TLDR; this breaks the rule of the internet, the answer is definitely yes!
For various reasons I was without a 3d printer for a while (yes I know the horror!) previous to my current printer was a custom built aluminium framed marlin based bed slinger, however it was fairly modest in its "upgrades" Z calibration was manual, there was no bed levelling mapping, no z sensor (micro switch end stop). No removable bed plate....Never the less it was carefully built and produced some great prints.
My current printer (for now) is a Sovol SV06 (I coveted the the Voron 2.4 but couldn't justify the cost of a kit....) for half the price I could get an SV08, but was Sovol's quality up to the job?
It was a pleasant surprise to discover that actually the SV06 is a cost effective simple and refined printer, having dipped my toe, I'm reinfected with the bug :-)
Bed levelling and sensor - I have definitely noticed along with the removable plate, that at least with PETG basically these refinements, mean I've had no issues with bed adhesion, something that can be a plague.
Mass Production, being mass produced the parts all seem to have a really good tolerance, building from a kit and using printed parts can cause issues (not always!), so I guess that's a win for modern production methods, not to mention the "build" is minimum and you're off to the races much sooner.
Slicers, no 3d printer is more than a large paper weight without GCODE. Here we
have a definite difference, both Cura and Prusa (and no doubt others)
have evolved and improved their slicers no end, in a continuous process.
My very first 3d build was for a friend, a very cheap 3d printer kit (a lot more than 5 years ago...) with I kid you not a chipboard frame - it was terrible really, but it was more than enough to infect me with the bug! I'm happy to see that there has been a steady and continuous improvement with the technology of FDM printing.
So I guess there is more expense at some point in my future....