5.9" is considered compact now?
My 5,2" Motorola Moto G5 Plus fits pretty tight in a case for a Google Pixel 6a, which has a 6,1" screen.
Here are some body size measurements:
Moto G5 Plus: 15,0x7,4cm
Pixel 6a: 15,2x7,1cm
When it comes to the Zenfone and Nexus 5:
Zenfone 10: 14,65x6,8cm
Nexus 5: 13,8x6,9cm
That said, even when going by volume, this isn't a particularly small phone at 94 cm3.
A current-gen iPhone SE is only 68 cm3. The zenphone 10 sits in between the 81.8 cm3 iPhone 14 and the 99 cm3 iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Or compared to Samsung, the "regular sized" Galaxy S23 is 78.8 cm3. Even the S23+ is slightly smaller at 91 cm3! Only the S23 Ultra is significantly larger at 114 cm3.
(All volumes here were determined by multiplying the deminsions listed on GSM Arena. They're probably all slightly off due to camera bumps, but should be comparable to each other.)