I don't think you're missing anything. Coming from a Pixel 1 XL and got Pixel 5 at launch. This is the perfect phone. It finally made me embrace no headphone jack (my single reservation before).

If I could personally design a phone from scratch, I don't think I would do anything different.

-Processor: Not "flagship" - great, save battery, don't get too hot. Not pushing boundaries of reliability. Love the 5g is included for "future-proofing," despite not particularly caring about it now

-RAM: Any more would not be useful, any less would have me wanting

-Storage: I understand this isn't the absolute fastest (ufs 2.1 instead of 3) - this is imperceptible to me. In terms of size, 128gb as the only option removes any sense of FOMO for not dropping more money on space I wouldn't use anyway. No SD, but I never used SD card on any phone ever, despite always popping one in).

-Screen: 432ppi, anything more is just wasting battery. 90hz refresh big increase on 60hz, saves battery from 120hz. OLED color/quality is fantastic. I'm a weirdo that keeps 100% bright on any phone. Any brighter would be unnecessary, indoors or outdoors.

-Battery: Over 4000mAh and has ridiculous battery life; essentially 2 days of normal use. Not the fastest charger ever (18w) but still more than fast enough

-Camera: front high quality for calls; more than acceptable for selfies which I nearly never take. Rear camera is arguably best photography of any phone despite aging (but affordable, reliable) sensor. Video stabilization is remarkable. Video quality is good enough. Love the wide angle sensor. Never had a desire for a dedicated portrait sensor (or any others).

-Software: Obviously the best possible Android experience period. Additionally, when support eventually ends (whenever it does), it's a good gamble that LineageOS (or equivalent) will support Google flagship

-Speakers: under screen ear earpiece. No idea what others are talking about "muffled". It sounds like any top speaker on any phone ever to me (and I have great hearing?). Perhaps I accidentally place it correctly. Additionally I nearly never talk "on the phone", and when I do, it's with headphones. Prefer this to adding a speaker and possibly ruining the aesthetics. Bottom speaker: I expected this to be a big weak spot based on reviews but it exceeded my low expectations. I'm positive other phones may have louder/better speakers but this is perfectly adequate for any circumstance I'm using the phone's speaker

-Design: no gimmicks. The perfect shape, size, and thickness of a phone. Perfect bezel width for aesthetics versus accidental touch input from holding it. Uniform bezels look so nice. Hole-punch selfie camera left offset is the least obtrusive option short of under-screen. Rear fingerprint is my preferred unlock. Face unlock gone, but I strongly prefer that than to ruin the clean design of the front for an unlock option I don't care much about (especially considering Smart Lock options)

-Materials: Love that it's metal and feels solid and durable as such. Not a fan of fragile glass, or "cheap" plastic. Love that despite being metal, retains wireless charging. Resin feels high quality and grippy, but I put a minimal case on it anyway.

Overall summary is the Pixel 5 is the best overall phone out there. Feature-for-feature it is "Second best" at everything (with good tradeoff explanations/decisions), but still first best at Software and Camera. Because of that, it makes the entire package the best possible Android overall phone by my standards and I don't have to feel guilt about not getting "a real flagship."