Personally, it's the only reason why I stuck on with my Samsung Galaxy S8 for so long. I've used phones from Xiaomi back in the early days of the their early MIUI development, stuck on with the early versions of the Samsung Galaxy lineup and a few One Plus and Google Pixel phones. Samsung Pay is so convenient as it really reduces the need to bring out the physical cards when conducting purchases outside (as long as they have the NFC function). Aside from the familiar One UI that Samsung recently is all about, I must say that that is where my compliments stop. Their stubbornness in insisting that their Exynos chips are of the same performance tier/grade as Qualcomm's Snapdragon's is pure ego. The shortest explanation would be that the same models housing different chips would go to show their performance difference would be as wide as up to 20% which is a huge difference. There's no way I'm going to pay a premium like that knowing there are better choices out there. Another gripe would be the local unit of Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G that houses a Snapdragon that would have been perfect for my needs IF not for the ghost/phantom touches that users are currently facing. No supposed fix for that since it is most likely a hardware design flaw that does not seem to be addressed.

I've seen rumours pop up in forums that the A72 is coming out in 10 days, on the 18th March 2021. Perhaps you could wait for that or consider waiting for the OnePlus 9 to come out, then prepare your wallet to purchase a OnePlus 8 or OnePlus 8T if it ever hits your price range  .

The A72 should be coming out with a base model that has 128GB that is supposedly cheaper than the 256GB (goes without saying of course!), and hopefully one that is of the same price range. Once it does come out, wait for a few weeks for the price to drop to your price range and then you may consider hitting the purchase button. 

Not bad. Will wait to see A72 how. Ya I'm looking forward to the nfc but not everywhere has nfc available anyway. Some cashiers don't even know how to use it. Mostly I use ewallet nowadays. Only pay wave card whenever applicable. On weekly basis, I only go to groceries, weekend meals at some places.
Nfc not really useful for me as of yet. But ya if one of those phones like A72 drop price, I may consider it.