You are wrong about AOSP. I'm running LineageOS (Android 14) on both my phone and tablet without Gapps and it is a fully functional system. (NewPipe for youtube, Aurora/Fdroid for for App Stores)
I don't know what you mean by "look and feel of early android" either, as AOSP based ROMs look just like Google Pixel in the settings, quick dropdowns and dialogue popups.
LineageOS is not the raw open source Android though that the parent probably referred to. Afaik there are quite some changes needed by now to make it really usable.
Still though it kinda proves my point. What's the quickest path to a usable phone? Quite a bit of work on top of AOSP, or even more work ontop of Linux?
I don't know what you mean by "look and feel of early android" either, as AOSP based ROMs look just like Google Pixel in the settings, quick dropdowns and dialogue popups.