> The few small-ish phones that have existed have mostly been cheap and underpowered.

I would say that for last years it was quite the opposite… Asus Zenfone was a bit smaller, and few others… all of them being on the more pricey range. I do not remember anything <€500 worth buying…

I remember having few years ago phone from "Note" series… and yet - it was smaller than "normal" nowadays.