# Qwen2-72B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 30.0 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/qwen2-72b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen2-72B scores higher in 1 category and Step 3.5 Flash in 7 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 39.6 to 21.2.

## Snapshot

| | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 30.0 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 300 | 116 |
| Context | — | 256K |
| Input $/M | — | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | — | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Qwen2-72B: 29.1 (#310)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1196 | 1436 |
| WeirdML | 11.3% | — |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 38.5% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 54% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Qwen2-72B: 17.0 (#146)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| TheAgentCompany | 1.1% | — |
| METR Time Horizons | 29.9% | — |

## Reasoning

- Qwen2-72B: 23.2 (#181)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1191 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 125.28 | — |

## Math

- Qwen2-72B: 30.2 (#236)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1235 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| MATH Level 5 | 39.1% | — |

## Knowledge

- Qwen2-72B: 21.2 (#275)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1171 | 1421 |
| GPQA Diamond | 40.8% | — |
| MMLU | 82.4% | — |

## Multilingual

- Qwen2-72B: 35.9 (#244)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1176 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1240 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1170 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1151 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1111 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1083 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1169 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1169 | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Qwen2-72B: 61.7 (#241)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1181 | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Qwen2-72B: 36.1 (#235)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1192 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Qwen2-72B: 40.8 (#241)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Qwen2-72B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1203 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1181 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1196 | 1405 |

## FAQ

### Is Qwen2-72B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 30.0 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Qwen2-72B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 29.1 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Qwen2-72B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen2-72B has 26 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.