Model Comparison

GPT-5.6 Sol vs Phi 4 MiniWhich is better in 2026?

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: GPT-5.6 Sol vs Phi 4 Mini — which is better?

GPT-5.6 Sol (by OpenAI) and Phi 4 Mini (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.

GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose GPT-5.6 Sol if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose Phi 4 Mini if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini is better at 0 benchmarks.

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only GPT-5.6 Sol specifies input context (1,050,000 tokens). Only GPT-5.6 Sol specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Sol
Input1,050,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

GPT-5.6 Sol supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Mini does not.

GPT-5.6 Sol can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

GPT-5.6 Sol

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Phi 4 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-5.6 Sol is licensed under a proprietary license, while Phi 4 Mini uses MIT.

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

GPT-5.6 Sol

Proprietary

Closed source

Phi 4 Mini

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-5.6 Sol was released on 2026-07-09, while Phi 4 Mini was released on 2025-02-01.

GPT-5.6 Sol is 17 months newer than Phi 4 Mini.

GPT-5.6 Sol

Jul 9, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.4yr newer
Phi 4 Mini

Feb 1, 2025

1.5 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-5.6 Sol has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while Phi 4 Mini has a cutoff of 2024-06-01.

GPT-5.6 Sol has more recent training data (up to 2026-02-16), making it potentially better informed about events through that date compared to Phi 4 Mini (2024-06-01).

GPT-5.6 Sol

Feb 2026

1.7 yr newer
Phi 4 Mini

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Larger context window (1,050,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (94.6% vs 25.2%)
Microsoft
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against GPT-5.6 Sol and Phi 4 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

GPT-5.6 Sol
✓ Preferred
Phi 4 Mini
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Sol
Microsoft
Phi 4 Mini

FAQ

Common questions about GPT-5.6 Sol vs Phi 4 Mini.

Which is better, GPT-5.6 Sol or Phi 4 Mini?

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Sol is made by OpenAI and Phi 4 Mini is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does GPT-5.6 Sol compare to Phi 4 Mini in benchmarks?

GPT-5.6 Sol scores Connectors: 100.0%, Capture-the-Flag Challenges (Internal): 96.7%, HealthBench Consensus: 95.5%, GPQA: 94.6%, MRCR v2 (8-needle): 91.5%. Phi 4 Mini scores GSM8k: 88.6%, ARC-C: 83.7%, BoolQ: 81.2%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%, PIQA: 77.6%.

What are the context window sizes for GPT-5.6 Sol and Phi 4 Mini?

GPT-5.6 Sol supports 1.1M tokens and Phi 4 Mini supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between GPT-5.6 Sol and Phi 4 Mini?

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

Who makes GPT-5.6 Sol and Phi 4 Mini?

GPT-5.6 Sol is developed by OpenAI and Phi 4 Mini is developed by Microsoft.

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