Tests | PixelShapr

TESTS · MODEL COMPARISON

Sparse prompt

TEST 01

A photorealistic rendering of a 'Nordic' humanoid alien

Row 1 — 9:16 portrait

one pass per model

A 'Nordic alien' is described as near-identical to a regular human, with only a subtle otherworldliness — the defining traits being blonde hair, blue eyes and super-model attractiveness and physique. So the sparse prompt doesn't give these details, just the concept, to see how well the model can work with cultural references in the prompt. So for this prompt, an obvious grey/green alien is a miss, however photo-realistic it is. Failure here isn't condemnation of the model, it's job is to follow your prompt, and your job is to give it clear instructions, but we ran this out of interest. Gender was never stated in the sparse prompt; it was left open to see what would be produced.

Model A Flux 2 result — A · Flux 2
5 cr · 6 s

Model B Flux 2 Pro result — B · Flux 2 Pro
9 cr · 10 s

Model C Google Nano Banana 2 result — C · Google Nano Banana 2
24 cr · 20 s

Model D Seedream 5.0 Pro result — D · Seedream 5.0 Pro
21 cr · 79 s

Model E Grok Imagine 2.0 result — E · Grok Imagine 2.0
18 cr · 70 s

Model F Qwen Image 2512 result — F · Qwen Image 2512
6 cr · 8 s

Row 2 — consistency, two passes

same model, same prompt, run twice · 1:1 headshot

Flux 2 and Qwen are the only models that returned the same creature twice — consistency or lack of imagination? But both returned an obvious alien, and presumably didn't check what 'Nordic' meant. Nano Banana and Grok read the subject correctly as a near-human Nordic and are the strongest pairs here, Nano Banana is strong on prompt-implied features but its 'photorealistic' ability is very hit and miss. Seedream arguably takes a sophisticated approach here, but misses on the lore-based clothing and beauty. Seedream and Grok are by far the slowest but that may be a price worth paying if the quality is very high.

A · Flux 2INTERPRETATION

B · Flux 2 ProHAIR LOSS

C · Google Nano Banana 2GOOD

D · Seedream 5.0 ProMIXED

E · Grok Imagine 2.0REASONABLE

F · Qwen Image 2512INTERPRETATION

Detailed prompt

TEST 02 · 03

A photorealistic rendering of a 'Nordic' humanoid alien, female, long blonde hair, blue eyes, high cheekbones, beautiful, wearing a blue form-fitting jumpsuit

This time the lore-based description was detailed in the prompt, the same used on both runs at 9:16, so the two rows read as a consistency test in themselves. Seedream takes it on the super-model level beauty, consistency and realism; Grok is a close second across every criterion; Nano Banana is the most photorealsitic by far in run 02 but slips toward a CGI-poster / painterly look elsewhere. Qwen is legibly alien yet matches face shape, eyes, hair length and clothing well and is great quality. Flux 2 respects the details but reads 60s-sci-fi hammy rather than photorealistic.

Run 02

PASS 1

Run 03

PASS 2

Cost

AVG CREDITS · 3 RUNS

AFlux 2

5 cr

FQwen Image 2512

6 cr

BFlux 2 Pro

9 cr

EGrok Imagine 2.0

18 cr

DSeedream 5.0 Pro

21 cr

CGoogle Nano Banana 2

24 cr

CHEAPEST: A — FLUX 2 · 4.8× CHEAPER THAN GOOGLE NANO BANANA 2

Time to process

AVG SECONDS · FASTEST TO SLOWEST

AFlux 2

6 s

FQwen Image 2512

8 s

BFlux 2 Pro

10 s

CGoogle Nano Banana 2

20 s

EGrok Imagine 2.0

70 s

DSeedream 5.0 Pro

79 s

FASTEST: A — FLUX 2 · SEEDREAM 5.0 PRO TAKES 13× LONGER

Best overall

QUALITY 60 · COST 20 · SPEED 20

Brief — subject read as a near-human NordicDetail — stated features honouredPhotoreal — passes as a photograph, not CGIBeauty — the super-model noteConsistency — same subject across passesIN THE ROWS BELOW, LONGER = BETTER ON EVERY BAR — INCLUDING COST AND SPEED, WHICH ARE SHOWN AS VALUE

#1CGoogle Nano Banana 276 pts

Reads the brief correctly — a beautiful near-human Nordic — and produced the most photographic frames of the whole test in runs 01 and 02. Marked down because other runs drift back to a CGI-poster / painterly finish, and it does not hold one face across passes. Priciest in the field.

BRIEF5/5

DETAIL5/5

PHOTOREAL4/5

BEAUTY5/5

CONSISTENCY3/5

COST · VALUE24 cr

SPEED · VALUE20 s

#2EGrok Imagine 2.061 pts

Matched Nano Banana on the sparse runs and edged it on realism, losing that round only on the super-model note. In 02–03 it is a close second to Seedream on every criterion — and it costs less, which makes it the value pick of the top three.

BRIEF4/5

DETAIL4/5

PHOTOREAL5/5

BEAUTY4/5

CONSISTENCY4/5

COST · VALUE18 cr

SPEED · VALUE70 s

#3DSeedream 5.0 Pro56 pts

Fails the beauty note in run 01, then wins it in 02 and 03 with the most consistent subject and good realism plus full-body framing. The cost is time: 79s a frame, the slowest here.

BRIEF4/5

DETAIL5/5

PHOTOREAL4/5

BEAUTY4/5

CONSISTENCY4/5

COST · VALUE21 cr

SPEED · VALUE79 s

#4BFlux 2 Pro50 pts

Cleaner and more attractive than base Flux and holds the suit, eyes and hair, but the skin still renders airbrushed and the subject changes register between passes.

BRIEF3/5

DETAIL4/5

PHOTOREAL3/5

BEAUTY4/5

CONSISTENCY2/5

COST · VALUE9 cr

SPEED · VALUE10 s

#5FQwen Image 251246 pts

Clearly alien, so off-brief on the subject read — but within that it does a good job: face shape, eyes, long hair and clothing all well matched in 02–03, and it repeats itself. Near-Flux economy.

BRIEF2/5

DETAIL4/5

PHOTOREAL2/5

BEAUTY2/5

CONSISTENCY5/5

COST · VALUE6 cr

SPEED · VALUE8 s

#6AFlux 240 pts

Sparse prompt went straight to an obvious grey alien — a miss on a subject that should read as near-human. Detailed runs respect the stated features but land 60s-sci-fi hammy rather than photorealistic. Cheapest and fastest by a wide margin, and repeatable.

BRIEF1/5

DETAIL4/5

PHOTOREAL2/5

BEAUTY2/5

CONSISTENCY5/5

COST · VALUE5 cr

SPEED · VALUE6 s

TODAY'S PICK Nano Banana 2 takes it on the quality-led weighting: it is the only model that read the brief as written — a beautiful, near-human Nordic — and it produced the most photographic frames in the test. Grok Imagine 2.0 is the counter-pick and the better buy than Seedream: cheaper, quicker and marginally stronger across the criteria. Flux 2 stays the throughput option only.

PIXELSHAPR · DATED MODEL TESTSREC 2026-09-10