I did look at the Zenfone 9 actually and my biggest issue was the locked bootloader and no custom rom support. It may not be a total deal breaker, but it was enough to give me pause. The 5a would be great if it wasn’t nearly as old as the 4a. I would still be considering Pixels if they hadn’t ruined the “a” line.
Even in the unlikely event that Elon did get a colony going on Mars, he’d be like Cohaagen from Total Recall, but worse.