In more detail
A reasoning model is built to think before it speaks. Instead of producing the first plausible-sounding reply, it works through the problem privately — trying approaches, catching its own mistakes — and only then gives you its conclusion. It’s essentially chain of thought built into the model itself.
The trade-off is honest: slower and pricier, but dramatically more reliable on genuinely hard things — tricky math, dense legal logic, gnarly code. For quick everyday questions the extra thinking is overkill; for problems where being wrong is costly, it’s exactly what you want.
Goes with