I remember when such phones were in a different size category named "phablets".

They had huge bezels. I feel like current phones with huge displays are at most as big as then-phablets or even smaller.

The original galaxy note was 147 x 83 x 9.7: slightly wider and thicker than the pixel 8, but not quite as tall. Overall very similar in size, but with a 5.3" screen rather than 6.2".

Our thumbs haven't grown in the past decade and they now are expected to stretch longer distances. I can't even reach the opposite top corner with my thumb on my iPhone 13 mini

Stop me if you're head this one before but I'm going to tune you into a neat trick.

Use your other hand.

Yeah, no shit. I don't think that there's anyone who can't figure that out. The problem isn't "I can't figure out how to use my phone", it's that always having to use the phone with two hands is annoying as hell. Phones shine when you can use them one handed. They suck when you have to regularly use them two handed because they are so big.

I think a lot of phone UI stuff biases for the lower half of the screen already. UI elements for picking most frequently used apps are at the bottom, controls for ending calls etc are at the bottom, keyboards are at the botton, swiping up to change apps.

Sure, but many phones are so wide that I can't reach elements at the bottom of the screen (but on the side opposite my thumb). I'm willing to not fuss about stuff all the way in the top-left corner, but I almost always have to hold my phone with two hands to use it.

The aspect ratio makes a huge difference. Back then phones were still mostly 16:9. My Nexus 6 still feels massive compared to modern phones.

Because it is still massive. The 6" Nexus 6 is 3.3in wide whereas the 6.7" Pixel 8 Pro is only 3" wide. Even omitting the bezels, the Nexus 6 has a screen width of 2.94" vs. the 8 Pro's 2.75"

It's the biggest one in lineup so that's big. Don't blame for existence of biggest lineup.

You've highlighted exactly what the comment you were replying to was talking about, the aspect ratio is much different. The Pixel 8 Pro has a 6.7" screen vs the 6" on nexus 6, despite being 10% narrower.

And also bezel.

They are close to being back to original size of the pixel 3 which in my opinion was the perfect size.

Pixel 8 - 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9 mm

Pixel 6 - 158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9 mm

Pixel 3 - 145.6 x 68.2 x 7.9 mm

It's also very close to the size the smaller (non-plus etc) Samsung flagship phones have head for years:

S10: 149.9 x 70.4 x 7.8 mm

S20: 151.7 x 69.1 x 7.9 mm

S21: 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm

S22: 146 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm

yes, i'm still clinging to my pixel 3, which is indeed perfect

I've gotten the 4a and 7 since owning my 3. They keep getting worse (bigger).

I switched from Pixel 6 to Pixel 7a because the 7a size is _perfect_

I was going to complain about the screen size but my Pixel 5 has a 6.0 screen and I might actually finally upgrade to the Pixel 8. The pixel 8 is still half a cm wider than the pixel 5 but they appear to be the same height and nearly the same thickness.

I had a Pixel 6 briefly, at launch, but returned it almost immediately in exchange for a 6.0" screen Pixel 5 because the 6 was ludicrously too large for daily use on the go and uncomfortable in my pants pocket. Hopefully they keep shrinking the non-pro models and we settle on 6" as an ok size.