As mentioned, second-hand is also an option. But my price was actually from Hungary with world-record VAT included, so not sure if you really couldn't find/order it for around that price.

Also, the basic premise is that you can buy a decent Pixel phone for an affordable price, not that it has the very best price/value out of any device. I would also wager that the Pixel 8 has massively better cameras than a Samsung A16, so not apples to oranges.