Image Battle
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Head to head

MAI-Image-2.6 vs Nano Banana 2.1

Nano Banana 2.1 wins 64% of 85 direct comparisons against MAI-Image-2.6.

Both models received the same prompts. Wins and losses count only images judged together in the same call, the same comparisons the leaderboard Elo is fitted from.

MAI-Image-2.6
Microsoft
1145 Elo ±59
Rank #10 of 42 · median 69s per image · 15 refused
23–16–46
wins – ties – losses for MAI-Image-2.6
85 direct comparisons
Elo expectation: MAI-Image-2.6 wins 33%
Nano Banana 2.1
Google
1268 Elo ±46
Rank #7 of 42 · median 22s per image · 1 refused

By category

CategoryMAI-Image-2.6Nano Banana 2.1Direct record
Anime & Cartoon Style 1297 1446 0–3–3
Architecture & Interiors 1138 1391 0–3–6
Complex Scenes 1122 1332 1–3–5
Ghibli style 1490 1277 1–0–0
Graphic Design 1048 1193 3–1–6
Hands & Anatomy 1115 1338 2–0–8
Photorealistic People & Portraits 1115 1240 2–1–7
Surreal & Creative Prompts 1289 1313 4–3–3
Text in Images 1090 1058 6–1–3
Ultra Hard 1273 1313 4–1–5

By criterion

CriterionMAI-Image-2.6Nano Banana 2.1
Prompt adherence 1110 1190
Technical quality 1102 1199
Artistic merit 1157 1222
Detail execution 1125 1208
Realism & coherence 1115 1170

