I have discovered not much has changed !
It has been known for ages that a lens is much sharper with 2-3 diaphragms stopped down. It is still true with the most modern lenses.
Furthermore, fast lenses are rarely as sharp as those that are not. It seems to be still true. When it is not so true, it means a bulk lens, and an expensive one.
Finally, smartphones are doing a very good job but has their own limitations like any other camera. In my case, too few pixels compared to the Z50 camera.
Maybe fast lenses are not that sharp, but you can’t shoot at f/1.4 with an excellent zoom as low as the 16-35mm.
Some trade-offs can be very interesting: the tiny 16-50 AF-Z zoom can indeed deliver great images, weighting nothing, costing the same, but at the expense of the max aperture, of course. There is no miracle.
An old 35mm AIS closed to f/5.6 is doing a very decent job. But there is no AF. That’s a real change. For some cases, it does not matter, for other it does certainly.