Grok Imagine Image xAI Qwen Image Edit 2509 Alibaba

Settled by community votes across 7 shared challenges, with an AI judge weighing in on each.

Grok Imagine Image

23.4 arena score

#26 of 62 in Text-to-Image

Skill signature · Text-to-Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

7.8 arena score

#32 of 32 in Image Editing

Vote tally

Where the votes landed

Grok Imagine Image

win rate

Ties

Qwen Image Edit 2509

win rate

Shared challenges 7

Challenge by challenge

The strongest take from each model on every shared challenge, with the AI judge's read.

Man and Car in California

Editing

Edit instruction

“Make a photo of the man driving the car down the California coastline”

Source

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Excellent photographic quality and dynamic motion blur.
+ Accurately places the car on a realistic California coastline.

− Completely fails to include the man from the provided source image, replacing him with a different person.
− Slightly alters the car's front headlight design compared to the original.

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Successfully includes the specific man from the source image, including his unique hairstyle.
+ Maintains the car's original design and features very accurately.
+ Excellent scenic background that fits the 'California coastline' request.

− The man's scale and positioning inside the car look slightly unnatural.
− Some minor blending issues around the windshield and the man's hair.

Verdict: Grok Imagine Image creates a more polished and visually stunning photograph but fails the image editing task by ignoring the specific subject (the man) provided. Qwen Image Edit 2509 successfully merges both source images, correctly placing the specific man into the specific car in the requested setting, making it the better choice for an editing task.

Pose & Character Mashup

Editing

Edit instruction

“Use Image 1 as the exact pose reference and Image 2 as the character reference. Recreate the person/character from Image 2 in the exact dynamic pose and body position from Image 1. Keep the exact face, hair, clothing style/details, and expression from Image 2. Match the lighting and environment of Image 1. The final image must show the character from Image 2 performing the precise action/pose from Image 1 with perfect anatomy and natural integration.”

Source

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Successfully modified the leg position to be more dynamic and similar to the upper body angle.

− Completely failed to incorporate the character reference from Image 2, retaining the original woman from Image 1.
− Introduced a significant anatomical hallucination with three legs/feet.
− Failed to add the requested clothing items (scarf, sunglasses) from the character reference.

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Retained the original image's composition and anatomical structure almost perfectly.

− Completely ignored the instruction to swap the character for the person in Image 2.
− Failed to add any elements from the character reference (face, hair, scarf, sunglasses).
− Image appears to be nearly identical to the source with only minor color saturation differences.

Verdict: Both models failed significantly on the task's primary objective: to swap the character from Image 2 into the pose of Image 1. Grok Imagine Image attempted to change the pose slightly but produced a nonsensical result with three legs and zero character resemblance, while Qwen Image Edit 2509 simply returned a version of the original source image with no character change at all.

Outfit Transfer Challenge

Editing

Edit instruction

“Use Image 1 as the base person. Dress them in the exact elaborate outfit from Image 2 (including all layers, accessories, jewelry, and shoes). Carefully adapt the clothing to the body shape and pose in Image 1 while maintaining realistic fabric behavior, correct proportions, and perfect lighting/shadow matching. Keep the person’s exact face, hair, and background completely unchanged.”

Source

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Excellent preservation of the person's identity and facial details from Image 1.
+ High visual quality and resolution with realistic lighting on the new clothing.

− Failed the edit instruction completely by generating a generic royal outfit instead of the specific clothing from Image 2.

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Successfully applied the exact outfit (coat, scarf, jeans, sunglasses) from Image 2.
+ Maintains the pose and background from Image 1 correctly.
+ Good integration of the clothing onto the person, including the scarf and accessories.

− Lower image resolution and clarity compared to the original images.
− Noticeable artifacts and loss of facial detail on the subject.
− Added a mustache that was not present in Image 1 and was not requested.

Verdict: Grok Imagine Image produced a high-quality image that perfectly preserved the person's face, but it completely ignored the specific clothing requested from Image 2. Qwen Image Edit 2509 followed the complex editing instructions by transferring the exact outfit from Image 2 to the person in Image 1, though it suffered from a significant drop in resolution and unnecessary facial alterations. Qwen is the winner because it actually attempted and largely succeeded at the difficult instruction of multi-image clothing transfer.

