Model Comparison

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview vs Phi-3.5-mini-instructWhich is better in 2026?

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview vs Phi-3.5-mini-instruct — which is better?

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview (by Google) and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct (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.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview outperforms in 6 benchmarks (BoolQ, HellaSwag, HumanEval, MGSM, MMLU-Pro, Winogrande), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, BIG-Bench Hard, GPQA, MBPP, MMLU, Social IQa). Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2025

Choose Phi-3.5-mini-instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 7 of 13 shared benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

13 benchmarks

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview outperforms in 6 benchmarks (BoolQ, HellaSwag, HumanEval, MGSM, MMLU-Pro, Winogrande), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, BIG-Bench Hard, GPQA, MBPP, MMLU, Social IQa).

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1.9B diff

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct has 1.9B more parameters than Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview, making it 99.0% larger.

Google
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview
1.9Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
3.8Bparameters
1.9B
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview
3.8B
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi-3.5-mini-instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Phi-3.5-mini-instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Google
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi-3.5-mini-instruct does not.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview is licensed under Gemma, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct uses MIT.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview

Gemma

Open weights

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview was released on 2025-05-20, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct was released on 2024-08-23.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview is 9 months newer than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview

May 20, 2025

1.1 years ago

9mo newer
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Aug 23, 2024

1.8 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Phi-3.5-mini-instruct's cutoff date.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview

Jun 2024

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher BoolQ score (81.6% vs 78.0%)
Higher HellaSwag score (78.6% vs 69.4%)
Higher HumanEval score (75.0% vs 62.8%)
Higher MGSM score (60.7% vs 47.9%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (50.6% vs 47.4%)
Higher Winogrande score (71.7% vs 68.5%)
Microsoft
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Higher ARC-C score (84.6% vs 61.6%)
Higher BIG-Bench Hard score (69.0% vs 52.9%)
Higher GPQA score (30.4% vs 23.7%)
Higher MBPP score (69.6% vs 63.6%)
Higher MMLU score (69.0% vs 64.9%)
Higher Social IQa score (74.7% vs 50.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview
✓ Preferred
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview vs Phi-3.5-mini-instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview or Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks. Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview is made by Google and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview compare to Phi-3.5-mini-instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview scores ARC-E: 81.6%, BoolQ: 81.6%, PIQA: 81.0%, HellaSwag: 78.6%, HumanEval: 75.0%. Phi-3.5-mini-instruct scores GSM8k: 86.2%, ARC-C: 84.6%, RULER: 84.1%, PIQA: 81.0%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview supports an unknown number of tokens and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Gemma vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Gemma 3n E4B Instructed LiteRT Preview is developed by Google and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

Related comparisons