They missed out on many things too. While the Pixel Pro has an LTPO display, the base model doesn't. They only ship with UFS 3.1 storage despite UFS 4.0 being available. Charger is still not bundled.
Heck, give anything except for AI.(144Hz screen anyone? Motorola has them). I never used Assistant and after trying Gemini out for some time, disabled it as well.
The camera hardware is just ok. The benefits come from the built-in automatic image manipulation / improvement in the Pixel camera app. Download a generic camera app (like Open Camera or SimpleCamera before the takeover) and see the difference in pictures compared to the Pixel Camera (which, by the way, you can download from Aurora).
I always used to jump models, going back all the way to the first Nexus. This'll be the first time I don't. Unfortunately I know the Pixel 7 I have now will have its battery life mysteriously go to shit about three months before it's paid off.
The iPhone is great from a design and hardware perspective. I just hate iOS, their stock apps, app pricing and the cultish community. So I wouldn't mind an iPhone clone running Android.
I dont know, they had a large chin with the huge home button for the longest time, a waste of space. They now have the dynamic island, which also takes up space no matter how they dress it up. I prefer the punch hole, like the one on Pixel 5 which was out of the way.