Artisan makes some quality deskpads if you are interested in spending a little extra. Otherwise a generic deskmat will do the trick and you won’t be too worried about dirtying it or ruining it.

Can’t say I’ve run into Linux oriented mouse/deskpads but it’s likely one search term away!

I mistyped my bank website at an insurance office and locked down the computer. Lady had to call IT to unlock everything again. 16 year old me learned to carefully check the address bar that day.

I think you hit the nail on the head with diminishing returns. I’m usually on a 5-6 year usage period too. I can understand the battery swap helping out but my last few phones have felt so sluggish after 4+ years so I start looking at new phones around year 5. I have a Pixel 7 now and I’m going to wait until end of support and then we’ll see what the offerings are then!