Not advice as such but I bought a Samsung A54 from Amazon last year which was "last year's" model - cost me around £200 or so. Running Android 15 on it, plus all the Apps I use regularly. Unfortunately there are various AI things creeping in unasked which I largely ignore and haven't yet had the courage to disable in case they take extreme umbrage with me...
I only use my laptop at home for banking - credit card details are on phone for purchases but not via Google Wallet.