Person rebuilds an N900 to use a battery eliminator and replace the micro usb port with USB-C, and then sets it up as a media player. Ok but why bother?
It's still useless as a phone, at least in the US, because the 3G network is dead. Sigh. Its UI was also hopelessly slow, as was the later N9's.
The G Play 2024 didn't have 5g and people say that's significant. I got the G Stylus 2023 which was $250 at the time, so I'd consider it midrange. It's fine, I don't need a fancier phone. NTN (non terrestrial network i.e. satellite) text comms is the next interesting feature. Currently only in flagships so I can wait for it to reach budget phones.