The race among AI image generators has intensified, with the spotlight firmly on the viral trend of turning everyday photos into 3D figurines. Google’s Nano Banana AI (Gemini 2.5 Flash) has taken over social media feeds, producing toy-like collectable images that are quick to generate and impressively realistic. Yet, rivals such as ChatGPT (GPT-5), Qwen Image Edit, and Grok AI are not far behind, each offering unique advantages—from sharper details to better instruction handling or even video generation. To measure their true capabilities, we ran all four through the same complex figurine prompt, testing how well they handled realism, detail, speed, and accuracy. The comparison revealed surprising differences in strengths and weaknesses.
Nano Banana AI leads the viral 3D figurine trend
Nano Banana AI has become the face of the viral 3D figurine trend, with feeds across Instagram, TikTok, and X overflowing with toy-like collectables. Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash model, nicknamed Nano Banana, has quickly turned into the default choice for casual users because it produces highly realistic, polished images in seconds. Built to balance speed and photorealism, it handles textures, lighting, and packaging designs so naturally that its creations are instantly social media-ready. Google has also added SynthID invisible watermarking, ensuring content remains both creative and trustworthy. Still, Nano Banana isn’t flawless. While it excels at smooth surfaces and environments, it struggles with fine facial features, leaving room for competitors like ChatGPT, Qwen, and Grok to compete.
Prompt:
“Create a 1/7 scale commercialized figurine of the characters in the picture, in a realistic style, in a real environment. The figurine is placed on a computer desk. The figurine has a round transparent acrylic base, with no text on the base. The content on the computer screen is a 3D modeling process of this figurine. Next to the computer screen is a toy packaging box, designed in a style reminiscent of high-quality collectible figures, printed with original artwork. The packaging features two-dimensional flat illustrations.”
Nano Banana AI: Understanding the key alternatives one can try
Qwen Image Edit
AI Generated
Launched by Alibaba, Qwen Image Edit has rapidly built a reputation for being detail-focused. Unlike Nano Banana, which emphasizes smooth realism, Qwen specializes in pixel-level accuracy—textures, fabric folds, shadows, and even background objects feel sharp and carefully rendered.
One of Qwen’s standout qualities is its ability to understand concepts, meaning it doesn’t just follow prompts literally; it interprets them. This allows Qwen to produce environments that look natural and immersive, often even more convincing than Nano Banana’s.
But there’s a catch. Qwen’s facial rendering is inconsistent, often missing the emotional depth or lifelike symmetry needed for convincing figurines. For projects where sharpness and environmental realism matter more than faces, though, Qwen shines brightest.
ChatGPT (GPT-5)
AI Generated
OpenAI’s ChatGPT (GPT-5) adds another dimension to this competition. Its strength lies in instruction fidelity—it understands complex, multi-layered prompts better than almost any other AI. When tasked with creating the figurine, GPT-5 delivered highly accurate representations of details like the transparent acrylic base, the desk setup, and the packaging design.
This makes GPT-5 an excellent option for users who prioritize precision. Yet, it’s held back by two critical weaknesses. First, speed—it generates images more slowly than Nano Banana or Qwen. Second, limitations—free users can only create up to two images per day, making it frustrating for those who want to iterate quickly.
And, like Qwen, GPT-5 falters with faces. The figurines it produces often look slightly unnatural around the eyes and mouth, which reduces their photorealistic charm.
Grok AI
AI Generated
Elon Musk’s Grok AI once stood as a favourite for free AI image creation, but today, it lags behind its competitors in 3D model realism. When tested, Grok’s figurines lacked the fine polish and believability of those from Nano Banana, Qwen, and GPT-5.
Where Grok distinguishes itself is in video generation. While the others focus purely on static images, Grok can animate 3D figurines into short clips with sound effects—a unique edge for creators wanting to take their content beyond still photos. This makes it less ideal for figurine accuracy but valuable for anyone who wants motion and storytelling layered on top of visuals.
Google Gemini
AI Generated
Google Gemini represents the tech giant’s bold leap into the next era of artificial intelligence, merging advanced language understanding with powerful image and data processing. Introduced as the successor to Google’s PaLM models, Gemini was built to compete directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT while expanding capabilities beyond text into multimodal AI—handling not just words, but also images, audio, and even coding tasks. One of its most talked-about variants, the Gemini 2.5 Flash model (popularly called Nano Banana), has gained viral attention for creating highly realistic 3D figurines from ordinary photos. By combining speed, photorealism, and trust-focused features like SynthID watermarking, Gemini is positioning itself as both a creative tool for casual users and a powerful system for professional applications.
Nano Banana vs ChatGPT vs Grok vs Qwen vs Gemini: Which AI figurine tool wins
When comparing Nano Banana vs ChatGPT vs Grok vs Qwen vs Google Gemini, the results show there is no absolute winner. Each model has carved out its own specialized niche in the fast-moving AI landscape, excelling in different areas such as creativity, problem-solving, speed, reliability, scalability, and advanced contextual understanding tailored to diverse user needs.
Nano Banana dominates in speed and photorealistic rendering, making it the go-to choice for casual users and social media creators. Its results are polished, vibrant, and often need little to no post-editing.
Qwen shines in detail sharpness and environmental realism, producing crisp backgrounds and accurate textures. Yet, its facial rendering can sometimes feel stiff, limiting emotional expression in figurines.
ChatGPT (GPT-5) is unmatched in prompt comprehension and instruction handling, capable of interpreting complex figurine setups better than any competitor. However, it is constrained by generation speed and daily usage limits, which reduce accessibility for heavy users.
Grok AI trails in figurine realism but breaks new ground with free video generation, transforming static figures into short animated clips. This edge makes it valuable for users exploring dynamic content.
Finally, Google Gemini acts as the umbrella ecosystem tying everything together. Beyond just figurine creation, Gemini offers multimodal intelligence, blending text, images, and code in a single framework. It benefits from Google’s broader infrastructure, integrating Nano Banana’s creative power with tools for professional tasks, making it not only a consumer-friendly option but also a serious enterprise-grade AI solution.
Also Read | Nano Banana AI image creation: How to easily create your own 3D figurine; prompts to create free images via Google Gemini