Of the phones I’ve used this year (iPhone 7,7+, S8, S8 active, Note8, Pixel, Essential), I put the Pixel first followed by the iPhone 7, then the 7+ along with the Samsung’s, and Essential last.
While the 7+ and Galaxies were pretty much the same (and slightly better than the Essential) the Pixel was head and shoulders better (with the iPhone 7 splitting the difference).
To be clear, that was last years smaller Pixel, haven’t used the XL or the 2.
Edit: This was with At&T in the Tampa Bay area in Florida.