Phi-3.5-vision-instruct vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Microsoft · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Phi-3.5-vision-instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (AI2D). Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Phi-3.5-vision-instruct
- you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem
Choose Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Phi-3.5-vision-instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (AI2D).
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Phi-3.5-vision-instruct has 0.2B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct, making it 5.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct specifies input context (262,144 tokens). Only Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct specifies output context (262,144 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Phi-3.5-vision-instruct and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Phi-3.5-vision-instruct
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Phi-3.5-vision-instruct is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Phi-3.5-vision-instruct was released on 2024-08-23, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 13 months newer than Phi-3.5-vision-instruct.
Aug 23, 2024
2.0 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
11 months ago
1.1yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Phi-3.5-vision-instruct and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Phi-3.5-vision-instruct vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.