I downsized my phone after using a big phablet for years – it’s a breath of fresh air, but it just makes me want a new iPhone SE

My thumbs are pretty chunky for the size of my hands. This is admittedly a bizarre thing to lead with but it has a lot to do with how I’ve fared with different smartphones.

Over the last 15 years, phones have swelled to meet shifting habits. With streaming on mobiles devices more viable, thanks to 5G, it makes sense that screen sizes have expanded to make for a much better experience. In light of my oversized thumbs, which I'm using right now to type this sentence, you may assume that, for me, this amounts to progress. But I’ve always struggled to use smartphones – my first was an iPhone 4 – without awkward autocorrects or the occasional typo. On balance, however, I prefer more compact phones than the goliaths we’ve become used to.

Despite forgoing the larger screen size for better video playback and error-free communication, these devices ...