They come in as high as 512gb and 1tb. I agree that they should have microSD slots, but the builtin storage options are sufficient.

You can save quite a bit by getting a refurbished Pixel - looks like the cheapest "Google certified" option (so it comes with a 1-year warranty) is a 6a for $250, which is nearly half off MSRP. I've been using my 6a since launch, so it's been going for 3 years now and I have no desire to upgrade.

You can definitely get cheaper smartphones, but $250 for a 6a feels like a pretty big bang for your buck.

in that case I would feel comfortable going with a refurb like theloweststone mentioned; pixels are the only(?) android devices which let you swap out the bootloader in a safe manner, so even a phone that's been in shady hands should be fine if the boot hash matches. And if you know another person with graphene you can do the attestation just to be certain.

but since the future of GrapheneOS is slightly shaky at the moment, I've looking at alternatives for when my current device inevitably bites the dust -- fairphone and pinephone both look like decent choices at first glance. It's an unfortunate situation but just gotta roll with it!

Lineage OS is a fairly generic ROM based on AOSP so it supports the most devices

Calyx OS is a privacy focused ROM without all the Graphene OS BS. The Graphene OS team and community are quite toxic and have a "my way or the highway" mentality. They don't support MicroG and focus more on security than privacy and freedom.