# Granite 4.2 8B vs Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct

> Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 33.0 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/granite-4-2-8b-vs-phi-3-medium-4k-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 11

## Summary

- They share 11 benchmarks with published results for both. Granite 4.2 8B scores higher in 7 categories and Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct in 0 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Granite 4.2 8B leads 49.6 to 34.1.

## Snapshot

| | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | IBM | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 40.5 | 33.0 |
| Rank | 148 | 250 |
| Context | 131K | — |
| Input $/M | $0.06 | — |
| Output $/M | $0.25 | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Granite 4.2 8B: 40.5 (#137)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 32.9 (#268)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1380 | 1130 |

## Reasoning

- Granite 4.2 8B: 26.6 (#131)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 21.7 (#214)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1329 | 1127 |

## Math

- Granite 4.2 8B: —
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 33.4 (#202)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | — | 1173 |

## Knowledge

- Granite 4.2 8B: 38.4 (#145)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 30.2 (#229)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1384 | 1108 |

## Multilingual

- Granite 4.2 8B: 44.5 (#178)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 30.6 (#263)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1302 | 1094 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1366 | 1108 |
| LMArena Russian | 1285 | 1145 |
| LMArena French | — | 1110 |
| LMArena German | — | 1101 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1042 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 954 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1095 |

## Instruction Following

- Granite 4.2 8B: 68.7 (#184)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 57.6 (#268)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1301 | 1113 |

## Long Context

- Granite 4.2 8B: 40.3 (#159)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 34.0 (#255)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1324 | 1120 |

## Writing & Preference

- Granite 4.2 8B: 49.6 (#189)
- Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct: 34.1 (#272)

| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1320 | 1138 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1236 | 1107 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1301 | 1088 |

## FAQ

### Is Granite 4.2 8B better than Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct?

Granite 4.2 8B is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.5 to 33.0 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Granite 4.2 8B or Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct better for coding?

Granite 4.2 8B scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.5 versus 32.9 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Granite 4.2 8B and Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct share?

11 benchmarks have published results for both models. Granite 4.2 8B has 11 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Medium 4k Instruct has 17.