What do you mean by cheap? What is your actual budget? I'm pretty happy with the Moto G Stylus but it's $250 which I'd call midrange I guess. I have the 2023 model but the 2024 one is the same price and has a few improvements. The lower end Moto G models seem like good value too. Just make sure to run a debloater or otherwise delete/disable all the preinstalled crapware. You can also get an older model Pixel fairly affordably and run GrapheneOS on it.
I'd recommend a refurbished pixel of the newest version you can afford and then put GrapheneOS on it. Moto G Power 5g has better battery but worse camera. the Galaxy S line is pretty good too, with incremental upgrades so you can compare specs against price
Yeah sorry I originally had written that more clearly but ended up taking out a sentence without fixing the rest lol.
You're right Graphene is Pixel only. Before I switched to a Pixel, I had a Moto G7 Power and put LineageOS on it, which worked mostly great for me (except I couldn't get the phone app to recognize the built in microphone). LineageOS is also available for the Galaxy S line
I have a Pixel 8 Pro. My previous Pixel (a 4XL) barely lasted a day with low/moderate usage. The P8P ends each day around 50-60%, has a pretty good camera, and has good enough performance. I feel like the UI responsiveness has improved over time, but that's probably my imagination.