Dongles are actually not a compromise, but an upgrade in case you dont get a noname shitty one. You wont get a good builtin DAC for your 3.5mm port unless you buy a pretty expensive phone. Even then the quality is just “good enough” and not increasing linearly with the price.
A dongle does not need to be expensive for casual listening, and is by far the cheapest option for audiophiles as well. Alternatively you can use a bluetooth dac amp. Even more alternatively, you can buy a TWS adapter (forexample Fiio utws series) and an actually good IEM. You can buy both for the money you spare by not spending extra on some Sony and you will have a better audio experience.
I suggest buying Volla/Gigaset (has jack btw) and Fairphone since they are far more serviceable than any other devices. Fairphone will just send you a spare USB-C if you want.