My first question is, do you actually
need a smartphone, or are you just manufacturing an excuse to spend the money to get one because the advertisements to get you to spend more money is working? The reasons you cite are for trinkets and baubles to manufacture further spending and to normalize being datamined. Frequently, using a smartphone will up mobile phone bills needlessly through feature creep and hedonic adaptation with people who are susceptible to being convinced they need something they don't.
Is there a free to cheap way to get a phone that could do these things over Wi-Fi (i.e. without a plan/cell service)?
Android tablets would work, but again, don't spend money on technology
just to try and squeeze a few extra pennies. That's being cheap, not frugal. The time, money, effort and electricity used aren't going to actually be worth it in the bigger picture.
Suggestions?
Ignore the spam and don't needlessly complicate your life for a few extra pennies.