You are expressing exactly what I first experienced three months ago.
You are probably wrong about the "I'll ever need to satisfy my drone curiosity [...]" part though.
I was because at some point I wanted to try to fly without VPS.
I'm beginning to have a lot of fun with this 75$ mini quad that I'd say is mostly the opposite of a
Tello :
EDIT : it is an HS110D (Holy Stone very low cost no gps no vps drone)
I am kinda preparing an idea for a video comparing my quads but I'm far from ready yet and this footage is really cool.
Also, I think it fits your point here: Tellos are technologycaly superior but are so much "user friendly" or (trying to be) "death proof" that they also remove a lot of piloting freedom.
Welcome in mate!