# Nova 2 Lite vs Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct

> Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.0 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/nova-2-lite-vs-phi-3-mini-128k-instruct
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Nova 2 Lite scores higher in 8 categories and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Nova 2 Lite leads 54.1 to 27.3.
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Amazon | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 39.0 | 29.1 |
| Rank | 161 | 303 |
| Context | 1M | — |
| Input $/M | $0.30 | — |
| Output $/M | $2.50 | — |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |

## Coding

- Nova 2 Lite: 40.1 (#131)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1386 | 1040 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | — | 29.6% |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Nova 2 Lite: 23.9 (#114)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: —

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 27.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Nova 2 Lite: 26.4 (#120)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1364 | 1028 |

## Math

- Nova 2 Lite: 34.8 (#154)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1359 | 1089 |

## Knowledge

- Nova 2 Lite: 42.5 (#88)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1360 | 984 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 5.1% | — |

## Multilingual

- Nova 2 Lite: 47.3 (#148)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1337 | 1000 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1364 | 1016 |
| LMArena French | 1381 | 1038 |
| LMArena German | 1343 | 1006 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1273 | 899 |
| LMArena Korean | 1284 | 856 |
| LMArena Russian | 1343 | 1004 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1372 | 1058 |

## Instruction Following

- Nova 2 Lite: 70.7 (#156)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 52.1 (#289)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1335 | 1023 |

## Long Context

- Nova 2 Lite: 40.6 (#145)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1335 | 996 |

## Writing & Preference

- Nova 2 Lite: 54.1 (#150)
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)

| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1362 | 1050 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1291 | 1024 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1338 | 989 |

## FAQ

### Is Nova 2 Lite better than Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct?

Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.0 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Nova 2 Lite or Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better for coding?

Nova 2 Lite scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.1 versus 28.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Nova 2 Lite and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Nova 2 Lite has 19 scored results on Noometry and Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19.