This wasn't the case for me. I sold a Samsung Galaxy S3 in favour of the smaller iPhone 5. One of the reasons was to have a smaller phone in general. 🙂
note owners. do you find the phone is a good size to substitute for a small tablet? i was going to buy a nexus 7, but the large bezel really made it uncomfortable to hold in portrait - my preferred browsing size. i have a kindle paperwhite, and i love that size for books and news. the screen sizes look similar (i'll have to double-check though).
I went from 3.5 > 4.0 > 4.3 > 4.8 when smartphones are concerned.
And then you go back to 3.5 and realize: It is the ONLY size for smartphones!
Lol, even Apple realized that 3.5" are too small.