Bald man challenge

Image Editing

Edit instruction

“Give the person a full, thick head of natural hair with realistic texture, density, and a natural hairline. Preserve facial features and lighting.”

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Excellent preservation of the original image's lighting, background, and clothing
+ The hairline and hair texture look highly realistic and age-appropriate for the subject

− Small artifact where the new hair meets the frame of the glasses near the temple

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Successfully followed the instruction for specifically thick and full hair
+ Good integration with the existing beard

− The hair texture has an oily/artificial sheen that looks less natural
− The volume is slightly exaggerated, making the head shape feel a bit distorted compared to the original

Verdict: Grok Imagine Image provides a much more convincing result by adding hair that matches the subject's age and the original lighting conditions perfectly. Qwen Image Edit 2509 creates a thicker head of hair as requested, but the texture looks somewhat plastic and the distribution is less natural.

Over-the-top cartoon caricature

Editing

Edit instruction

“Create a caricature of me and my job. Make it exaggerated and humorous, incorporating my profession as a tv show anchor and my love for dogs and hockey.”

Source

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Excellent caricature style with an exaggerated large head while maintaining the subject's likeness.
+ Perfectly clean and readable text on the anchor desk.
+ Creatively integrates all elements including a golden retriever in hockey gear.

− The hands on the desk are slightly small and less detailed than the rest of the image.

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Successfully maintains the denim jacket from the source image.
+ Captures a high energy, 'rubbery' caricature style common in comic art.
+ Integrates the hockey theme well into the background environment.

− The text in the speech bubble and on the screen is unintelligible gibberish.
− The dog element is very small and feels like an afterthought compared to other requested themes.

Verdict: Grok Imagine Image is the clear winner as it delivered a high-quality caricature that perfectly balanced all requested elements: the anchor desk, the hockey theme, and the dogs. While Qwen Image Edit 2509 maintained the denim jacket from the source, it failed with illegible text and a very minor inclusion of the dog theme.

Studio Ghibli Anime Style

Editing

Edit instruction

“Transform this photo into a Studio Ghibli–inspired illustration. Use soft pastel colors, hand-painted textures, gentle lighting, dreamy backgrounds, and a warm, nostalgic mood”

Source

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Captures the Studio Ghibli watercolor painting style perfectly.
+ Features a dreamy, painterly background with iconic Ghibli-style clouds.
+ Maintains excellent character poses and facial expressions from the source image.

− The characters look slightly older than typical Ghibli protagonists.
− The red dress is a bit flat compared to the textured background.

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Successfully applies a soft pastel color palette.
+ Maintains the structural integrity of the base image very well.
+ Good line work across all character figures.

− The style feels more like generic digital manhwa/webtoon than Studio Ghibli.
− The background is washed out and lacks the hand-painted charm of the requested style.
− Visible digital screen-tone or dot artifacts on the skin and clothing.

Verdict: Grok Imagine Image is the clear winner as it authentically captures the 'hand-painted' texture and atmospheric quality of a Studio Ghibli film, specifically in the rendering of the clouds and architectural shadows. Qwen Image Edit 2509 adopts a more generic digital illustration style that feels modern and lacks the nostalgic, painterly depth requested in the prompt.

Golden Hour Stroll

Image Editing

Edit instruction

“Add dynamic motion to this photo: make hair blow in the wind, add leaves flying, energetic and lively feel.”

Grok Imagine Image

Qwen Image Edit 2509

AI Judge Analysis

Grok Imagine Image

+ Excellent preservation of the woman's face and identity
+ Realistic hair flow that maintains texture
+ Successfully added movement to the dog's ears

− The leaves appear pasted on and lack motion blur
− Leaves on top of the woman's jeans look unrealistic

Qwen Image Edit 2509

+ Stronger sense of dynamic motion in the hair
+ Better integration of leaves with the background lighting
+ Maintains original image structure well

− The hair has a slightly more stylized, 'liquified' look compared to the original hair
− The goldens retriever's tail was significantly altered/enlarged unnecessarily

Verdict: Both models followed the instructions effectively, but Grok Imagine Image (Model A) is slightly better because it preserved the fine details of the woman's face and the dog more accurately. While Qwen Image Edit (Model B) created a more dramatic hair effect, it introduced more noticeable AI artifacts in the hair strands and altered the dog's tail in a way that looks less natural.