Impossible to transfer pics and video to PC

I thought my iPhone X was a nightmare to transfer data to a PC but this 12 Mini has taken the lead. I have had this phone for 2 months. I have tried everything to transfer pictures and video to my PC. The best I can do is email myself pictures.

Windows Photo Viewer Sync.... Fails 90% of the time, the other 10% it takes hours to transfer a couple pics.

iTunes backup... works but not helpful in this case.

ICloud subscription... don't even mention it I refuse to pay for additional iCloud storage to be able to get pics off my phone.

Windows Explorer.... Fails 100% of the time.

What gives? I would think that eventually Apple could get this right, but every phone I buy is progressively worse. Why don't I have an Android? Because of one app that is iOS only.

Apple fan boys, no need to defend your honor here. Anyone else, how do you get pics and vid off your phone, is there something I'm missing in the list above?