Model Comparison

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

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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

GPT-5.6 Sol (by OpenAI) 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.

GPT-5.6 Sol outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Phi 4 Mini Reasoning 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 Reasoning 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 Reasoning 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 Reasoning
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 Reasoning 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 Reasoning

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-5.6 Sol is licensed under a proprietary license, while Phi 4 Mini Reasoning 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 Reasoning

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-5.6 Sol was released on 2026-07-09, while Phi 4 Mini Reasoning was released on 2025-04-30.

GPT-5.6 Sol is 15 months newer than Phi 4 Mini Reasoning.

GPT-5.6 Sol

Jul 9, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.2yr newer
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning

Apr 30, 2025

1.2 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-5.6 Sol has a knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-16, while Phi 4 Mini Reasoning has a cutoff of 2025-02-01.

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 Reasoning (2025-02-01).

GPT-5.6 Sol

Feb 2026

1 yr newer
Phi 4 Mini Reasoning

Feb 2025

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

OpenAI
Larger context window (1,050,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (94.6% vs 52.0%)
Microsoft
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

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

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

FAQ

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

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

GPT-5.6 Sol significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GPT-5.6 Sol is made by OpenAI and Phi 4 Mini Reasoning 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 Reasoning 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 Reasoning scores MATH-500: 94.6%, AIME: 57.5%, GPQA: 52.0%.

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

GPT-5.6 Sol supports 1.1M tokens and Phi 4 Mini Reasoning 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 Reasoning?

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 Reasoning?

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

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