Galaxy Note 9. It was the last fully featured phone Samsung made with a headphone jack, an S-Pen, and no display cutout. The only phones that have come out since that are even close to as fully featured are the Sony Xperia phones.
I bought one brand new a few months ago because my S7 died and I couldn't justify dropping $1000 on an Xperia phone. It's an EU model bought from US Amazon so I definitely overpaid, but it's been worth it so far. Definitely holds up imo.
It's obviously not flagship level, but it's still a solid mid-ranger. It doesn't get software updates anymore so officially, I'm stuck on Android 10 and an old security patch. However, I can upgrade to One UI Android 12/13, or whatever the latest AOSP is through the magic of custom ROMs if it ever starts to bother me.
Edit: The only issue I have is that the fingerprint reader isn't as fast as I'd like it to be. I'm not sure if it's common or just a me issue despite searching a bunch so any help would be appreciated :)
Oof $300 for a repair is rough, especially considering you can get a refurb Note 9 or 10 for less than that (US or EU at least). What are you daily driving now?
S Pen is one of those things that I didn't think I'd use much but I keep whipping out for this or that. It's kinda great!
They remind me of the old "S series" samsung rolled out during the start of the smart phone boom. I had an S3 with a life proof case on it. Damn thing was indestructible. When I hot this A54 I noticed the shape similarities and got another life proof case. Would Highly recommend it 🤌 I hoping to get as much life out of this phone as possible
Yooooo I also had an S3. That phone was a TANK! I dropped it on some rocks and smashed the screen once so I had to get a screen replacement but that was the worst of it (and completely understandable). Aside from that it was a fantastic phone and very durable! I had it on LineageOS Android 7 (or 6 idk) before it got stolen :(