Ghost Commander. It's not perfect but it's great for grabbing stuff from my Samba shares. And after so many file explorers got enshittified, I value open-source.

Material files, I hate the stock / google files and it doesn't sacrifice on looks

I don't really have a favorite. I use a combination of them: Google Files, FX File Explorer, ES File Explorer (4.0.2.3) and Termux.

Google Files is a simple to use general file manager. Mostly useful for finding big files and looking through downloads as it combines SD Card + Internal storage.
FX File Explorer is a less powerful alternative to ES file explorer for me.
ES File Explorer has a lot. And this old version can be nicely customized for free. I like the network storage features and simple music player. Select music to put into your playlist, and hit play. Quick, customized playlists.
Termux if I want something extra. I generally use it for creating TAr archives and copying files along with their timestamps. Also a nicer text editor (Vim) and advantage of being able to SSH into my phone from computer.

X-Plore because there's no comparison to how much better it is to everything else I've tried. It's got side by side view. Supports SMB, FTP, USB, Wifi-Sharing and just about any other transfer method you could want. It works on Android phones, tablets, Quest and Pico VR headsets. It supports sharing files and media to and from other apps. You can easily share a video from your gallery to a network drive for example. It's very customizable too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lonelycatgames.Xplore

I have material files, but I use Total Commander the most. It is overkill but useful when I have to move stuff around on a server. It has an F-Droid Repo too, so bonus.

File manager plus. It just works for me and I have been using it for years.

I've be n using Astro for ages. I tried a few and found them bloated and missing something. Astro has some extra bits I don't use but I never switched them on so it's not an issue. You can hide anything you don't use on the opening screen from the options too.

File Manger +. I'm not sure its foss and is on Google play but I've been using it for 5 years and it's super simple and powerful. Manages remote connections very well and was simple enough to walk my friend through configuring a connection to a SMB server. I really can't imagine a reason to switch.