brightjob4495 If there has to be a camera bump...
Sadly, there really doesn't have to be a camera bump. As soon as the Pixel 6 was announced, I thought the bump that makes the phone over 1cm thick (you have to go back well over a decade to find phones this thick) was ridiculous. I have often pointed out that the Sony Xperia phones have larger camera sensors in them than the Pixel phones and they basically have no camera bump. I don't know why Google designed it this way. I think it's either lazy engineering or they actually think it's preferable to have a bump or maybe both.
Anyway, after my 4a5G hit end of life, I went ahead and got a Pixel 8. I have to say, I'm not loving the camera bump. But it is also not nearly as annoying as I thought it would be. I thought it would make the phone seem really bulky in my pocket, but it hasn't. This obviously depends on what one's pants are like. I still think the bump looks ugly though. And I wish my phone could lay flat on a table.
On the other hand, like you, I think glass backs are the stupidest design decision ever. We have to live with the risks of glass on the screen. Doubling the risk by putting it on the back, makes no sense. I have loathed the glass back since my Nexus 4. I was perfectly happy with the polycarbonate body on the 4a5G. I also think aluminum phones are nice (and I don't care about wireless charging, which can't be done through aluminum). There are also other interesting (and RF transparent) materials like ceramic and certain fiber materials that could be used.
Also, I had read online people complaining about the phone (and other phones) being slippery. I've never found that to be an issue in the past. But boy is the Pixel 8 slippery. Here's a good idea: make a phone out of a really fragile material (glass back), which also makes the phone slippery and more likely to be dropped. Sheesh. They could have at least made the glass back matte, which I think is more aesthetically appealing anyway (glossy just seems cheap to me). Apart from the increased risk of dropping the phone, if I put the Pixel 8 down on something even slightly not level, it starts sliding away.
I've broken down and ordered a case, as someone who does not like cases and has never had one (I have used sleeves in the past). I went with the Thinborne case, made from aramid fiber. Still waiting for it to be delivered. The case looks nice in the photos, is supposed to be well made, is extremely thin (less than a mm) so it doesn't really alter the size of the phone, and is supposed to have a nice, grippy texture. On the other hand, it's absurdly expensive for something probably made from $1 of materials, it comes in a pointless wood box (no doubt adding to the price), and comes with screen protectors that I don't want (also adding to the cost). Oh well, it seemed like the case that best fit what I wanted, so I sucked it up on the price.