> Google phones are not going to suddenly become luxury devices

Pixel Fold disagrees.

> When my wife is on call she gets random whatsapp notifications dinging all night, whereas when I had an iphone I could set Focus mode and achieve proper "phone calls only".

You can do that with do not disturb.

> Android is not good. I use it despite its flaws, because of the trade-offs, not because it's better.

That is your opinion. My opinion is different.