Instagram Restyle Vs Google Gemini 2.5 Flash: Which AI Photo Editing Tool Is Better?

Instagram recently introduced an AI-powered Restyle tool for Stories. Similar to Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (Nano Banana), the feature uses generative AI and allows users to edit photos using prompts or text instructions. 

As a photo editing tool, Google’s Nano Banana has been quite the rage since its launch, so we tried a comparison between Instagram Restyle and Gemini 2.5 Flash to check which edits better. We used the same images and prompts on both tools to generate creative pictures.

First, let’s have a look at the five prompts we used and the resulting outputs, and then conclude which tool ranks superior. 

Using the individual from the image as the main subject, relocate the scene to the Eiffel Tower in Paris during nighttime. Position her directly in front of the tower illuminated by warm golden lights. Preserve her original facial features and clothing, while incorporating a cloche hat atop her head. The entire composition should feature striking, dramatic lighting, ensuring her face remains well-lit and prominent.

Transform this image into a dramatic portrait set against a mountainous, snow-clad landscape during sunset. Update the clothing of the man to suit a winter environment, while preserving the original facial features. Incorporate gentle illumination and subtle shading to evoke a calm, introspective mood reminiscent of a classic film frame.

Transform this photo of a couple clad in a blanket, positioning them next to a realistic campfire in a hilly forested area. Include a tranquil evening sky and radiant flames from the fire, amplifying the coziness of the scene. Keep their faces as they are while changing their attires to winter clothing with hats, scarves, and gloves.

Using the boy in this picture, generate a realistic wintry scene featuring a snow-covered hamlet and a snowman. Ensure the boy’s face matches the one from the uploaded picture. Change the colour of his clothing to red, with the snowman positioned beside him. Additionally, include a reindeer in the background. The final output should look like a holiday-themed picture postcard.

Use the photo of this couple to produce a real-looking pre-wedding image, with the two standing before the Taj Mahal as the sun sets. Use the golden hues of dusk to accentuate the Taj Mahal’s majesty.

In prompts 1, 2, and 5, both tools offer good compositions, but the colours, picture quality, and details such as the woman resting her head on the man’s shoulder (prompt 5) are captured much better by Gemini 2.5 Flash. Images created using Instagram Restyle are visibly darker, and one can’t help notice that the tool alters the facial features as well.

Gemini 2.5 Flash really races ahead in prompts 3 and 4, where it understands and replicates the snowy hamlet scene with an exquisite snowman and postcard look, along with creating a beautiful scenery for the couple image. Instagram Restyle messes up the couple pic, badly morphing the characters with the background to generate a fabricated image. Restyle also couldn’t include details in the boy-in-the-snow picture, and the patches of red on the snowman look particularly bad, not to mention there is no hamlet.

The pictures say it all: Gemini 2.5 Flash beats Instagram Restyle hands down. It understands and executes prompts better, resulting in an image that is more detailed, clear, vivid, and creative, at the same time keeping the original look intact.