GPT-5.6 Review: Overly Cautious Yet Still Makes Mistakes
WolframRvnwlf · x · 2026-07-17
After using GPT-5.6 Sol xhigh as a daily driver for a full week, the author grew frustrated with its overly conservative behavior.
Main Issues
- It often writes more tests than the actual lines of code changed.
- It spends excessive time on validations, such as running SHA256 hash checks on copied files, taking longer than the actual copying process.
- An update that should have taken 1–2 hours dragged on for 30 hours due to massive testing, validation, and "potentially unnecessary fixes," even with fast mode enabled.
Conclusion
- The biggest issue isn't just the slow speed, but the fact that this "over-protection" doesn't translate to high enough accuracy.
- It still makes basic mistakes, making the author feel the extra time and tokens spent aren't paying off.
- While the author acknowledges they could lower the effort or switch to a weaker model, they are reluctant to take on the risks of a worse model if even the top-tier model isn't smart enough.
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