I love Pixels, they’re easily my favorite option. I’m currently on a Pixel Fold (yes I’m an idiot, but that’s beside the point), and I also enjoy my Pixel Watch and Buds Pro and A series.
I carried an iPhone for work for 3 years and just don’t care for iOS in a personal daily carry capacity. It’s fine for a work phone though, but I also enjoy the way that Android handles work profiles. I do own an iPad though, and that’s fine. I would consider replacing it with a Pixel tablet someday when it’s time though, especially if there’s a 120hz display option by then.
I’m not a big fan of Samsung’s design choices or bloatware tendencies. The kitchen sink approach isn’t for me when the majority of it is stuff that I won’t use, and it feels sloppy to me switching between apps and one uses Samsung’s design language, and then the other uses Material You. I like the consistency you get on a Pixel.
I use my camera a ton, so Pixel is an obvious choice there. Software features like call screening are indispensable for me too. I have been seeing daily spam calls again recently, and watching my phone silently discard them is always enjoyable. I also enjoy getting updates as soon as they are released, which is something that always bothered me with other manufacturers. I have made quite a few people happy by recommending the A-series to them. Wonderful budget-midrange value options.
Where would I go if Pixel went away? Tough question. The Nothing phone seems alright, I could see that working. The Zenphone 10 looks nice as well. I think I would explore one of those options before considering Samsung or Apple again.
You are correct that it isn’t really an essential feature, but it gives a nice boost in fluidity that I really enjoy, and directly ties into latency, which you mentioned as being important, which I agree with. Color accuracy still seems to be very good on modern flagships regardless of HZ, according to those who test those things.
The battery impact isn’t as bad as you probably expect actually, most newer high hz phone displays are LTPO, which allows them to scale down to I believe as low as 10hz, such as when you are reading or the AOD is on. I believe it will also scale down to match the frame rate of a full screen video too, which can also help.
As far as cost, I’m sure it’s not “free”, but now that OEMs like Apple, Samsung, and Google are all ordering them in bulk, I imagine it’s kind of just built into the category of display spec that they are ordering. For what it’s worth, the $300 Galaxy A23 features a 120hz display. Of course, Samsung makes the display, but that cost still has to be accounted for somewhere, especially as their profits are currently down 95%.
But yeah, overall I just enjoy a high refresh rate. My monitor, TV, iPad, and phone all support it, so I enjoy the consistency. I recommend trying a high HZ phone in person sometime if you haven’t. I find that it adds a lot to the fluidity of the UI both visually, and in terms of feel, as it feels like it follows my finger more closely when scrolling, for example. Of course, you can always turn it off and cap it at 60hz as well.