[Google Pixel 3 Guides, News, & Discussion] jntdroid:
I'm struggling with this dilemma as well as I'm still within my return window on the P3. For me, "pure" Android and "double" apps are not really an issue. I've been using Android for so long that I detached from that battle a long time ago because I am a little OCD as well, but that fight felt futile. Plus, I like Samsung's email app, and I also like their Gallery app. Google Photos is not a great on-device Gallery. Maybe I'm "old school", but I like having a gallery app that looks just at what's local on the phone. Like a previous poster said, I like having options that don't allow Google's fingers to dig into my life quite as easily.

The Pixel 3 does feel smoother and faster than the S9, but it's not a deal breaker for me. The S9 is solid. My P3 has a the occasional stutter and delay as well.

The Pixel 3 is lighter on features... in some situations that's good, in others I tend to miss them (like being able to voice activate the camera, or say "ok google" to wake the phone... which is ironically not possible on the P3). I do strongly dislike Bixby, though. Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't an entire button dedicated to it. I don't mind that Bixby summary page on the home screen. But don't waste hardware for it.

Lastly, the camera. Personally, I feel the P3's camera is over-hyped and reviews are completely ignoring its shortcomings in favor of its strengths (which are great strengths). Night Sight is phenomenal, but only applies to a very small percentage of situations with the exact right lighting to make it worthwhile. Low-light in general is very strong on the P3, but the S9 is pretty solid in low-light as well. In regular lighting, I feel the P3 is often *not* as good as the S9. It tends to over-contrast the photo. It might make for a deeper looking photo, but that also causes it to be darker in general, and oftentimes adds more color depth than is really there. The S9 isn't perfect, but the photos always come out on the lighter end and closer to real life with the colors. The S9's shutter and focus ability feel faster to me, as well - though it's probably negligible. And then there's video... The Pixel 3 is flat out worse in video than the S9 and my wife's iPhone 8, in basically every situation. The sound is poor as well. It almost feels like video was an afterthought that they just wanted to make sure was functional when they released it. There's also a general lack of camera features and options on the P3 vs the S9 - some useful, some not (story of Samsung's life I guess). Panorama is horrible and low resolution... and so on and so on. Basically the P3 has a few incredible strengths with its camera, but a lot of small weaknesses... so I'm not sure the camera alone makes it worth it.

Edit: Sorry, gotta add one more thought. At least vs the S9, I don't think updates are a big deal. I'm on Verizon, who has been regularly pushing security updates to their entire Galaxy line for the past couple of years. And I don't mind waiting on the major updates that hit the Pixel first, as those have only ever introduced new problems for me in the past on the Pixel and Pixel 2.

Sorry for the lengthy post. I'm just going through all of this right now and only have a couple of days left to decide, so I figured I'd pour my thoughts out here a bit!