Phi-3.5 Medium for on-device llms
Phi-3.5 Medium is the #2 pick on LLMDex's on-device llms ranking out of 7 models we track for this use case. Below, the specific reasons it slots where it does, and when you should reach for an alternative.
Updated
At a glance
- Rank
- #2 of 7
- Context
- 128K tokens
- Output / 1M
- Pricing not published
- Released
- Aug 2024
Why Phi-3.5 Medium fits this task
Three things about Phi-3.5 Medium that map directly onto what this task rewards: MIT license. Beyond the task-specific fit, Phi-3.5 Medium also brings 128k context and strong reasoning at 14b, both of which compound when the workload broadens.
The criteria this task rewards
LLMDex ranks best on-device llms on 5 criteria , these are the axes the ranking uses, in priority order:
- Performance under 8B parameters
- Quantization tolerance (int4, int8)
- Memory footprint after quantization
- Inference speed on Apple Silicon / mobile NPUs
- License permissiveness for commercial use
How Phi-3.5 Medium scores on each axis
Where Phi-3.5 Medium costs you: superseded by phi-4. For most teams this is acceptable on this workload, the value of the strengths above outweighs the cost. For cost-bound workloads or teams with strict latency budgets, run an eval against the next two ranked models on real data before committing.
Strengths that pay off here
- MIT license
- 128k context
- Strong reasoning at 14B
Tracked weaknesses
- Superseded by Phi-4
When to pick something else
If you can pay slightly more or accept slightly different tradeoffs, Phi-4 from Microsoft ranks one position higher and tends to win on the hardest cases. Microsoft's 14B model, exceptional quality-per-parameter via curated synthetic training data.
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Other models for on-device llms
- Phi-4 for on-device llms
Microsoft's 14B model, exceptional quality-per-parameter via curated synthetic training data.
Read guide - Gemma 2 9B for on-device llms
Google's mid-2024 open-weight 9B, strong quality for its size, friendly license.
Read guide - Qwen2.5-7B for on-device llms
Small Qwen, practical default for laptop and edge inference.
Read guide - Llama 4 8B for on-device llms
Meta's small Llama 4, built for on-device and edge inference.
Read guide - Ministral 8B for on-device llms
Mistral's 8B edge model, designed specifically for on-device and on-prem deployment.
Read guide
Phi-3.5 Medium for other use cases
Direct comparisons
Frequently asked
Is Phi-3.5 Medium good for on-device llms?
Phi-3.5 Medium is ranked #2 on LLMDex's on-device llms list. 14B Phi-3.5, predecessor to Phi-4 with strong benchmark efficiency for its size.How much does Phi-3.5 Medium cost for on-device llms?
Microsoft has not published per-token pricing for Phi-3.5 Medium at the time of writing.What's a cheaper alternative to Phi-3.5 Medium for on-device llms?
The next ranked model on this task is Gemma 2 9B. Compare both before committing.When should I NOT use Phi-3.5 Medium for on-device llms?
Tracked weakness: Superseded by Phi-4. If that constraint is binding for your workload, the next-ranked model on this task is the safer pick.
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