Model comparison
MiniMax H3 Image vs Seedream 5
We ran the same eight prompts on MiniMax H3 Image and Seedream 5. One try each, nothing picked or re-rolled. Here is how they compare.
Try MiniMax H3 ImageThe short answer
- H3 Image makes the more natural photo. Seedream 5 is more polished, with smoother skin and brighter light.
- H3 Image costs about half as much: 1.5 credits at 2K against 2.75.
- H3 Image goes four times larger. It renders 16 megapixels at 4K, and Seedream 5 stops at 2K.
- Seedream 5 draws the fuller, more dramatic picture. It was the only one to catch water flying off the pottery wheel.
- Seedream 5 spelled the chalk menu perfectly. H3 Image missed one word.
At a glance
| MiniMax H3 Image | Seedream 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Photos that look taken, scenes with many exact details | Polished, dramatic images and rich illustration |
| Price at 2K | 1.5 credits | 2.75 credits |
| Largest size | 4K, 16 megapixels (4 credits) | 2K, 4 megapixels |
| Text in images | Exact when every word is quoted | Exact when every word is quoted |
| Photo edits | Up to 8 images | Reference images supported |
Portrait photo
H3 Image looks like an unretouched photo: deep lines, flyaway hair, soft window light. Seedream 5 is brighter and smoother, closer to a magazine cover, and she looks straight at the camera where the prompt asked for a glance away.
A close-up editorial photograph of a woman in her sixties with short silver hair and deep laugh lines, wearing a mustard yellow wool turtleneck, looking slightly off camera with a small smile. Window light from the left, soft shadow on the right side of her face, shallow depth of field, a blurred bookshelf behind her. Natural skin texture with visible pores and fine hairs, catchlights in both eyes, shot on an 85mm lens at f/1.8.
Hands at work
H3 Image gives the side view at wheel height the prompt asked for, and it feels like a real workshop snapshot. Seedream 5 shoots from the front with moodier light and is the only one that shows water flying off the wheel. Both have the silver ring.
A photograph of an elderly potter's hands shaping a wet clay bowl on a spinning pottery wheel, seen from the side at table height. Both hands are fully visible with all ten fingers, clay slip running over the knuckles, a thin silver ring on the left ring finger. Water droplets flying off the wheel, a dim workshop behind with shelves of unfired pots, warm tungsten light from above, motion blur on the wheel only.
Five objects, each in its place
Both get all five objects in place with the glasses on the left page. Seedream 5 turns the toy car to face left, as asked, and throws long shadows. H3 Image looks more like a real photo of a real table.
A wooden kitchen table photographed from directly above. Exactly five objects are on it: a blue ceramic mug of black coffee in the top left corner, a green apple with one bite taken out of it in the top right corner, an open paperback book in the center with a pair of round gold glasses resting on its left page, a yellow pencil lying horizontally below the book, and a small red toy car in the bottom right corner facing left. Morning sunlight coming from the right, soft long shadows pointing left.
Poster with text
Every word is spelled right on both. H3 Image leads with a huge headline and a small, simple drawing. Seedream 5 gives the saxophone player a large, detailed harbor scene.
A vintage letterpress concert poster on cream paper. Large headline at the top in bold red slab serif reads "MIDNIGHT HARBOR JAZZ FESTIVAL". Below it, smaller black text reads "Friday 14 March, Doors 8 PM, Pier 39 Warehouse". In the center, a navy blue linocut illustration of a saxophone player standing on a dock under a crescent moon. At the bottom, a row of three small lines of text: "Tickets $25", "All Ages", "Rain or Shine". Visible paper grain and slightly uneven ink.
Edit: same person, new scene
Both keep her face, her hair and the denim jacket. H3 Image pulls back to show the table and the street. Seedream 5 moves in closer, with warm sun on the buildings behind her.
The same woman from the image sitting at a cafe table in Paris, holding a cup of coffee, wearing the same denim jacket and gold earrings, candid street photograph, golden hour
Edit: product in a scene
A tie. Both place the bottle by the window and leave the room as it was. H3 Image adds a warm patch of sun on the counter. Seedream 5 keeps the cooler morning light.
Place the serum bottle from the second image on the marble counter in the first image, near the window, keep the morning light and add a soft natural shadow. Keep everything else the same.
Chalkboard menu
Seedream 5 wins this one. Every item and price is right on both, but H3 Image wrote "seasanal" in the pink line at the bottom.
A chalkboard cafe menu hanging on a white tiled wall, written in neat white chalk handwriting. Title at the top: "TODAY'S MENU". Then four lines, each with a price on the right: "Flat White 4.50", "Oat Milk Latte 5.00", "Almond Croissant 3.75", "Avocado Toast 9.25". At the bottom in pink chalk: "Ask about our seasonal specials!" A small chalk drawing of a steaming coffee cup in the bottom left corner. A string of warm fairy lights along the top of the board.
Infographic
Neither is ready to print. Both get the title and the five step names right, and both fill the small caption lines with made-up words. Seedream 5 draws the nicer icons. Write out each caption in quotes and both improve.
A clean infographic titled "How Coffee Gets to Your Cup" with five numbered steps in a vertical flow: 1 Grow, 2 Harvest, 3 Dry, 4 Roast, 5 Brew, each with a small flat icon and one short line of text, warm brown and cream palette
Run your own test
Both models are on Pixel Dojo. Copy any prompt above and try it on each.