I would say you're right in that with succinctness comes constraint. And the constraint is really the point, not the brevity. It's small because it can't do arbitrary things, which is exactly what lets you read one and approve it (and for hopefully anyone to understand), and what makes it run the same way every time.

A comparison would be useful. No published benchmark yet, but that's fair to ask for, and probably the next thing worth putting out.