I also would prefer a smaller phone. However

> I understand why the current models are so bulky, but personally I don't really care for modularity and hardware switches

These aren't the main reasons. It's more because of the chosen SoC, which came from automotive industry and was the only choice for running free software.

Oh, I didn’t consider that aspect. Is the SoC physically bigger, does it require a bunch of additional components, or is it simply power hungry?