# Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct vs Step 5 Preview

> Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.8 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/phi-3-mini-128k-instruct-vs-step-5-preview
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 0

## Summary

- The widest gap is in coding, where Step 5 Preview leads 50.6 to 28.3.
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 29.1 | 43.8 |
| Rank | 303 | 78 |
| Context | — | 1.02M |
| Input $/M | — | $1 |
| Output $/M | — | $2.70 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)
- Step 5 Preview: 50.6 (#40)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1569 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 29.6% | — |
| LMArena Coding | 1040 | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 40.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)
- Step 5 Preview: 38.0 (#58)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1028 | — |

## Math

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1089 | — |

## Knowledge

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 984 | — |

## Multilingual

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| 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)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1023 | — |

## Long Context

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 996 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)
- Step 5 Preview: —

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1050 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1024 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 989 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better than Step 5 Preview?

Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.8 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct or Step 5 Preview better for coding?

Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 50.6 versus 28.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct and Step 5 Preview share?

0 benchmarks have published results for both models. Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 3.