This felt like a marketing failure. The iPhone mini didn’t have a small screen. It was only 0.1” smaller than the 8 Plus.
Had they simply called it the iPhone and talked about how they essentially fit the 8 Plus screen in the body of the 8, and emphasized the better usability, I think it would have sold better.
Most people I know don’t like how much space a these large phones take up in their pockets.