Check your local bike shop. Most brands have good offerings, it mostly depends on what’s available nearby. Giant, Norco, Trek, Specialized, Marin, Cannondale, all have good offerings, and there are great smaller brands too.

If there are any really specific features you want, then you should choose a model first, otherwise, ask the salespeople, that’s what they’re good for!

First off, as with all things, It depends on your budget! So if you give us an idea of that we could help a bit.

There are tons of great hybrid options and the features essentially scale to the miles you’ll ride it. When I was looking a found the Giant Escape like and the Trek FX line to be a great combination of features/price. Specialized had some nice offerings too but it was mid-covid when bikes were hard to come by, and I never got to try one in my size. Trek had a (very) slight edge on components at the time, but Giant uses slightly larger tires which makes a much bigger difference than you’d think for bumps.

I looked at both and ultimately went with the Trek FX 3 and I love it. I’ve had it going on two years now and I’ve put about two thousand miles on it so far.

“Hybrid” is so wide a category to be almost meaningless. However, if you are thinking you need suspension, I’d try to direct you away from that. They make a bike more heavy, expensive and complex and usually don’t increase comfort much if at all.

However, smooth non-skinny tires are a benefit for most cases (comfort, durability, grip, puncture resistance…). So I’d say get a simple bike with room for wider tires (like 40mm / 1.5") and fenders. You can get a bike that is still very efficient without going to a racing bike that compromises everything for efficiency. I’d also push you towards full length fenders and other practicalities that make a bike much more useful for incorporation into everyday life.

But your question I think is too broad for anyone to help very specifically. Budget is a huge variance for instance, with some people thinking US$300 is expensive and others thinking US$2000 is “cheap”. I’d stay away from anything under $400 as false economy, but for $5-600 you can get a bike that, with care, will transport you efficiently for a long time. More towards $1000 gets you solid value and improved function, and gains per dollar tail off above that.

Definitely go to a bike shop, as they should be able to repair anything they sell. A coworker of mine learned the hard way that that may not be the case for a department store bike. I commuted happily for years on both a Trek and a Norco, the features I found most useful were a rear rack, fenders, disc brakes, puncture proof tires, and no suspension.

If you live in an urban area, I would highly recommend a Brompton. It does fine on bumpy roads. Folds up very quick and you can you use as rolling luggage or shopping cart when on transit or in a store. The gearing is quite nice and i can go above 20mph easily on flatish ground.

Also consider looking at touring bikes. You’ll get wider tires, good gearing, and more robust frames. Might get a good second hand value, or some luck with sales if those styles aren’t popular at your LBS.