I guess it's a relative thing when talking about "quality" because it is a constant mouse chase to achieve desired effect, perhaps easily done with phones today, but difficult with expensive gear in the past.
I've dabbled with expensive prosumer grade gear and found it to be quite overwhelming without the prerequisite knowledge behind it to get the "most" out of it. Even after spending a lot of time learning, and practising, I feel like there are still large gaps.
But you're right in that the story is more important. So many great shots are empty stories which don't help to create a compelling narrative.
That's interesting insight. I tried some professional gears in the past but my knowledge was limited nor satisfying. So, it didn't came out as how I'd like it to be. There's a saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. I guess that's only true when the shoot is good and is already telling a story.