DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Phi 4 Mini
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Phi 4 Mini are closely matched at -3.6 and -4.6 on the LLM Stats Score.
DeepSeek · Microsoft · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Phi 4 Mini are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at -3.6 and -4.6.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
Choose Phi 4 Mini
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B · 17 for Phi 4 Mini
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 Mini has 2.1B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, making it 115.7% larger.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under MIT.
Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.
MIT
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B was released on 2025-01-20, while Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01.
Phi 4 Mini is 0 month newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B.
Jan 20, 2025
1.8 years ago
Feb 1, 2025
1.8 years ago
1w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4 Mini's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B's cutoff date.
—
Jun 2024
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Phi 4 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Phi 4 Mini.