John
Storage space costs a premium price when you’re an Apple customer, so nobody could blame you if you opted for a Mac with a smaller hard drive than what you really need.
Since swapping it for a larger one would be costly or impossible, you have to make the most with what you have. In this Gemini 2 review, we’re taking a closer look at the popular duplicate finder for Mac to see if it can really effortlessly recover as much space as it claims.
What Is Gemini 2?
Before we get to the meat of this Gemini 2 duplicate finder review, we should briefly explain what the app is supposed to do.
Just like other apps of its kind, Gemini 2 uses an assortment of algorithms to detect duplicate files, such as email attachments you’ve downloaded twice or identical photos stored in several different locations on your hard drive.
When Gemini 2 is done scanning your hard drive, it lets you review all found duplicates so that you can decide which of them you want to keep and which you would rather delete to reclaim wasted storage space.
Pros:
- Polished user interface
- Fast scanning
- Can spot similar photos
- Real-time duplicate monitoring
- Available in multiple languages
Cons:
- Doesn’t display an estimated scan time
- Doesn’t play nice with on-demand files stored in the cloud
- One-time purchase licenses are expensive
Is Gemini 2 Free?
Yes and no. While you can use Gemini 2 to scan your Mac for duplicates without paying a single dollar, the app won’t allow you to delete them all in one go using its Smart Cleanup feature.
Instead, you will only be provided with the option to display individual duplicates in Finder and delete them manually, which can be extremely time-consuming if hundreds or thousands of duplicates are on your Mac.
To unlock Smart Cleanup, you need to purchase either a subscription plan (costs $19.95 for one Mac for one year) or an unlimited license (costs $44.95 for one Mac).
Regardless of which option you choose, you always get to enjoy 24/7 technical and sales support. Moreover, all purchases come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you definitely won’t lose your money if Gemini 2 fails to meet your expectations.
Does Gemini 2 Work? Hands-on Testings
Unlike many other duplicate finders, Gemini 2 boasts a polished user interface that’s as nice to look at as it is functional.
To start a scan, you must click the Scan for Duplicates button and let the app do its job. By default, Gemini 2 scans the home folder of the current user, but you can scan other locations as well.
On our M1 MacBook Air (2020) with a 512 GB SSD, it took about two minutes for Gemini 2 to finish scanning the home folder, including the entire Photos and Music libraries—just long enough for a quick bathroom break. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an estimated time remaining for the scan to finish, but it was over so quickly that we didn’t really mind.
What bothered us much more was how Gemini 2 triggered OneDrive to download all on-demand files. It would be nice for the app to display an alert screen with the option to skip the OneDrive folder.
After scanning, we were presented with two options: Review Results and Smart Cleanup. Because we used the free version, the Smart Cleanup option, which can be used to automatically delete found duplicates, was locked.
As such, we clicked Review Results and were presented with a long list of 457 duplicates. Together, the found duplicates occupied nearly 1 GB of storage space, which is quite a lot considering that our testing Mac was both new and well-maintained.
In addition to detecting identical files, Gemini 2 can also spot similar photos and help you delete everything but the best ones. This feature turned out to be very useful because our Mac contained a lot of nearly identical screenshots and product pictures.
Again, we couldn’t use the Smart Cleanup feature to delete all duplicates with a simple click easily, so we instead deleted the largest duplicates manually using Finder, which the free version of Gemini 2 helped us do.
User Feedback
On the Mac App Store, Gemini 2 has an average rating of 4 stars out of 5 based on around 1,300 ratings.
Here are three MacPaw Gemini 2 reviews from the Mac App Store to give you an idea of what its users think about it:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ sandra_g, 08/19/2018:
I just got rid of over 30G of duplicate files, some of which have been floating around for a decade or more. I found the interface fairly easy to use (though at times got a little mixed up and had to remind myself to select the one I want to DELETE, not KEEP!)
