# Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct vs Yi-Lightning

> Yi-Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 36.5 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

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

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct scores higher in 1 category and Yi-Lightning in 7 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Yi-Lightning leads 50.4 to 27.3.
- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft | 01.AI |
| Noometry Index | 29.1 | 36.5 |
| Rank | 303 | 206 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 28.3 (#307)
- Yi-Lightning: 27.0 (#315)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1040 | 1313 |
| Aider Polyglot | — | 12.9% |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 29.6% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 40.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 18.7 (#254)
- Yi-Lightning: 24.9 (#137)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1028 | 1302 |

## Math

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 29.2 (#220)
- Yi-Lightning: 33.5 (#173)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1089 | 1300 |

## Knowledge

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 26.3 (#251)
- Yi-Lightning: 34.8 (#182)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 984 | 1286 |

## Multilingual

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 25.4 (#280)
- Yi-Lightning: 42.4 (#191)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1000 | 1269 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1016 | 1320 |
| LMArena French | 1038 | 1304 |
| LMArena German | 1006 | 1267 |
| LMArena Japanese | 899 | 1228 |
| LMArena Korean | 856 | 1192 |
| LMArena Russian | 1004 | 1255 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1058 | 1315 |

## Instruction Following

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 52.1 (#289)
- Yi-Lightning: 67.6 (#191)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1023 | 1278 |

## Long Context

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 30.3 (#284)
- Yi-Lightning: 39.4 (#176)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 996 | 1297 |

## Writing & Preference

- Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct: 27.3 (#296)
- Yi-Lightning: 50.4 (#178)

| Benchmark | Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct | Yi-Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1050 | 1302 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1024 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 989 | 1311 |

## FAQ

### Is Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct better than Yi-Lightning?

Yi-Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 36.5 to 29.1 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct or Yi-Lightning better for coding?

Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct scores higher on coding benchmarks: 28.3 versus 27.0 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct and Yi-Lightning share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Phi 3 Mini 128k Instruct has 19 scored results on Noometry and Yi-Lightning has 18.