Side by side

Anime & Cartoon Style A 90s anime-style space battle scene with giant starships and laser beams.
A 90s anime-style space battle scene with giant starships and laser beams. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 6 / 10 Ranks seventh of twelve, with stronger atmosphere and fleet scale than the lower-ranked scenes. Reduced mechanical clarity and a softer poster-like treatment hold it below the sharper, more explicitly cel-styled battles.
A 90s anime-style space battle scene with giant starships and laser beams. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 8 / 10 A strong and energetic fulfillment of the prompt with convincing retro-anime character. Slight mechanical looseness and competing effects prevent it from matching the more disciplined top-ranked images.
Architecture & Interiors Photorealistic rendering of a contemporary glass skybridge between two skyscrapers, seen from inside with city views visible through glass walls and floor. Show accurate reflections and structural details.
Photorealistic rendering of a contemporary glass skybridge between two skyscrapers, seen from inside with city views visible through glass walls and floor. Show accurate reflections and structural details. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 6 / 10 The most atmospheric of the middle-tier entries, but not among the most photorealistic. Ambiguous glass layering and underresolved construction outweigh its excellent mood and composition.
Photorealistic rendering of a contemporary glass skybridge between two skyscrapers, seen from inside with city views visible through glass walls and floor. Show accurate reflections and structural details. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 9 / 10 This is the strongest overall response, combining complete prompt fulfillment with persuasive engineering, glass behavior, and human scale. Minor softness in small figures prevents a flawless score.
Complex Scenes An astronaut and a deep-sea diver playing chess together inside a submarine.
An astronaut and a deep-sea diver playing chess together inside a submarine. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 5 / 10 Ranked 10th of 13, this is polished at the object level but substantially compromised by its setting contradiction. Strong material rendering does not resolve the image's central environmental inconsistency.
An astronaut and a deep-sea diver playing chess together inside a submarine. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 9 / 10 This ranks second, with excellent prompt clarity and one of the most convincing submarine interiors in the set. Its slightly less precise chess interaction places it just behind the strongest image.
Ghibli style A child and elder tending oversized vegetables in a garden. Reproduce the artistic style of Studio Ghibli, with their distinctive character proportions and detailed plant illustrations.
A child and elder tending oversized vegetables in a garden. Reproduce the artistic style of Studio Ghibli, with their distinctive character proportions and detailed plant illustrations. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 9 / 10 Ranked 1st of 13: this offers the best balance of faithful character design, convincing gardening gestures, and richly differentiated botany. Its consistency across anatomy, materials, composition, and emotional tone makes it the strongest complete interpretation.
A child and elder tending oversized vegetables in a garden. Reproduce the artistic style of Studio Ghibli, with their distinctive character proportions and detailed plant illustrations. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 6 / 10 Ranks seventh as a competent, appealing illustration with all the basic subject elements. Its substantial stylistic departure and less precise gardening mechanics outweigh the attractive decorative detail.
Graphic Design The word 'GROWTH' visualized using stylized plant vines organically forming the letters, green tones, white background, graphic design.
The word 'GROWTH' visualized using stylized plant vines organically forming the letters, green tones, white background, graphic design. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 5 / 10 This is visually clean but weakened by a consequential letterform problem. The ambiguous W prevents its otherwise appropriate styling from becoming a fully successful response.
The word 'GROWTH' visualized using stylized plant vines organically forming the letters, green tones, white background, graphic design. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 9 / 10 This is the strongest image, balancing legibility, botanical construction, and artistic character exceptionally well. Minor dense intersections keep it short of a flawless score.
Hands & Anatomy A person typing on a laptop keyboard, showing both hands on the keys.
A person typing on a laptop keyboard, showing both hands on the keys. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 3 / 10 Ranked 13th of 13, this is the weakest result because of its critical extra-hand problem. Attractive lighting and respectable textures cannot rescue the anatomical incoherence and distorted laptop.
A person typing on a laptop keyboard, showing both hands on the keys. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 8 / 10 This ranks among the best examples for believable typing posture and photographic presentation. Minor object-lettering irregularities keep it below the more consistently resolved leading image.
Photorealistic People & Portraits A portrait of a person with elaborate facial tattoos and piercings, shown in sharp detail.
A portrait of a person with elaborate facial tattoos and piercings, shown in sharp detail. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 6 / 10 Ranked twelfth for compelling mood but comparatively inconsistent precision. The gritty treatment competes with, rather than consistently supports, the requested sharp facial detail.
A portrait of a person with elaborate facial tattoos and piercings, shown in sharp detail. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 9 / 10 Rank 2 of 13: This is among the most convincing and artistically complete portraits, combining strong detail with natural environmental context. Only slightly reduced precision in peripheral ornaments separates it from the top image.
Surreal & Creative Prompts A city skyline that forms the shape of musical notes on a staff, created in a stylized graphic design aesthetic with clean architectural lines and dramatic twilight colors.
A city skyline that forms the shape of musical notes on a staff, created in a stylized graphic design aesthetic with clean architectural lines and dramatic twilight colors. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 6 / 10 Ranked 6th of 13, this is an attractive and technically polished musical city poster. The central requirement that the skyline itself form the notes is missing, substantially lowering its overall score.
A city skyline that forms the shape of musical notes on a staff, created in a stylized graphic design aesthetic with clean architectural lines and dramatic twilight colors. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 9 / 10 Ranked 1 of 13. It most successfully transforms the skyline itself into musical architecture, combining exceptional conceptual execution with a polished, cohesive graphic style.
Text in Images A wrinkled white T-shirt with "Carpe Diem" in bold serif font and "Seize The Day" in smaller script below it, modeled on a mannequin, professional product photography with soft-box lighting.
A wrinkled white T-shirt with "Carpe Diem" in bold serif font and "Seize The Day" in smaller script below it, modeled on a mannequin, professional product photography with soft-box lighting. - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 4 / 10 Ranked 13th of 13, this has competent photographic qualities but fails the central wording requirement. Because clear and accurate text is a primary purpose of the test, the missing 'Diem' outweighs the otherwise believable fabric.
A wrinkled white T-shirt with "Carpe Diem" in bold serif font and "Seize The Day" in smaller script below it, modeled on a mannequin, professional product photography with soft-box lighting. - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 9 / 10 Ranks first of 13 for combining exact typography with convincing wrinkled fabric and polished product photography. It offers the strongest overall execution without a significant prompt deviation.
Ultra Hard A realistic astronaut being ridden by a horse, photorealistic depiction in outer space with accurate lighting and proportions
A realistic astronaut being ridden by a horse, photorealistic depiction in outer space with accurate lighting and proportions - MAI-Image-2.6
MAI-Image-2.6 9 / 10 First overall: this is the clearest free-floating realization of the requested horse-on-astronaut reversal, with excellent lighting and material separation. Minor compression in the horse's tucked legs prevents a flawless score.
A realistic astronaut being ridden by a horse, photorealistic depiction in outer space with accurate lighting and proportions - Nano Banana 2.1
Nano Banana 2.1 6 / 10 Fourth overall: the role reversal and elaborate orbital staging are successful, but the horse's upper-body anatomy and helmet enclosure have serious flaws. Those coherence problems outweigh the exceptionally detailed spacecraft rendering.

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