The screen isn't small, the Lynx was just massive. Here's one compared to a Gameboy Pocket. On the plus side, you could us it to defend yourself from attackers.

Kinda had to be at the time. That screen was a little wider than an original Gameboy, IIRC, and they were running the Lynx on AA batteries. That particular handheld is why rechargeable batteries were invented, AFAICT. The Lynx just chewed through batteries like they were candy.