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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview vs Gemini 4 Argon

Gemini 4 Argon comes out ahead, 52 to 46 and 46 on our weighted score, though Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview is 2× cheaper per token.

  1. Anthropic

    Claude Sonnet 5.5

    Released Sep 28, 2026New

    46/100
    • ECI166.7
    • Price$2.00 / $10.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Claude Sonnet 5.5

  2. Google

    Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview

    Released Apr 14, 2026

    46/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.00 / $5.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview
  3. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 4 Argon

    Released Oct 13, 2026New

    52/100
    • ECI166.1
    • Price$2.00 / $10.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 4 Argon
01 — Verdict

Gemini 4 Argon is our pick

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against Claude Sonnet 5.5 (46) and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (46). It leads on inputs & features. Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview $2.00 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 $4.00 · Gemini 4 Argon $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon 1,048,576 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 1,000,000 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 4 ArgonClaude Sonnet 5.5: Text, Images, PDFs · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Gemini 4 Argon: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightClaude Sonnet 5.5Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewGemini 4 Argon
Price50%203420
Inputs & features30%8080100
Context window20%602561
Overall100%46/10046/10052/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview vs Gemini 4 Argon specifications side by side
SpecificationClaude Sonnet 5.5AnthropicGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewGoogleGemini 4 ArgonGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)166.7 (best)—166.1
ECI rank#5 of 165 (best)—#7 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions95.6%—96.4% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics88.8% (best)—86.0%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics100%—100%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions46.5%—76.0% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$1.00 (best)$2.00
Output$10.00$5.00 (best)$10.00
Cached input$0.10—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$4.00$2.00 (best)$4.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Anthropic APIMedian of 1 providersOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens131,072 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens (best)65,536 tokens65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesYes
PDFsYesNoYes
AudioNoYesYes
VideoNoYesYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · maxYesYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryProprietary
API model IDclaude-sonnet-5-5—gemini-4-argon
API providers34 (best)124
ReleasedSep 28, 2026Apr 14, 2026Oct 13, 2026
Knowledge cutoffJun 2026Jan 2025Mar 2026
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Claude Sonnet 5.5$40.00
  • Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview$20.00
  • Gemini 4 Argon$40.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Claude Sonnet 5.5, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview or Gemini 4 Argon?

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against Claude Sonnet 5.5 (46) and Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (46). It leads on inputs & features. Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview or Gemini 4 Argon?

Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview is cheaper at $1.00 input / $5.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price); Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.00 per million tokens for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview versus $4.00 for Claude Sonnet 5.5 (2× as much) and $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon (2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Claude Sonnet 5.5 has an ECI of 166.7, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview has not been scored yet and Gemini 4 Argon has an ECI of 166.1.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Claude Sonnet 5.5, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview and Gemini 4 Argon yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 4 Argon has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Claude Sonnet 5.5 and 131,072 for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview. Maximum output per response: Claude Sonnet 5.5 up to 128,000, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview up to 65,536, Gemini 4 Argon up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts text, images and PDFs; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview accepts text, images, audio and video; Gemini 4 Argon accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 4 Argon handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Claude Sonnet 5.5, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview and Gemini 4 Argon are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Gemini 4 Argon is the newest, released Oct 13, 2026. Claude Sonnet 5.5 came out Sep 28, 2026; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview came out Apr 14, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 5.5 Jun 2026, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview Jan 2025, Gemini 4 Argon Mar 2026.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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