Overrated gear recommendations after a year [v3]

This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts.

For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.

Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.