Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Phi 4 Reasoning
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Phi 4 Reasoning are closely matched at 11.2 and 12.0 on the LLM Stats Score.
Mistral AI · Microsoft · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Phi 4 Reasoning are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 11.2 and 12.0.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Choose Phi 4 Reasoning
- you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) · 11 for Phi 4 Reasoning
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, LiveCodeBench), while Phi 4 Reasoning is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi 4 Reasoning has 11.0B more parameters than Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512), making it 366.7% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) specifies input context (131,100 tokens). Only Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) specifies output context (131,100 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Phi 4 Reasoning does not.
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)
Phi 4 Reasoning
License
Usage and distribution terms
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Phi 4 Reasoning uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Phi 4 Reasoning was released on 2025-04-30.
Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) is 7 months newer than Phi 4 Reasoning.
Dec 4, 2025
10 months ago
7mo newerApr 30, 2025
1.5 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Phi 4 Reasoning has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-01, while Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)'s cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Phi 4 Reasoning's training data extends to 2025-03-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512)'s cutoff date.
—
Mar 2025
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) and Phi 4 Reasoning side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Min istral 3 (3B Reasoning 2512) vs Phi 4 Reasoning.