I had this experience when I got my first iPhone SE a couple of years back. It wasn’t necessarily a “newer” phone but I’d been using a 6” Android phone at the time, but I also had a rather pathetic 3.5” Microsoft Nokia thing because the bigger phone was too cumbersome when going out running.
Going from the massive screen of the Android to the small screen of the SE wasn’t as big a jolt as I expected - mainly because iOS was more uniform in its layout, so it just worked more easily for me.
The biggest issue was battery life. That Android had a 6,000mAh battery in it. It was so big that it even had the facility that it could act as a power bank and power lesser devices. That was cool. It lasted ages, unlike the SE for which I always had to carry a power bank around with me.
I still have that old 6” phone and, other than the crack in its screen (I dropped it - which prompted the replacement that was the SE), it works just fine. I’ve no desire to go back to it, though. The novelty of the big size wore off.
I’m in the same boat, I just can not comfortably text on the SE.
I think this is an interesting point which shows how things have moved on. I sometimes have a need to text when I'm out on a run or, as is the case right now, when I'm running the treadmill. But, on these occasions, I text through my Apple Watch by speaking the text.
The size of the phone in this instance is immaterial. When on the treadmill, the phone is usually still on my desk at the other side of the room. When on an outdoor run, the phone is rarely taken out of my backpack or arm sleeve. Technology is crazy.