This raving review reflects what most users who are satisfied with Gemini 2 have to say about the software. Indeed, the paid version of the duplicate finder makes the removal of gigabytes of storage-space wasting files very easy. It’s also true that one must be careful when manually selecting duplicate files, but there’s always the Smart Cleanup feature, and using it to select all duplicates in one go is a matter of a single click.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ machinehum, 09/10/2021
I’ve tried many duplicate and similar file finders, and I find Gemini and Disk Drill to be the only ones worth using. They’re nearly equal, with different strengths and weaknesses (Disk Drill doesn’t do similars at all, but in my experience it is better at finding all duplicates in large sets on a single pass; you can make Gemini better by taking the smallest-file setting off of ‘auto’, but it’s a pain to manage it manually all the time).
Indeed, there are many other duplicate finders that make the same or similar promises as Gemini 2, but only a handful of them actually deliver similar results. We tested the advice given by the reviewer and were able to confirm that it does improve scan results noticeably.
⭐️⭐️ objectivec, 08/06/2020:
I have 20,000 images (mostly jpg files) that I’m trying to organize. Sometimes Gemini finds duplicates and similar images, but most often it doesn’t find anything. This is rather infuriating as I know it can identify 2 pictures that are only slightly different — but only sometimes.
Finding two similar pictures is much more complicated than finding two identical ones, so it’s no surprise that this feature is single-handedly responsible for a good portion of negative reviews Gemini 2. If you want to be completely sure that no similar-looking pictures have been left behind, we recommend you use one extra duplicate finder in addition to Gemini 2.
Where to Download MacPaw Gemini 2?
You can download Gemini 2 directly from its official website.
We recommend you avoid third-party software download sites because several such sites have been found to distribute Mac malware.
Whether you choose to download the app from its website or the Mac App Store, you must install the free version first. To unlock all features, you need to enter a license key, which you can buy on MacPaw’s website or as an in-app purchase.
Alternatives to MacPaw Gemini 2
Even though we haven’t mentioned a lot of negatives in our Gemini II review, there are several other duplicate file finders you should know about.
1. Nektony Duplicate File Finder
Nektony Duplicate File Finder is cheaper than Gemini 2 and also natively runs on M1 Macs. It also outshines Gemini 2 in terms of features, offering the ability to find identical and similar files and the option to compare two similar folders and merge them into one, with all duplicates thrown out the window. What this app does miss is Gemini’s real-time duplicate monitoring feature.
2. MacKeeper
MacKeeper isn’t a standalone duplicate finder like Gemini 2 or Nektony Duplicate File Finder. Instead, it’s a complete suite of Mac cleaning, optimization, and security tools, with one of them being a basic duplicate finder. As an extra feature, it’s great, but don’t expect it to outshine standalone apps.
3. Cisdem Duplicate Finder for Mac
Cisdem Duplicate Finder for Mac isn’t as well-rated as Gemini 2 (3.7 stars out of 5 stars on the Mac App Store versus 4 stars), but the app performs quite well and supports over 200 file types. What’s more, a lifetime license costs only $29.99, almost half of what MacPaw charges for a lifetime Gemini 2 license.
FAQs
Is Gemini 2 safe?
Yes, Gemini 2, like all other software developed by MacPaw, is perfectly safe and won’t harm your Mac in any way.
Which languages are supported by Gemini 2?
Gemini 2 currently supports English, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese.
What are the system requirements of Gemini 2?
Gemini 2 runs on macOS 10.10 and higher.
Does Gemini 2 natively support M1 Macs?
No, but the software works via Rosetta 2.
Verdict
So, is Gemini 2 worth it? Absolutely! Gemini 2 is a capable duplicate finder that stands out thanks to its well-thought-out user interface, impressive performance, and useful extra features. If you can accept its higher price (or wait for a seasonal discount), you can be sure that it will reliably prevent duplicate files from stealing precious storage space from you. Just keep in mind that great alternatives do exist, so make sure to explore them before you make your decision.
