All free phones I know so far are mid-to-low tier devices with a high-tier price tag. I hope the FSF will be able to either ramp up the specs to current standard (whenever “current” will be) or having a reasonable price.
I’ll gladly take a mid tier device that allows me to have full control over it. High end mobile devices are unnecessary anyway.
(Written from my decidedly mid tier 6 year old Pixel 4 which still performs perfectly well.)
I have no problem with mid-tier hardware or even on the lower end. I had a Pixel 3 till it broke, and replaced it with a Pixel 7 Pro. My Laptop is 7, my desktop 10 years old.
But I would not re-buy a Pixel 3 for the price of a Pixel 10 Pro, no matter how open the system is.
(Which is funny, because the Google phones are best for running de-googled Android.)
