I went through the same thing, correcting everyone with "the next Nexus 4 will be Nexus 4 again, not Nexus 5"

And then I read some rumors saying it will have a full 5" screen. We'll see.

Sigh, this is exactly backwards from where I want flagship Android phones going. It follows the typical tech trend of "bigger, better, faster", but I miss the small size of the Nexus One.

None of the Nexus devices fit in the pockets of the clothes of women I know. (First world problems, yes, but I wish I could recommend an Android device to them that they could carry around without having to use a purse. It doesn't help that Android is eating into the low-end market; barely anyone makes feature phones in the old candybar and flip form factors.)

    I wish I could recommend an Android device to
    them that they could carry around without having
    to use a purse

My wife really likes her Razr M. Almost no bezel, so big screen for its size. And with a small hack you can run it on ATT or T-Mobile.

There's plenty of smaller Android phones available too. But users clearly seem to like the bigger sizes, and frankly women seem to be a large driver. At least around here, most women I see have their phones - regardless of size - in their purse, and so they also seem to be very quick to adopt the large form factor phones. It's fairly common to see people with 6" phones here now.

But check out Aliexpress.com, and you will find lots of small form factors, if you're ok with ordering direct from China.

Not a big fan of phones that large, but I'd cope with that if it would meant that I could own a product called "Nexus 6".

Even if it isn't available in a "basic pleasure model" configuration.

I completely agree. The N1 was a very ergonomic phone. I use my N4 one-handed; my wife uses hers like a small tablet (two hands). I don't have small hands, but I have to shift my grip to reach all four corners of the screen. Each shift is a chance to drop the phone, so it carries a higher cognitive load than a smaller 3.5" device. The narrow screen on the iPhone 5 is an almost perfect size for me.

If you're interested in good, smaller Android phones, keep an eye on Sony. The current rumor is that the mini-edition of their next flagship will keep the high-end specs of its larger sibling (except for the screen resolution, of course).

You can make the screen bigger without making the device bigger. There's a lot of bezel to get rid of. Case in point: Moto X.

I will wait for the Nexus 3 then.