We can probably add some option to use an external browser instead (lots of apps have this), but you should be able to open the link in the actual web browser without it, like this:

I am getting into the habit of always clicking on an hamburger menu to open the full browser but it's an extra step for basically every link I tap on.

This web browser behavior is due to the use of Chrome Custom Tabs. Both Chrome and Firefox act as custom tab providers, and neither browser permits this behavior to be disabled anymore. Custom tabs are great for OIDC authentication flows and such, but I believe that using them for general web links is not ideal.

In-app browsers, and the remote tab apps which mimic them, are usually considered an anti-feature. They do not offer the user's other tabs, bookmarks, search, or an editable URL bar. The "back" button returns the user to the app—not to their browser or the previous page they were looking at. These are all design patterns which hold users "captive" within an app—usually to drive engagement and ad impressions. Obviously, this is not what Element X is after. Are there other compelling reasons to use Custom Tabs? Element Android classic did not work this way.

Very frequently I want to background a tab so I can read it later, at my leisure. Opening a full tab in my full web browser should be one tap, not three. On a large phone with small hands, those last two taps can be hard targets. If I want to return to Element from my full browser, I can just double-tap the Overview button. That's an action I am very accustomed to, in all sorts of apps, but it actually doesn't work correctly within the Custom Tab.