I have an inherited tea spoon that came from my Grandmother. (and when I say tea spoon, I mean a spoon with holes and a cover that's designed to steep loose-leaf tea!) But, the holes are big, and some teas slip out. So I also have a tea ball I payed a couple of bucks for that has a much finer mesh and a silicone seal. Worth it.
I do also have some drawstring hemp tea bags. They were part of a. . . ahem. . . less intelligent purchase, but I have them now and might as well use them up. I won't bother replacing them, though. Not when I have two tea balls. Honestly, I'm not even impressed. Half the time, the drawstring comes loose, which defeats the point of the tea bags containing the tea.
My aunt gifted me really nice teapot for Christmas one year, and I love it. It doesn't have an inbuilt filter, but I just use the tea ball, and then I knit myself a tea cozy for it. (If I'm feeling particularly lazy, or the tea cozy's in the wash, a clean tea-towel doubles as a cozy to keep the tea warm in a pinch)
And yes, if you're getting a tea filter/ball, you want stainless steel or silicone. Plastic ones can crack.
However, you folks now have me eyeing that teapot. And it's even on sale! But I don't need it, so I'll be good. (File that under 'not-needful thing I'm right now distracted by and want, because 'ooh, shiny' :eyeroll:). I will, however, -actually- file it away as 'things folks can get me for my Birthday/Christmas.', so thank you for the edition to the list!