I don’t think the base model iphone, galaxy or pixel are small. What I meant was phones like the iPhone minis, pixel 4a, S10e, etc.
I mostly agree with you but have a small observation. You are using the screen size to argue that the phones are small but you are mistaken. The iphone se has a 4.7" screen as compared to the 6.1" in the iPhone 13 but in terms of phone size, the se(138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm) is only 9 cm shorter than the while being just as wide and thick. The mini is smaller even though it has a bigger screen. There is a similar issue with the nexus phones you give an example of. While the screens were much smaller, the phone dimensions weren’t as drastically different to the standard 6.1" premium phones now because the older phones had much bigger bezels.
IMO, it’s about being able to one-hand the phone. With the Nexus 5, though the phone wasn’t much smaller than something like my pixel 7, the bezel put the screen within reach of my thumb while holding the phone. With the 7, I have to adjust my hand or two hand the phone to reach the furthest parts of my screen.
I don’t have small hands.
6.1" is too big for my preferences. Give me a 5.5" or even a 5", and I’ll be flying.