Model Comparison

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

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

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

Gemma 3n E4B (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 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (BoolQ, HellaSwag, Winogrande), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, BIG-Bench Hard, Social IQa). Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3n E4B if…

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

Choose Phi-3.5-mini-instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 7 shared benchmarks
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

7 benchmarks

Gemma 3n E4B outperforms in 3 benchmarks (BoolQ, HellaSwag, Winogrande), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 3 benchmarks (ARC-C, BIG-Bench Hard, Social IQa).

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

4.2B diff

Gemma 3n E4B has 4.2B more parameters than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct, making it 110.5% larger.

Google
Gemma 3n E4B
8.0Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
3.8Bparameters
8.0B
Gemma 3n E4B
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
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

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

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

Gemma 3n E4B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3n E4B is licensed under a proprietary license, 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

Proprietary

Closed source

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3n E4B was released on 2025-06-26, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct was released on 2024-08-23.

Gemma 3n E4B is 10 months newer than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct.

Gemma 3n E4B

Jun 26, 2025

1.1 years ago

10mo newer
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Aug 23, 2024

1.9 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemma 3n E4B 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'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

Jun 2024

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

—

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher BoolQ score (81.6% vs 78.0%)
Higher HellaSwag score (78.6% vs 69.4%)
Higher Winogrande score (71.7% vs 68.5%)
Microsoft
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher ARC-C score (84.6% vs 61.6%)
Higher BIG-Bench Hard score (69.0% vs 52.9%)
Higher Social IQa score (74.7% vs 50.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

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

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

FAQ

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

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

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks. Gemma 3n E4B 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 compare to Phi-3.5-mini-instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3n E4B scores ARC-E: 81.6%, BoolQ: 81.6%, PIQA: 81.0%, HellaSwag: 78.6%, Winogrande: 71.7%. 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 and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Gemma 3n E4B 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 and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

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

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

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

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