Model Focus: Qwen3 - Powerful for Reasoning and Code
Reading time: approx. 5 min
Close behind Gemma3 in our benchmark, we find Qwen3:8b, a model from Alibaba Cloud (the Chinese tech giant's cloud service division). It also performs at a very high level and is in many cases equivalent to Gemma3, but with a somewhat different profile. If you value logical reasoning and technical problem-solving, Qwen3 may be an even better choice for you.
What You Will Learn
- The specific strengths of Qwen3.
- When Qwen3 may be a better choice than other models.
- How to run it with Ollama.
The Basics: Qwen3 in Brief
- Model: Qwen3:8b
- Developer: Alibaba Cloud
- Strengths: Excellent at reasoning, code, pedagogy, and language. Somewhat slower than other models in the test.
- Ollama command:
ollama run qwen3:8b
Results from the Benchmark
Qwen3 received almost consistently top ratings (5/5), with a small deduction on factual knowledge for a confusing formulation.
- Ethics & Values: Produced a "balanced, deep, and well-formulated text with concrete suggestions".
- Factual Knowledge: Answered correctly on the year (1842) but used the confusing concept "school vacation 1842", which lowered the rating to 4/5.
- Pedagogy: Gave a "very clear, correct, and pedagogical explanation" of fractions.
- Reasoning: Delivered an "excellent and well-structured explanation" of the moon's phases with correct concepts.
- Linguistic Quality: Wrote a "well-formulated and convincing argumentation".
- Code & Technology: Generated correct Python code with a "simple, clear explanation, perfect for education".
Practical Application for Staff
Qwen3's strengths make it ideal for analytical and technical tasks.
- Document Analysis: Use Qwen3 to summarize and analyze complex texts, such as policy documents or research articles. The strong reasoning ability helps the model identify main arguments and logical connections.
- Create Technical Instructions: Do you need to write a guide for a new digital tool? Qwen3's ability to generate clear code and technical explanations is a major asset.
- Advanced Problem Solving: Use it as a sounding board for structuring complex problems, whether it involves scheduling or project planning.
Conclusion
Qwen3 is an extremely competent model that is an excellent alternative to Gemma3. It is particularly strong when the task requires logic, structure, and technical precision. Despite being a smaller model (8 billion parameters compared to Gemma3's 12 billion), it performs almost as well. The slight tendency toward confusing language in factual responses is something to be aware of, but the overall performance is top-notch.
Next Steps
From the two top models, we now take a step to a model that is faster but more unreliable. In the next lesson, we examine Llama3.1, a popular model that has clear strengths but also significant weaknesses.