I also got an s10e because iirc it was the only smallish Android phone with ok specs and ok IP rating (also I avoided Chinese brands—though Samsung isn't necessarily everyone's choice either). Very comfortable format!

Why? S22 has almost same dimensions.

List of smaller Android phones with decent specs:

Pixel 5 - 144.7 x 70.4 x 8 mm

Samsung S22 - 146 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm

Zenfone 8 - 148 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm (could be higher thanks to narrower body)

Xiaomi 12X - 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.2 mm

Samsung S21 - 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm

I've gotten the s10e just last month because it's the top phone that can still run linux on dex (which is a disappointment, but that's a topic for another day), and doesn't have those stupid Samsung edge displays (s10+ 12GB RAM edition).

I'm not sure those other phones are any better in terms of running linux (termux) and those non-samsung ones don't even have dex so I don't even know what the high specs are for.

S22 should be good once it's no longer the latest phone and you can grab at a discount, and maybe Android 13 with KVM is out by then.