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Nano Banana 2 Lite

Nano Banana 2 Lite

AI performance Google
Google launched Nano Banana 2 Lite, its most cost-efficient image model, and introduced Gemini Omni Flash for real-time conversational video generation.
What: Nano Banana 2 Lite is priced at $0.034 per 1K image and targets high-throughput drafting. Gemini Omni Flash enables natural language video editing and generation at $0.10 per second of video output.
Why it matters: Google is rapidly commoditizing generative media, pushing performance and cost-per-inference to levels that make complex, multi-turn video pipelines viable for developers.
Takeaway: Developers using the legacy 'gemini-2.5-flash-image' should switch to the 'gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image' for lower latency and cost.
Deep dive
  • Nano Banana 2 Lite focuses on text-to-image latency, delivering results in approximately 4 seconds.
  • Gemini Omni Flash supports multimodal input combinations (text, image, video) for consistent video editing.
  • Both models are now accessible via Google AI Studio and the Gemini API.
  • Features SynthID watermarking to help verify content authenticity.
  • New demo apps 'Anywhere' and 'Space Lift' illustrate chaining these models for interactive media.
Decoder
  • Logits: Raw output scores from a model before they are transformed into probabilities (like the likelihood of a specific image token).
  • Multimodal: The ability for an AI to process and generate various types of media (text, audio, images, video) simultaneously.
Original article

Start building with Nano Banana 2 Lite and Gemini Omni Flash

We’re making it easier to experiment and scale your ideas with Nano Banana 2 Lite, our fastest, most cost-efficient Gemini Image model, and Gemini Omni Flash for high-quality video generation and conversational editing.

Today, we’re making it faster and easier to experiment, refine and scale your ideas with two major releases:

  • Introducing Nano Banana 2 Lite: Our fastest, most cost-efficient image model in the Nano Banana family yet, built for high throughput, speed and scale. Nano Banana 2 Lite is available today in Google AI Studio, Gemini API and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. It is also rolling out today in Google consumer surfaces including AI Mode in Search, Gemini app and many other products.
  • Bringing Gemini Omni Flash to developers: Our high quality, cost-efficient model for video generation and conversational editing, now available in Google AI Studio, the Gemini API and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform for the first time. Omni Flash is also available in the Gemini app and Google Flow.

Building with generative media is often about creative iteration. With these two models, developers can build comprehensive, end-to-end multimedia experiences that connect rapid image generation with video creation and editing. Whether your workflow requires generating thousands of images or editing multi-turn video sequences, you now have two new models to build faster, iterate seamlessly and bring your creative vision to life.

Nano Banana 2 Lite: our fastest most cost-efficient Gemini Image model

Nano Banana 2 Lite (gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image) is designed for rapid ideation and high-velocity developer pipelines where speed and cost are the primary constraints. It’s our recommended replacement for developers currently using our first version of Nano Banana (gemini-2.5-flash-image), you can swap it out now for immediate benefits across key performance dimensions.

Nano Banana 2 Lite shines in:

  • Latency: Delivers text-to-image outputs in 4 seconds. This makes it ideal for interactive prototyping and rapid visual drafting.
  • Cost-efficiency ($0.034 per 1K image): A cost-efficient choice for developers focused on drafting, ideating, managing operational budgets or low-bandwidth usage.

Despite prioritizing speed, Nano Banana 2 Lite retains reliable prompt adherence, strong character consistency and legible in-image text rendering.

Understanding the Nano Banana family

  • Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image): Built for speed. Optimized for near-real-time, high-volume workflows where ultra-low latency is critical.
  • Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image): The generalist workhorse. Delivers high quality at a lower latency, offering the best balance of performance and cost.
  • Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image): Optimized for complex, professional use cases. It provides the most robust control and advanced reasoning for tasks where accuracy is more important than speed.
  • Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image): Our legacy model. We recommend upgrading to Nano Banana 2 Lite for better quality, faster speeds and lower costs.

Experience high-quality, cost-efficient video editing and generation with Gemini Omni Flash

At Google I/O we introduced Gemini Omni Flash, the model where Gemini’s multimodal reasoning meets video generation and editing. Today, Gemini Omni Flash (gemini-omni-flash-preview) is rolling to developers via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio, natively supporting high-quality video generation and conversational editing from a combination of text, image and video inputs. This model is priced competitively at $0.10 per second of video output, which is the same as Veo 3.1 Fast.

Omni Flash shines in:

  • Conversational video editing: Refine and edit videos using natural language.
  • Multimodal referencing: Combine inputs like images, text and video to maintain control and consistency over your scene.
  • Real-world knowledge: Omni draws on Gemini’s knowledge such as history, biology and narrative logic to construct compelling videos.
  • Text and action synchronization: Connect text and graphics directly to video actions, through simple prompting.

Limitations:

  • Omni offers 10-second video generations currently, with longer durations coming soon.
  • Uploading audio references and scene extension is not yet supported in the Gemini API for this model.
  • Video references up to 3 seconds in duration are accepted by the API schema but are not correctly processed by the model at this time.
  • Character consistency when changing scenes or panning movements has some limitations but we are working to make this better.

Build with both models today

The real magic happens when you chain these models together. Use Nano Banana 2 Lite as a high-speed image generation model, then pass that image as a reference to Gemini Omni Flash to animate it into a high-quality video. Plus, by using the Interactions API for these multi-turn experiences, you can maintain session history and context so users can stack up to three sequential edits.

To help you get started we created a few demo apps you can remix that let you experience how you can pair both Nano Banana 2 Lite and Gemini Omni Flash into one workflow.

Build with safety and transparency

Built on Google’s secure infrastructure, Gemini Omni and Nano Banana 2 Lite use SynthID watermarking. You can verify AI content through the Gemini app, Gemini in Chrome or Search.

Start your project today

Nano Banana 2 Lite resources:

  • Head over to Google AI Studio to experiment with the model in the playground.
  • Dive into our Gemini API Documentation.
  • Check out our Nano Banana prompting guide, filled with best practices and example prompts.

Gemini Omni Flash resources:

  • Head over to Google AI Studio to experiment with the model in the playground.
  • Dive into our Gemini API Documentation.
  • Check out our Gemini Omni Flash prompting guide, filled with best practices and example prompts.
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