Model Comparison
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Phi 4 Mini ReasoningWhich is better in 2026?
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Phi 4 Mini Reasoning — which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B (by DeepSeek) and Phi 4 Mini Reasoning (by Microsoft) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi 4 Mini Reasoning is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH-500). Phi 4 Mini Reasoning significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B if…
- you are already invested in the DeepSeek ecosystem
Choose Phi 4 Mini Reasoning if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi 4 Mini Reasoning is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH-500).
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning has 2.0B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, making it 113.5% 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 Reasoning was released on 2025-04-30.
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning is 3 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B.
Jan 20, 2025
1.5 years ago
Apr 30, 2025
1.2 years ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-02-01, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4 Mini Reasoning's training data extends to 2025-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B's cutoff date.
—
Feb 2025
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning
View detailsMicrosoft
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Phi 4 Mini Reasoning side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Phi 4 Mini Reasoning.