Google launches Nano Banana 2.1 image model, cheaper than previous Pro

Nano Banana 2.1 is built on Gemini 3.6 Flash and beats the previous Pro model in some benchmarks at a lower cost. Its predecessor also scored well, but Pro often produced better images in practice, per The Decoder.

Why it matters: Flash-tier models matching Pro-tier image quality on benchmarks compresses pricing for image generation. The gap between benchmark scores and real-world output quality is a reminder to test on your own prompts before switching.