# Granite 3.0 2b Instruct vs Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct

> Granite 3.0 2b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 30.2 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-0-2b-instruct-vs-phi-3-mini-128k-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 13

## Summary

- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.0 2b Instruct scores higher in 7 categories and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct in 1 category; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is BigCodeBench Instruct: 20.5% for Granite 3.0 2b Instruct and 29.6% for Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 30.2 | 29.1 |
| Rank | 284 | 303 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 27.8 (#311)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 20.5% | 29.6% |
| LMArena Coding | 1090 | 1040 |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 19.6 (#234)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1073 | 1028 |

## Math

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 29.7 (#215)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1117 | 1089 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 28.4 (#238)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1064 | 984 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 27.1 (#273)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1033 | 1000 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1070 | 1016 |
| LMArena Russian | 1045 | 1004 |
| LMArena French | — | 1038 |
| LMArena German | — | 1006 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 899 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 856 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1058 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 54.2 (#279)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 52.1 (#289)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1056 | 1023 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 32.5 (#263)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1071 | 996 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.0 2b Instruct: 29.8 (#287)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.0 2b Instruct | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1080 | 1050 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1046 | 1024 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1053 | 989 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 3.0 2b Instruct better than Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct?

Granite 3.0 2b Instruct is the stronger model overall, scoring 30.2 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 3.0 2b Instruct or Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better for coding?

They score almost the same on coding (27.8 vs 28.3); test both on your own repository before choosing.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 3.0 2b Instruct and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct share?

13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.0 2b Instruct has 13 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19.