I bought a pair of ARCX branded boots. You can search for it on shopee. Price ranges from 480 to 350. They seem to offer quite a huge range of designs so I assume they are fairly reputable.

. Mid boot. I think it was about 300ish on shopee discount.
Used it for 26k KM already. Partial leather construction. Fairly comfortable. I could walk in it for hours.

The rubber coating on the edge is peeling slightly at the shifter area. Waterproofing lasted about a year. Now it leaks badly....but in all fairlness, most boots will eventually leak. Full leather ones will probably fair better in terms of waterproofing. But if it was full leather, you'd be looking at 600-1000 ish already. I would change my boot every year instead.

Does that mean in the long run you spend more changing boots than a pair that lasts?

Possibly.
But that's fine for me. Boots are not going to last forever anyway. I'm putting on 25k per year currently.  Doubt a good pair is going to last me 60k km...or I can buy different style of boots for different needs and split the wear down.

About the only thing gone wrong is the waterproofing. I can live with that. Been entertaining the idea of getting a Falco ADV boot for longer multiday touring rides. But I am looking at 1000 a pair.

Full leather ones will probably fair better in terms of waterproofing. But if it was full leather, you'd be looking at 600-1000 ish already. I would change my boot every year instead.