In Image Editing, Nano Banana 2.1 is now Google's best model on all 7 editing actions, with big gains in Scene & Style and Identity Preserving edits

In Image Editing, Nano Banana 2.1 is now Google's best model on all 7 editing actions, with big gains in Scene & Style and Identity Preserving edits Our Image Arena taxonomy measures 7 editing actions and 10 use cases for Image Editing. Editing actions measure what an edit asks the model to do. Only the two GPT Image 2.5 models rank above Nano Banana 2.1 on Reasoning-Based Edit and Identity Preserving Edit. Scene & Style Edit jumps from #24 to close behind the leading model. Identity Preserving Edit rises from #12 to #3, so it keeps people and characters consistent through an edit better than Nano Banana 2. Enhancement & Restoration is the weak spot: #18, and no better than Nano Banana 2. ➤ Reasoning-Based Edit covers edits that need inference about the scene rather than a literal instruction. ➤ Scene & Style Edit covers relighting, restyling, and changes to the background, setting or overall treatment. ➤ Identity Preserving Edit covers changes to people, faces and characters that must keep identity intact.