Bad news for Android phone owners – your device might not be powerful enough for Google's new features

Google's fancy new Gemini Intelligence might not work on older or lower power phones, after the hardware requirements for the new feature was revealed.

That might mean that those who don't have a phone that's flagship – or close to flagship – might not be able to access some of the most exciting features of Android 17 and Gemini.

Gemini Intelligence was revealed during The Android Show recently, outlining a version of Gemini with greater agentic powers, with new features such as the ability to create custom widgets on command.

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While the new features sound impressive, it looks like the demands on the hardware to run this level of AI is higher than anticipated – and perhaps explains Google's leaning towards NPU power on its chips rather than just raw compute and graphical power.

Uncovered by 9to5Google, the Gemini Intelligence page includes a footnote that says: "Gemini Intelligence features are only available on Android devices with the most advanced capabilities and spec requirements".

The list then goes on to detail that the hardware must include: AI Core and Nano V3 models; top level media performance including HDR and special audio; 12GB+ RAM; Flagship chip; at least five OS updates and six security updates, and more.

That's a list that suits some of the top Android brands – like Google – but will leave some of the cheaper providers without access to Gemini's features.

There's two things here: firstly, support for Nano V3 is currently limited to the most recent devices, like the Pixel 10, Honor Magic 8 Pro, OnePlus 15, Samsung Galaxy S26 and others, but it might be that phones just one year old can't run Gemini Intelligence.

Alternatively, it might mean that older phones will have to do some work to support Nano V3.

While these requirements seem to exclude a lot of recent devices, that's not to say that those requirements will remain fixed. Over the past years, we've seen Google put a lot of work into making its AI models more efficient, moving from cloud to local services, thanks to optimisation.

There's no reason why the same couldn't be applied to Gemini Intelligence.

It's also interesting that there's a requirement for a number of OS updates and security updates. This excludes a number of brands who often offer cheaper devices, but only have minimal support.

Could this be Google's way of encouraging longer support across the whole Android ecosystem? Or is this because Google is unwilling to support those devices if it's only going to be for 3 years?

We're sure that Google will be saying more about Gemini Intelligence at Google I/O, but as it stands, those with flagship phones from 2025 might not be able to use it.