DeepSeek V4.1 Flash hands-on tests and comparisons

A hands-on test on the open-source jev-browser-skill project: motion quality beat expectations, background music was added automatically, total cost $0.25.

The post claims V4.1-Flash-1017 beats GPT-5.6 Sol and Opus 5 on coding and agent benchmarks at a fraction of the cost, and is live on the API.

A post claiming near-Opus 5 coding at a fraction of the price, beating GPT-5.6 Sol and Opus 5 on coding and agent benchmarks, now available on the API.

A user pushes back on comparing an older V4.1 Flash with GPT-5.6 Sol, saying in their own test only V4.1 Flash and Qwen 3.8 Max solved the problem.

The post lists DeepSeek's reported V4.1 Flash 1017 results — 77.0 DeepSWE, 60.5 Automation-Bench, 42.3 Terminal-Bench 4.0 — plus open weights, 1M context and low cost.

On a coding benchmark, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 beats Kimi K3 and GLM 5.3 and approaches Gemini 4 Argon, per the poster.

An analogy comparing the model's price and capability progression to dial-up to ISDN to ADSL upgrades, arguing home local compute in 2026 is like a leased line in 2000.

Using dsh as the harness, the author built an FPS game with zero external assets and no Blender, calling its 3D game work close to Opus 5.5 and ahead of other open models.

The user says that in a blind A/B test they would have mistaken this Flash release for the new Pro, arguing the 'minor upgrade' label undersells it.

The author says they had assumed Kimi, GLM and Qwen had overtaken DeepSeek and rarely used it, but changed their mind after V4.1-Flash-1017 launched.

A user's single prompt in DeepSeek Harness produced a 3D honeybee on a sunflower with V4.1 Flash 1017, offered as an example of its 3D generation quality.

The poster says Gemini 4 Argon keeps its usual color edge, but DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is on the same level in fine detail, joking that they will keep their distance.