I think many brands upped their game this year. I said in January that the S24+ was the best Android I'd used, then tried the Xiaomi 14 which is also incredible (and would be my daily if WiFi calling worked and it had band 71).
The Pixel 9XL feels very different in daily use than prior Pixels. The build quality is the best of any Pixel, as is the screen. I don't perceive any stutter which plagued the Pixels 7 and 8 in my case, the 6 is too long ago and I can't remember. Battery life has been on par with my S24+, definitely not worse. The speakers have gotten a massive upgrade compared to the 8 Pro. I said earlier maybe my 8 Pro was just defective, as the speakers were very muddy and not good. The ultrasonic fps works for me 100% of the time and is lightning quick.
The only issue I've run into is it doesn't play nice with all of my wireless chargers, so I needed to order a different one.
I get there's still a newness factor here, but this phone is very different from prior Pixels. Have to use it to feel it.