I have been making an attempt out the picture modifying capabilities in Google’s newest generative AI mannequin, and you’ll, too. Named Gemini 2.5 Flash Picture, it upgrades the power to edit your images natively in Gemini. 

AI fanatics have referred to it because the “nano bananas” mannequin, spurred on by a sequence of teasers from Google execs. Google has been investing closely in its generative media fashions this 12 months, dropping up to date variations of its picture and video generator fashions at its annual I/O developers conference. Google’s AI video generator Veo 3 surprised with synchronized audio, a primary among the many AI giants. And creators have made greater than 100 million AI videos with Google’s AI filmmaker software, Move. 

I’ve spent numerous time testing AI inventive software program, and I used to be excited to see Google’s newest drop amid all of the banana fanfare. However my testing of two.5 Flash Picture confirmed that simply because one thing has a flashy entrance doesn’t suggest it will all the time lives as much as its hype. This is how my expertise with Gemini nano bananas went: the nice, the dangerous and the irritating.

What labored

The Gemini bananas mannequin is spookily good at including components to present photographs, mixing AI-generated components nicely into any image you snapped. It additionally maintains a decently secure degree of character consistency — that means the individuals in my images weren’t too distorted or wonky after going by means of the AI processing. These are each vital distinctions for AI picture packages, and one thing Google mentioned it had labored to enhance.

You may see each of those traits on this image of my sister and me. Our common appearances are unchanged within the edited model (proper), exhibiting off that character consistency. I requested Gemini so as to add a 3rd sister who regarded much like the 2 of us, which it did scarily nicely by including a 3rd lady in between the 2 of us.

I used to be additionally fairly impressed with how rapidly Gemini might spit out accomplished photographs. Anyplace beneath a minute will get a gold star from me, and Gemini was often dealing with requests in beneath 15 seconds. I additionally appreciated the way it added a watermark to all the photographs it created and edited — even when I do not love how tech corporations have corrupted the sparkles emoji for AI, it is extraordinarily vital to have some markers of AI-generated content. Google’s SynthID and behind-the-scenes work additionally assist differentiate AI content material from human-created imagery.

Gemini is sweet at wholesale AI picture creation, too, however I like to recommend utilizing its Imagen 4 or one other AI image generator as an alternative — they’ve extra hands-on controls and settings that get you nearer to what you need with much less work.

What actually did not work

There are severe limitations to Gemini bananas. It routinely generated sq. photographs, and follow-up prompts asking for photographs to be tailored into different dimensions have been ignored or failed.

I additionally seen that Gemini decreased the decision of lots of my images. I primarily take images with my iPhone 16, which has stellar cameras, however after going by means of the Gemini bananas mannequin, these advantageous particulars have been typically blurred. That is annoying and will not win over any photographers.

I attempted repeatedly to get Gemini to deal with picture edits that will’ve been tough for me to do manually. That is one space in picture modifying the place AI is meant to excel — automating mundane however detail-intensive edits. Sadly, Gemini actually struggled with immediate adherence right here, that means it did not do what I requested. 

I attempted many instances to get Gemini to take away reflections from a snap of a Freakier Friday film poster, however they stubbornly remained. And the extra I attempted to get it to take away the reflections, the poorer the standard of the picture grew to become with each immediate. As soon as-clear textual content was finally illegible after I lastly gave up, to not point out the unintended, scary-looking injury finished to the faces of Lindsey Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Gemini nano bananas struggled to generate photographs in several dimensions. Resizing and cropping photographs is a core picture modifying course of, however Gemini did not — or could not — deal with easy sizing tips in my prompts.

I reached out to Google concerning the decision and dimension points and a spokesperson mentioned the tech firm is “conscious and actively engaged on each points. It has been a giant replace from our earlier mannequin however we’ll proceed to enhance on the mannequin.”

General, Gemini nano bananas proved to me that Google is severe about persevering with to dominate in generative media. However it has important pitfalls, with too massive a deal with producing new components quite than utilizing AI to enhance and tweak frequent picture points. For now, the nano bananas mannequin is finest suited to Gemini followers who need to make massive edits rapidly. For these of us in search of extra exact instruments, we’ll have to attend for Google’s subsequent massive replace or discover one other program.

Gemini nano bananas availability, pricing and privateness

You need not do something to entry the brand new mannequin; it is routinely added to the bottom Gemini 2.5 Flash mannequin. Gemini is out there totally free, with extra fashions and better utilization caps accessible in Google’s AI plans beginning at $20 per month. 

For those who’re a paying subscriber, you might also be capable to entry the mannequin by means of Google AI Studio. From there, all you need to do is add a picture and sort out your immediate. Every immediate makes use of wherever from one to 2 thousand tokens, relying on the extent of element required. Adobe Categorical and Firefly customers may entry the brand new mannequin now. 

Google’s Gemini privacy policy says it might probably use the knowledge you add for enhancing its AI merchandise, which is why the corporate recommends avoiding importing delicate or personal data. The corporate’s AI prohibitive use policy additionally outlaws the creation of unlawful or abusive materials.

For extra, take a look at the best AI image generators and everything announced at the Made by Google Pixel 10 event.