---
title: "Mechanical vs hybrid-solid-state LiDAR - how to choose?"
canonical: "https://www.kies.com.cn/en/kb/lidar-mechanical-vs-hybrid"
lang: "en"
type: "knowledge-base"
publisher: "Shanghai Paixu Network Technology Co., Ltd."
pricing: "mixed"
kb_type: "qa"
alternate: "https://www.kies.com.cn/zh/kb/lidar-mechanical-vs-hybrid.md"
---

# Mechanical vs hybrid-solid-state LiDAR - how to choose?

> Source (canonical): https://www.kies.com.cn/en/kb/lidar-mechanical-vs-hybrid
> Published by: Shanghai Paixu Network Technology Co., Ltd. — B2B supplier of AI devices and robotics
> Type: Q&A
> Language: English · Also available in Chinese: https://www.kies.com.cn/zh/kb/lidar-mechanical-vs-hybrid.md

## Answer

Mechanical units (like the RS-LiDAR-16) sweep 360 degrees with uniform point clouds - good for research and low-speed vehicles. Hybrid-solid-state units (Mid-360 class) drop the large spinning assembly for better lifetime and cost - the mainstream for mobile robots.

## Details

Mechanical LiDARs spin the whole unit for uniform 360-degree clouds that algorithms digest easily, at the cost of lifetime, bulk and price. Hybrid-solid-state designs replace the big rotation with small mirrors/prisms - compact, long-lived, cheaper - with different cloud patterns (Livox's non-repetitive scan) that mainstream SLAM frameworks already support.

Rule of thumb: pick mechanical for teaching and algorithms expecting standard 16/32-beam clouds; pick hybrid-solid-state for production robots and unattended inspection. KIES stocks both and can recommend by your software stack.

## Enquiries and technical support

Send the application — deployment environment, compute and interface needs, quantity and timing. An engineer replies with a selection proposal and a written quotation within one business day.

- Enquiry form: https://www.kies.com.cn/en/contact
- Email: ai@kies.com.cn
- Phone: 021-80394405