I'm not sure I'd say small gas port is flat-out better, it sort of depends what you want out of the gun. Really a spectrum I guess you could call it. Here's two extremes:
If you want it to be able to run weak/cheap .223 ammo (like Wolf) while it's super dirty, unsuppressed, and lacking in lubrication, a bigger gas port is your friend. I suspect this is why most manufacturers offer factory rifles with big gas ports. It makes the gun reliable with shitty ammo and poor maintenance. That same gun will gas you and be pretty hard on itself suppressed. For example, the bolt will probably wear out faster if you shoot enough. Recoil will be rougher.
At the other end of the spectrum would be a barrel setup to only use 5.56-pressure ammo with a highly restrictive/high-backpressure can 100% of the time. It'll have a smaller gas port so that you don't get smoked out with gas-to-the-face after a few shots. It'll also operate smoother and not beat itself up when suppressed. The flipside is that it likely won't cycle at all unsuppressed, or may be finnicky about ammo, maintenance, etc if it does work.
To somewhat further complicate things, some people use longer or shorter gas systems, like carbine, mid-length, or proprietary lengths between the two.
As Tigwelder mentioned, BRT has some options for tuning an existing barrel, such as restricted gas tubes or gas blocks with interchangeable inserts. Also, as mentioned above, you can get an adjustable gas block and dial it in so to speak. You can also change buffer weights and springs, but that is more of a bandaid than treating the underlying issues with the gas system.