Neither a four-finger nor a five-finger robotic hand is universally better. Choose by listing the tasks your system must perform, then comparing complete hand designs under the same conditions. Four fingers can support precision and in-hand manipulation; a fifth may expand the tasks a hand can perform, but finger count alone does not establish dexterity, reliability, or value.
Start with the tasks, not the finger count
Write down the objects and operations your application actually requires before comparing hands. Include object shapes and sizes, required grasps, whether an object must be repositioned within the hand, cycle-time limits, expected contact uncertainty, forces and payload, and the working environment.
Also ask whether each task needs an anthropomorphic hand at all. If a parallel gripper or another simpler end effector can do the job, a multi-finger hand may add complexity without solving a necessary problem.
- List representative objects, including awkward shapes and size extremes.
- Specify the operations: pick and place, pinch, envelop, reorient, finger-gait, or manipulate a control such as a cap.
- Set acceptable cycle time, success rate, force, payload, and operating limits.
- Record environmental demands, such as uncertain contact, collision risk, or maintenance constraints.
What four fingers can do
Four fingers do not limit a hand to basic power grasps. A four-finger underactuated design described by Raymond R. Ma and Aaron M. Dollar was built for finger-gaiting and precision manipulation as well as adaptive precision and power grasping. Its two underactuated tendon-driven finger pairs and independently rotating central axis were driven by four actuators. This is a research design example, not a recommendation for a current retail product. Read the 2014 paper.
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A separate 2021 study by Hongbo Liu and Dexu Geng evaluated a particular pneumatic four-finger flexible hand, reported as about 1.3 times human-hand size. In that prototype’s pinch mode, the authors reported grasped-object diameters from 28 mm to 160 mm and a minimum object thickness of 1 mm. For a 90 mm diameter object, they reported a maximum grasped mass of 1,386 g under 0.35 MPa. These are measurements for that hand and test setup—not general limits or typical performance for four-finger hands. Read the 2021 study.
What a fifth finger may add—and what it does not prove
A five-finger layout may make a broader task repertoire possible, but the extra finger does not guarantee better manipulation. Five-finger hands differ in finger arrangement, actuation, compliance, sensing, and control, so the relevant question is what the specific system can reliably do.
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Published examples illustrate that variety. Daoming Wang and colleagues reported a passively adaptive five-finger underactuated hand, while Chengxu Zhou and colleagues described a five-finger design with two actuators for self-adaptive pinching and enveloping, plus a limited set of dexterous behaviors including in-hand ball manipulation and bottle-cap screwing. Those examples show distinct design approaches; they do not establish that other five-finger or two-actuator hands share those capabilities. Read Wang and colleagues’ paper and read Zhou and colleagues’ paper.
Compare complete hand systems
Finger count is only one design attribute. Compare each candidate on the factors that determine performance in your application:
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- Demonstrated task repertoire: Can it perform your required grasps and in-hand operations, and what success rate does it achieve on your objects?
- Geometry: Consider finger arrangement, thumb opposition, and whether fingers can spread or reposition.
- Actuation and control: Identify independent, coupled, or underactuated motion; actuator count; and the control complexity needed to use it.
- Sensing and feedback: Check tactile and force sensing, feedback quality, and whether the controller can make effective use of those signals.
- Operating envelope: Compare force, object-size range, reach, mass, collision response, compliance, and durability.
- Deployment burden: Account for mechanical and electrical integration, maintenance, software support, system cost, and reliability.
For a fair comparison, use the same object set, initial conditions, task sequence, success criteria, and operating limits. Record failures and their causes as well as successful demonstrations. The Anthropomorphic Hand Assessment Protocol (AHAP) paper proposes a way to quantify grasping ability; its authors note that differences in hardware objectives and control methods make comparisons difficult. Use a standardized protocol when possible, then add tasks that reflect your application. Read the AHAP paper.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the broader evidence says
A 2026 systematic review by Alexander Fabisch, Wadhah Zai El Amri, Chandandeep Singh, and Nicolás Navarro-Guerrero analyzed manipulation capabilities reported in 125 papers published from 2019 through 2025. The authors conclude that complex five-finger hands are not necessary for every task and that simpler mechanisms can suffice; they also find that mechanism complexity correlates with the breadth of manipulation tasks a hand can perform. The review is not a single, matched four-versus-five-finger trial, so it does not show that one finger count generally outperforms the other. Read the 2026 systematic review.
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Make the choice against your requirements
- Choose a four-finger candidate if it reliably completes the tasks that matter and a five-finger alternative does not enable a sufficiently valuable additional task to justify its added system burden.
- Choose a five-finger candidate if matched testing shows that it reliably enables an important task the four-finger candidate cannot perform, and the benefit justifies the integration, control, maintenance, and cost trade-offs.
- Keep comparing designs rather than counts if neither option meets your requirements or the candidates differ in actuation, sensing, compliance, or software enough that finger count is not the meaningful distinction.
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