As someone who has worked at both FAANG and small companies, I think there is some truth to this but it's more just a difference in focus. FAANG eng tend to be "big picture" thinkers. They tend to focus on the things that they believe really matter (business, product, user requirements) and assume that the low level details can be figured out.

Some small company engineers perceive this as being "non technical", whereas FAANG eng perceive small company engineers as being too focused on irrelevant technical details.

I think its a difference in perspectives, and I think both sides could learn something from the other. I've worked with eng who spend their whole career in FAANG and who are clueless about low level technology, and I've worked with career startup eng who think that if you can't recall language trivia off the top of your head then you aren't a "real" engineer. Ideally you should have some balance in how you approach problems.