# Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct vs Sonar

> Sonar is the stronger model overall, scoring 37.8 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

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

## Summary

- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Sonar leads 52.6 to 27.3.
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft | Perplexity |
| Noometry Index | 29.1 | 37.8 |
| Rank | 303 | 184 |
| Context | — | 128K |
| Input $/M | — | $1 |
| Output $/M | — | $1 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)
- Sonar: 35.1 (#217)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 29.6% | — |
| LiveBench Coding | — | 35.1% |
| LMArena Coding | 1040 | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 40.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)
- Sonar: 20.3 (#221)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LiveBench Reasoning | — | 46.3% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1028 | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | — | 37.9% |
| LiveBench | — | 46.9% |

## Math

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)
- Sonar: 31.3 (#197)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LiveBench Math | — | 41.6% |
| LMArena Math | 1089 | — |

## Knowledge

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)
- Sonar: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 984 | — |

## Multilingual

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)
- Sonar: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1000 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1016 | — |
| LMArena French | 1038 | — |
| LMArena German | 1006 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 899 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 856 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1004 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1058 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 52.1 (#289)
- Sonar: 71.5 (#146)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LiveBench Instruction Following | — | 76.2% |
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1023 | — |

## Long Context

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)
- Sonar: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 996 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)
- Sonar: 52.6 (#166)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1050 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1024 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 989 | — |
| LiveBench Language | — | 44.1% |

## FAQ

### Is Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better than Sonar?

Sonar is the stronger model overall, scoring 37.8 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct or Sonar better for coding?

Sonar scores higher on coding benchmarks: 35.1 versus 28.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct and Sonar share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19 scored results on Noometry and Sonar has 7.