Google has published the hardware bar a phone has to clear before it can run Gemini Intelligence, and it has separately listed the first devices that support Gemini Nano 4 — the on-device model behind the newest of those features. Seven phones are on that list, and every one of them shipped in the last few weeks.
The seven, as reported by 9to5Google from Google’s developer documentation, are the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold, plus Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. 9to5Google says the list was updated on 26 August. The documentation page it comes from sits behind a developer sign-in, so the roster rests on that reporting rather than on a page Google has put in front of ordinary readers.
What Google says a phone needs for Gemini Intelligence
This part is not a leak. Google’s own Gemini Intelligence page spells the requirements out in a footnote, and the version served on the US locale of the site lists eight of them:
- On-device AI: AI Core integration with Gemini Nano v3 or greater
- Media performance: current-generation spatial audio, low light and HDR, plus annual gaming image and driver updates
- Memory: 12GB of RAM or more
- Chipset: a qualified SoC, which Google glosses as a flagship chip
- Quality in the field: meeting Google’s service-level objectives, such as crash rate, in 2026, enforced further in 2027
- Quality at launch: passing a test suite on Android 17 or newer
- OS commitment: five OS upgrades, plus AVF and pKVM virtualisation support
- Security commitment: six years of updates on a quarterly cadence
Two of those are the interesting ones for anybody shopping. The 12GB RAM floor and the flagship-chip requirement mean Gemini Intelligence is being drawn as a premium tier by design, not as something a mid-ranger grows into with a software update. The five-upgrade and six-year security lines are a bar on the manufacturer, not on the silicon — an OEM that promises less simply cannot qualify, however good its hardware is.
One oddity worth recording without over-reading: the same page served on the India locale carries an abridged six-item version of the footnote, with the “Nano v3 or greater” wording and both of the OS and security commitments missing. Google has not explained the difference, and we are not going to guess at one.
The phones that look like they qualify but are not on the list
Nothing here says a phone outside the seven is barred from Gemini Intelligence. But the absences are conspicuous. The Pixel 10 series and the Galaxy S26 series are both current flagships, and neither appears on the Nano 4 roster. 9to5Google’s read is that it “remains to be seen” whether either family officially gets Gemini Intelligence, and Google has previously said the features would arrive in waves.
Android Authority makes a further point that matters more than the model list: even among the seven, support is uneven. Samsung’s foldables support Gemini Nano 4, but Gboard’s Rambler voice typing and the upcoming Create My Widget are, for now, Pixel 11 features. So “supports Nano 4” is not the same promise as “gets the features Google demos.”
The practical takeaway for anyone buying a phone in the next few months is that Android’s AI story is quietly moving from a version number to a spec sheet. If you want the newest Gemini features on a phone you buy today, 12GB of RAM and a flagship chip are now the entry ticket, and even that does not guarantee the marquee features land on your device rather than on a Pixel.
Sources: 9to5Google, Android Authority
