Typing this on a Zenfone 10.
The good thing is that this phone don’t really have bad querks like ZF8&9, and the 2 years update only means not getting new android features, Zenfone still works perfectly fine a long time after the 2 year mark.
And yes, Asus has been quite an A** hole in the whole bootloader situation, but putting that aside there are still plenty of ways to tinker a phone without root(Fdroid, adb, launcher, netguard, etc…).
I would say If custom ROMs are too important for you, get a Pixel, they are just that good with it.
But if you are willing to look past that, Zenfones are great.
I think it just mean you blocked/restricted these app’s internet access.