# Granite 3.1 2b Instruct vs Qwen3.5 Max Preview

> Qwen3.5 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.3 to 33.2 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-3-1-2b-instruct-vs-qwen3-5-max-preview
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 12

## Summary

- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 3.1 2b Instruct scores higher in 0 categories and Qwen3.5 Max Preview in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Qwen3.5 Max Preview leads 66.0 to 34.1.
- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 33.2 | 45.3 |
| Rank | 247 | 71 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 33.4 (#257)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 44.0 (#77)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1149 | 1487 |

## Reasoning

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 22.0 (#209)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 30.8 (#84)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1138 | 1483 |

## Math

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 33.1 (#206)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 40.1 (#94)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1159 | 1474 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 30.8 (#224)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 41.8 (#107)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1131 | 1489 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 29.1 (#269)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 56.2 (#22)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1068 | 1465 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1139 | 1534 |
| LMArena Russian | 1063 | 1471 |
| LMArena French | — | 1484 |
| LMArena German | — | 1487 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1495 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1438 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1470 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 57.7 (#264)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 77.0 (#31)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1116 | 1467 |

## Long Context

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 35.0 (#244)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 45.2 (#45)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1155 | 1476 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 3.1 2b Instruct: 34.1 (#274)
- Qwen3.5 Max Preview: 66.0 (#41)

| Benchmark | Granite 3.1 2b Instruct | Qwen3.5 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1127 | 1470 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1116 | 1464 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1099 | 1478 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 3.1 2b Instruct better than Qwen3.5 Max Preview?

Qwen3.5 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 45.3 to 33.2 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 3.1 2b Instruct or Qwen3.5 Max Preview better for coding?

Qwen3.5 Max Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 44.0 versus 33.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 3.1 2b Instruct and Qwen3.5 Max Preview share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 3.1 2b Instruct has 12 scored results on Noometry and Qwen3.5 Max Preview has 17.