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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking vs Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview

Too close to call on our weighted score (Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 50, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 48). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    48/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.40 / $4.00
    • Context131K
  2. Google

    Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview

    Released Apr 14, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $5.00
    • Context131K
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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 50/100, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking $1.30 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 131,072 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking: Text, Images · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview: Text, Images, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview
Price50%4436
Inputs & features30%7090
Context window20%2424
Overall100%48/10050/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking vs Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba (Qwen)Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.40 (best)$1.00
Output$4.00 (best)$5.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$1.30 (best)$2.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 9 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID——
API providers9 (best)1
ReleasedSep 23, 2025Apr 14, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMar 31, 2025Jan 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking$12.00
  • Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview$20.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking or Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 50/100, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking or Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is cheaper at $0.40 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview costs $1.00 input / $5.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.30 per million tokens for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking versus $2.00 for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (1.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking has not been scored yet and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking up to 32,768, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts text and images; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview accepts text, images, audio and video. Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview is the newest, released Apr 14, 2026. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking came out Sep 23, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking Mar 31, 2025, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview Jan 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.