I think it's safe to say that the newer phone will usually have the old one beaten in a lot of ways. Sure, we'll see some things regress, but with a few exceptions, it's usually the better phone.
There's nothing wrong with liking an older phone because it better fits your needs. That's fine. I do like my old One M7 despite having an absolutely toasted battery and I still think it's one of the best phones I've used, even though it's 3 years old by now.
But the simple thing is, an old phone can't outpunch a new one in most cases overall.