Galaxy Tab vs budget options

Likely a frequently asked question, but I am taking a chance to upgrade my 2022 Galaxy Tab S6 Lite since I lost the pen and it seems to be impossible (or at least really cumbersome) to replace. I didn't have any major problem with the S6 Lite over the years, aside from it becoming quite slow and laggy over time.

I am a grad student, so most of my usage was reading and annotating pdfs, with the occasional note-taking during conferences. The only thing that I would now consider to be a desirable upgrade and that the S6 Lite didn't quite make easy to do is to take notes on google sheets for when I am in archives and don't want to take my main, heavy laptop with me. A slightly larger screen for basic word processing and spreadsheets would be appreciated, but I would be happy without, if the price increase is too steep.

My budget goes from around $200-300 for basic functions to around $500-600 for a machine that will last me a few years without significant slow downs and some increased functionality. (I am currently living in Japan and will be there for a while, so NA offers are unfortunately off the table for now.)

From what I have seen so far, the S10 and S9 series from seem to be a good fit, especially with the S10 Lite coming out soon. However, with budget options like POCO I am wondering what is the case for the Galaxy Tab series and whether for what I need something on the cheaper side could work better. In case, what is your advice for an S series option? If you think I should look elsewhere, any advice?