What cempler said. I tried the dongle approach when the jack in my pixel 4a was failing but found I didn't like it. Having the cable go out the bottom in the center is a terrible place for me, as I rest my phone on my outstretched pinky. The zenfone ticked all boxes on paper and in reviews.
Great chipset, solid build, a form factor fitting my tiny hands(though in retrospect it's so heavy that my pinky hurts after a couple hours of reading).
And a headphone jack which I use to plug my phone in my stereo and my Sennheiser headphones. Really the jack is the primary reason I got this phone.
Coupled by the fact that until now all zenfones had a hassle boot loader unlock and a decent rom community it really was the best choice on paper.
God damn it Asus, I wasn't aware they're that dodgy :/