This is from experience in the mobile industry for 6 years... Budget android devices like Samsung/Google (in the <$500 price range) have better specs on paper but have worse real world performance, less longevity and are usually plastic and cheap feeing.
This iPhone will perform much better than the Galaxy A51 for example (because of the A11 chip) last longer, have a considerably lower out of box failure rate, and feel like a more premium device due to the glass body and have features like wireless charging and maybe even water resistance (not sure if it does but probably) that the Pixel 3a and Galaxy A51 lack, and at $16 per month on a 24 month payment commitment it’s a very modest price.
The US don't get the best spread of the budget phones for some reason (you might know why considering you're in the industry).
In the middle east and Europe there are a ton of phone choices in the 3-400 USD range and you don't need to compromise that much on quality.
The A51 is seen as a real budget phone here, it can be had for under 300 USD unlocked. For 400 you can get the Samsung a80 or something like the oneplus 7t, all of which will make this "new" iPhone look like a joke. Then there are manufacturers like Xioami, Oppo, Realme who use the same parts (batteries, camera sensors, etc) as some"flagship" phones from better known brands. These phones don't feel cheap either, a lot of full glass/ceramic phones available in that price range. If you can swallow getting a "Chinese" phone then for 400 USD you are getting a phone that won't be beat on feature-set by anyone else. I don't know if these brands even sell their phones officially in America however. A budget phone from these brands (the ones that feel cheap) sell for 1-200 USD.
Basically there's a big market out there and it's more competitive than ever. This phone doesn't offer anything new and even at "just" 400 USD it's still an absolute rip-off. I haven't even mentioned Huawei who have been royally fucked due to geopolitical issues.
Also for reliability a quick search of recent surveys shows there's not much in terms of differences between apple and android devices (a couple of percent). So if that's important it comes down to what ecosystem you prefer and which manufacturers after sale support you feel is better where you live.
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