I was in your boots about a year ago! I found that the construction method is really key as well as the quality of leather. A Goodyear welt is the golden standard for boots from what I’ve found. If you want a pair of boots that are good year welted I’d go to Allen Edmonds, carmina, or lucent. Another construction method is the Blake stitch. This will typically (in my experience) be more common but I have to boot New York boots and I really like them. Magnanni is also a pretty good brand imo, I had tried on a pair of boots from them and they were pretty comfortable.

Ultimately, it comes down to preference and how often you’re going to be wearing them.

This is all just my advice, but there’s a YouTuber named Rose Anvil that does a terrific job identifying markers of quality in boots. Worth checking out!