Honestly, hard bricking (damaging the bootloader beyond repair) is really hard and soft bricking is solved by getting to download mode and flashing the correct version. While starting with custom roms, having no idea what i do, i flashed my Galaxy Xcover 1 with the OS for a sub-version of the device and it almost worked.
Seems like you have to compile. I use it only for Steam (on Arch) for now (with a symlink to .local/share/Steam for some modloaders). Though, somehow no Qt app runs on my notebook, but setup via cli was fine too.
I can only reach about 5" with the thumb, while holding the phone. But not the opposite edge. Average male hand.