I have faced this before - A stranger dialed the number I wanted to call, put it on speaker and let me speak to my friend.

I did this recently for a homeless woman on the street. In my case I was more concerned about COVID risk than the risk of her stealing my phone (as I had a bicycle and she didn't, and she looked tired and emaciated and unlikely to be able to harm me).

As a result, I overheard her entire long desperate attempt to persuade her mother to give her another other other other last chance. :-( :-( :-(

Good idea. Hadn't even thought of that since the question is usually "can I borrow your phone" which implies handing it over.

Not true.

Most people aren't using and can't afford the flagship models. I personnally have never bought a smartphone more than 180€ and I know a lot of people doing the same thing.

Do they have monthly payments for phones in Europe, or is it all just one lump-sum payment?

Most people I know have flagship phones and the ability to make many smaller payments may have something to do with that.

Monthly payments exist and some people use them to pay for a flagship phone but most people understand this is just diguised credit and they'd rather have a cheaper subscription.

Also I've seen people do that drop/lose/get their expensive phone stolen and then pay for almost 2 years for a device they don't use. The replacement is usually a lot cheaper and they realize their life is not that different with a cheaper smartphone and don't repeat the experience unless they are social status show offs.