Yes, it's much larger. The Mini feels better in the hand, for sure.

The Air feels good in the hand, albeit in a different way.

The Air is 2mm thinner than the Mini while being only 20g heavier (which you don't feel given that the phone is larger and the weight more evenly-distributed). This, to me, is a bigger deal than having a small phone.

The weight and thickness of the Pros that came before this were big factors driving my hate for large phones. This phone's ergonomics have, so far, made interacting with its large screen very tolerable (for me).

Between this, a better virtual keyboard experience (by dint of having a bigger screen and iOS 26 improvements) and the 13 mini's aging processor (which makes its already-challenged battery life even worse), the decision to upgrade both of my Minis was effortless.