My experience is that Pixel devices are far and away more competent than Samsung in many regards, but with the caveat that Samsung devices ship in a finished, stable state, but Pixel devices ship as if they’re not quite finished. The software is usually OK, but the hardware tends to be lacking in many regards. This is terrible since hardware can’t really be fixed later down the road, at BEST software workarounds can be employed.

The first Pixel was reasonably solid all around and mine lasted quite a while. The Pixel 2 XL’s terrible screen was my first hint that Google was not prepared to carry the torch of a true flagship phone.

That said: I would still often prefer the accidentally broken Pixel phones over the intentionally gimped and bloated Samsung phones. I just can’t buy one at launch, because I have no idea how Google will have fucked it up this time.

I have a Pixel 3a and it has been working flawlessly. Best phone I've owned so far.

I've heard a lot of complains from Pixel 4a and 6 owners though, about bugs in the OS and drivers... Not sure if these issues are widespread or not.