How to file-manage an iPhone from a Windows box? I am considering buying an iPhone, probably an XR, XS, or X.

Is it possible to file-manage such a device from a laptop that is running Windows 7 Pro and is connected to the iPhone by USB cable, and if so how can I do this?

The kind of file management tasks I have in mind are straightforward ones such as copying files to and fro, editing text files (which comes down to being able to open and save from the Windows machine), renaming and deleting files and directories, creating new directories, and moving files and directories about. Is this just as easy to do as if the laptop were connected by USB cable to say a flash drive rather than to the smartphone? Or is it perhaps impossible because there is no way of making an iPhone running iOS show up on a Windows box as a drive in the first place?

(Note: I have no need to sync; this question concerns file management only.)
Generally speaking you can't do this on a PC (Linux or Windows) or a Mac. Though on Windows PCs you can usually get to the folder that holds music and pictures, if I remember correctly.

But really there is no way to treat an iPhone like a thumb drive without jailbreaking it or jumping through hoops that would end up (possibly) being more trouble than it is worth.

The only thing you should do is back up the phone to your PC from time to time. Yes you can use iCloud backup, which I do use, but I also change that button in iTunes and back up locally from time to time. Mostly because I am a vaguely paranoid IT guy who has seen so many people lose data because of incomplete backups that I have two backup methods for my iPhone.