Typing this on a Zenfone 10.
The good thing is that this phone don’t really have bad querks like ZF8&9, and the 2 years update only means not getting new android features, Zenfone still works perfectly fine a long time after the 2 year mark.
And yes, Asus has been quite an A** hole in the whole bootloader situation, but putting that aside there are still plenty of ways to tinker a phone without root(Fdroid, adb, launcher, netguard, etc…).
I would say If custom ROMs are too important for you, get a Pixel, they are just that good with it.
But if you are willing to look past that, Zenfones are great.
Linux Mint chocolate chip cookies with coconut milk and some other things 🤤.