Google Gemini Review: Models, Architecture, and Context Window Specs

What is Gemini and what does it offer?

Google Gemini is a multimodal-native suite of large language models (LLMs) designed to process text, code, audio, image, and video. Its primary value proposition is the long context window (up to 2 million tokens), which significantly exceeds the memory capacity of competitors like GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

While it excels at Google ecosystem integration (pulling data from Docs, Gmail, and Drive), it often faces criticism for restrictive safety filters. Unlike competitors that retrofitted multimodality, Gemini was trained on different data types from the start, allowing for more fluid reasoning between a video file and a text prompt.

What LLM/s does Gemini use?

Does Gemini have image/video generation?

Yes. Gemini utilizes Imagen 3 for image generation, which is integrated directly into the chat interface. It supports high-fidelity photorealistic outputs, text rendering within images, and various aspect ratios.

Regarding video, Google has announced Veo, a high-definition generative video model. While not fully rolled out to all web users, it is being integrated into the creative workflow for power users via Google Labs and Vertex AI.

Does Gemini use my data and can I opt out?

Google stores conversations, location data, and usage feedback.

• Data Training: In the standard consumer version, Google may use human reviewers to analyze anonymized snippets of your conversations to improve the models.
• Opt-Out: Users can disable Gemini Apps Activity. Turning this off prevents future chat history from being saved or used for human review, though it may limit some features like "Extensions."
• Enterprise/Workspace: If using Gemini through a paid Google Workspace Business, Enterprise, or Education account, data is not used to train models and is not seen by human reviewers.

What can I use Gemini for?

• Long-Form Document Analysis: Analyzing 1,000+ page PDFs or massive codebases in a single prompt.
• Video Reasoning: Uploading a video and asking the AI to find a specific moment or explain a complex visual process.
• Ecosystem Automation: Drafting emails based on Drive documents or checking real-time flight data via Google Flights.
• Multimodal Debugging: Providing a screen recording of a software bug for the AI to analyze the visual output and suggest code fixes.

What is the real cost of using this tool?

• Free Tier: Access to Gemini 1.5 Flash. Subject to heavy throttling during peak times and lower rate limits.
• Gemini Advanced ($20/mo): Includes 1.5 Pro, 2TB of Google One storage, and integration into Docs/Gmail.
• API Costs: Pay-as-you-go via Google AI Studio. Note that input costs double for prompts longer than 128,000 tokens. There is a free tier for API testing, but it uses your data for model training.

The best alternatives to Gemini

Name	Price	Key Feature
ChatGPT	$20/mo	GPT-5 reasoning and advanced data analysis.
Claude	$20/mo	Superior coding and natural writing style.
Microsoft Copilot	$20/mo	Native MS Office/Excel integration.
Perplexity AI	$20/mo	Real-time "Answer Engine" with deep citations.
DeepSeek	Free/Usage	High-tier reasoning at a fraction of the cost.
Mistral Large	Usage-based	European-based, strong data sovereignty.

What are the most common complaints from the Reddit and Disclair community?

Sentiment analysis from the r/Bard and r/GoogleGeminiAI subreddits highlights several recurring pain points:

1. Strict Censorship: Users frequently complain about "preachy" refusals. The AI often declines to answer subjective or mildly controversial prompts due to over-tuned safety guardrails.
2. Performance Degradation: Recent threads suggest a "laziness" factor where the model provides shorter, less detailed answers than at launch (Source).
3. Hallucinations in Large Context: Despite the 2M token window, users report "lost in the middle" phenomena where the AI misses specific details buried in large files.
4. UI/UX Stability: Common reports of the interface freezing or failing to render code blocks correctly during high-volume sessions.

FAQ

1. Is Gemini better than GPT-4o? Gemini wins in context window size and Google integration; GPT-4o generally leads in creative writing and voice interaction.

2. Can I use Gemini for coding? Yes, it supports over 20 programming languages and is integrated into Google's IDX development environment.

3. Does Gemini have a mobile app? Yes, it is available as a standalone app on Android (replacing Google Assistant) and within the Google app on iOS.

4. Can Gemini access the live internet? Yes, it uses Google Search to ground its responses in real-time information.

5. How do I access the 2 million token window? The 2M window is currently available via Google AI Studio for developers and selected Gemini Advanced subscribers.

6. Does Gemini support "System Instructions"? Yes, via the API/AI Studio, allowing users to define a permanent persona or behavioral constraint.

7. Can I upload videos directly? Yes, you can upload video files (up to an hour long) for the model to summarize or analyze.

8. Is there a way to use Gemini for free without data training? No. The free consumer tier and free API tier both involve data usage for model improvement. Only the paid Enterprise tiers guarantee data privacy.