Having a 5.5" myself, I can tell you that while a smaller phone would be more comfortable in my hand, having a larger screen provides more utility by allowing more content to be seen and used at once. I guess what I want is a super-portable substitute to my computer for when I'm on the go. Having big hands also makes it easier to get accustomed.
EDIT: I also get the feeling that bigger phone means more features and longer battery times because of the extra space for electronics and the battery. Who knows, maybe if I held a 4" that's fast with a lot of memory and long battery life, I could get accustomed to seeing less content.
There's also the fact that website layout is determined by the website developers. I wonder how good the layouts are generally on the internet for 4" screens. It might be that many websites have fixed width side margins that cause a bigger whitespace-to-text ratio on smaller screens.
Just saying, Sony was managing to fit a microSD card, headphone jack, and good sized battery (in terms of battery life, they've been some of the longest lasting phones despite using (admittedly low res) LCDs instead of OLEDs) in their 4.6" compacts up to the XZ1C last year. The only feature they were missing was wireless charging.
The Motorola Razr M was an even smaller form factor with a 4.3" display. And all the iPhones from 3g to SE were outstanding in this now-extinct category, especially the 5s.
The 5s has the venerable status of being not only small, but one of the oldest currently-supported smartphones. At over 5 years old, it can still run respectably with iOS 12.
Not had much problem with sites on my SE, or felt the experience lacked compared to the larger Android phones I've owned. The few times something's been off I've not been able to compare against a larger or Android phone so it doesn't really count for much. :)
For me the difference is the SE simply fits the hand better. My other half would be even more vocal on that point.
So if the choice becomes 5.5" and larger or nothing, we'll probably be ex-smartphone owners. Speaking for myself I'd go feature phone before I'd "go large" again.
I'm starting to think that "computer-substitute" is precisely what smart phones have become, and that having a real computer you depend on might correlate with age, income or occupation in a way that phone ownership cuts across. It's pretty easy to finance a phone purchase through your carrier, especially compared to Apple's Barclay deal (unless this has changed a lot in the last few years.) I think a lot of people under thirty are borderline computer illiterate, but get by using their phone. For them, a bigger screen that's harder to type on is fine. For people with more money and computer literacy, it's just a matter of taste--but we're not the biggest slice of the pie.
Well, it may make sense if you're always on the go, but a lot of people like me would spend most of their time with a full size computer available that provides way more utility than whatever phones. I would even totally pay more to have a smaller phone that's much more comfortable. Frankly I don't find the larger iPhone I currently have to be any more useful than the 4" ones.
EDIT: I also get the feeling that bigger phone means more features and longer battery times because of the extra space for electronics and the battery. Who knows, maybe if I held a 4" that's fast with a lot of memory and long battery life, I could get accustomed to seeing less content.
There's also the fact that website layout is determined by the website developers. I wonder how good the layouts are generally on the internet for 4" screens. It might be that many websites have fixed width side margins that cause a bigger whitespace-to-text ratio on smaller screens.