically to a proprietary carbon-plated sneaker (Dephy Active or Comfort) and straps to the calf, then pushes the heel down at toe-off, which testers at CES 2026 described as an extra calf muscle. It is aimed at people with limited walking stamina rather than athletes, works on flat ground, stairs and grades up to about 20%, and is sold as a lifestyle and wellness product that is explicitly not a medical device, though some buyers can use HSA or FSA funds. Dephy is also the robotics partner on Nike's Project Amplify powered shoe. Catches are the price, the 2.8 kg total on the lower legs, the need to wear Dephy's own shoes, and shipping only within the US (unconfirmed for other countries). It launched at CES in January 2026 and is in stock in two trim colours, with other trims and the Comfort shoe currently sold out.

Specifications

Category	Exoskeletons & exosuits · Consumer & outdoor
Released	2026
Country	USA
Availability	Available
Programmability	No programmability
Built-in autonomy	Reactive · Responds to its surroundings without a map, such as avoiding obstacles or following a person
LLM support	None · No voice assistant or LLM.
Best for	Ages 16+ (estimated)
Vision sensors	No vision sensors
Actuators	Brushless / direct-drive motors
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Proprietary / undisclosed
Control	Buttons only
Weight	1.4 kg per side (with battery)
Assistance	A motor on each shin drives the shoe's heel to add push-off at the end of every step, the ankle being where up to 60% of walking energy comes from; three power levels, auto-calibrated in 20 strides. Torque is not published.
Joints	Ankles
Battery & runtime	Two swappable packs, 1.5 h to full; up to 8 km (5 mi) per charge at power level II, about 5 km (3 mi) at level III and further at level I.
Operation	A button on each battery pack powers the unit and steps through the three power levels; no app. The shin lever and calf strap are custom-fitted to the buyer's measurements.
Sensors	Onboard gait sensing that learns the wearer's stride (IMU and motor encoder (unconfirmed))
Compute	Not published
SDK	None. Dephy's research ExoBoot has a programming interface, the Sidekick does not.