> there wasn't much meaningful difference in the experience between my Nexus 7 running Marshmallow and my S8+ phone with the Pie update.

Reading this on a Nexus 5, running marshmallow. I stopped upgrading when I stopped seeing a reason to, now I just get the old models on the cheap and only occasionally wonder if I'm missing out.

In those moments I'll remember your comment, stop wondering, and continue treating my phone like the sub-$200 commodity that it is. Thanks.