It's all a bit /pəteɪtəʊ/-/pətātō/ really, as with most things in language, but yeah having typeset a few things in my time it’s one of those things I always notice
(The second 'one-of-a-kind' in the screenshot is using en dashes just to show how much wider they really are)
I see your point, but I think the difference here is made by the heavier line weight rather than by the length.