- Edited
Also about the money you are investing, you should think of it as not an investment in a regular phone (pixel in this case).
Instead see it as the cost of buying a privacy phone. And there simply are extremely few privacy phone options, with the minimum start cost a bit high, and the pixel with gos is the most complete and premium option (in terms of privacy, features, and capabilities).
The extra cost you pay on a pixel 8 model as compared to a 7a or a 6a is for better hardware and warranty update support period. That's your personal choice should you prefer an 8 over a 6a or 7a.
Generally at this time choosing the privacy route means swallowing the bitter pill of not having certain niceties and conveniences offered in regular phones. However i must say I have been astounded by how amazingly close gos capabilities are to a regular high end phone. I never expected the compromise to be this small. Other options are pretty atrocious comparatively.