[hedora]

It's also one of the better performing. Is the value line (currently, the 17e, I guess) typically much more expensive than an android with comparable battery life, CPU performance, and OS support lifespan?

This year, things look pretty comparable according to this shopping guide. You can get slightly worse or last year's line for about $100 less, or something with comparable specs (some better, some worse) for about the same price:

https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/apple-iphone/4-android...

The thing with price/performance is that it doesn't dictate high end or low end. It just says you need to be competitive at some price points.