To each his own, but your use case seems like the worst way to accomplish what you need. There are so, so many apps that will allow you to pin a widget to one of your homescreens with a to-do; why on earth would you want to have that living in your notification shade? I have a Keep to-do widget and the Android battery widget on a second homescreen to the right of the main. Exactly as much work as pulling down the shade, except I swipe left instead of down, and no chance of accidentally clearing the persistent notification.

Interesting, I was curious to see how the 8 compared to my 6a, which is perfect for me, and it’s actually a tiny bit smaller with a tiny bit larger screen.

Return of the IR blaster would be absolutely killer for me. I LOVED that feature on my old Samsungs, especially because my SO has a tendency to just… leave the remote places

+1 for the GameSir.

I’ve used the Razer Kishi (HAAAAATED it), the GameSir X2 USB-C, the Stadia controller, and an Xbox Series X controller. If you already have them lying around, a game controller + stand is the cheapest way, but I just find it annoying because you either have to have your phone hanging off the controller or sitting on a table in front of you. The GameSir was the best for me; it’s got a rigid back, pass-through charging, and you can remap the controls in the app pretty easily. It also perfectly fits my Pixel 6a, and even sits level when you account for the camera bar.