Every photo you take benefits greatly from editing... done correctly!
The secret no one tells you is almost every incredible photo that you discover and love has been edited. Even the quickest effort of strategic photo editing can dramatically improve your photos. Photo editing allows you to creatively bring back the original intention and emotion lost at capture.
One of the biggest problems you are facing is feeling underwhelmed by your photos and overwhelmed by all the editing tools. You can move beyond the filters and start strategically editing your photos into the best version they can be.
Photo editing is fun. Experiencing your own photo transform at your fingertips is so satisfying and fulfilling.
Your smartphone camera does a great job of doing the heavy lifting technical stuff to get the subject focused (most of the time) and correctly exposing darks and lights in the scene. However, your phone does not know what the intention of your photos is. You may actually prefer dark, moody photos or those greens around a waterfall to be more vibrant and punchy.