Judging by Samsung Galaxy A15 5G at work, I think could get used to something bigger (and heavier). Currently have a Sony Xperia E3, it passed 10th year mark last year. It's still holding up.
I was looking at Sony among others, but I've read about OLED screens, which are prevalent today and PWM flickering. I'm worried it might effect me and it seems popular mainstream models have it bad along with Sony, even though Xperia 5 V seems OKish otherwise, if not a bit expensive. Besides worse viewing angles being noted in review, I've read an anecdote about white not being pure white even when being looked at straight and being more prone to static imagery leaving imprints on it.
I notice only other brands that dare to deviate from the established norms (size, thin bezels...) are some random Chinese ones. Ever heard of Unihertz?
I thought all things considered, compromises being unavoidable, maybe I should focus on the better screen, considering the time I spent reading on it. So I found Motorola Edge 50 Pro, but still can't decide whether to go for it or not.
Rooting may not bring as many possibilities as it does with older Android versions and devices, but it comes with sense of freedom that just isn't there with locked down device. Though I realize big corps are ruining that aspect. I actually unlocked the bootloader of my Xperia E3 soon after I bought it new, knowing full well warranty will go kaput (it never needed any servicing). It was used to more efficiently manage limited storage space, moving apps to system partition, avoiding having two versions on /system and /data, installing some mods to extend original Android 4.4.4 and later replacing it with LineageOS 14.1.
I also remember trying Firefox OS on this device years ago.
iOS really isn't for me, so Apple is out of the question.