Impressions on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 after 2 days

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I recently got a Note 9 and had a few thoughts about it. I moved from a Pixel 2, so that's what I'm comparing it again.

(I must preface that these are subjective opinions. If you disagree, that's fine. Everyone experiences tech/movies/life differently)

Things I Like

• The Note 9 is easily the most beautiful phone hardware I've ever held. Saying it's elegant is an understatement.
• I'm so happy to have a headphone jack again.
• The sound that it produces from its speakers (especially with the Dolby Atmos turned on) is the best sound I've ever heard on a mobile device, iPad included.
• The screen is divine. I watch a decent amount of stuff on my phone when I'm out and about and between the screen and the sound, I'm pretty happy about this.
• I like the warmer colors in the camera compared to the Pixel 2.
• The native weather app is gorgeous. Google's weather 'app' is informative but ugly.
• Being able to open the phone by pressing the home button on the AOD is brilliant (I keep my phone 'Smart Unlock'-ed when it's paired to my watch).
• Samsung Pay is awesome.
• On the first day, I got 6 hours SOT with 19% left. I think that will improve over time.
• The fast charging/Quick Charge 2.0 is faster than I expected.

Things I Didn't Like

• I gave up on the native Samsung Experience launcher after about a day. It's not that I mind the UI, it's that when you open a folder it takes up a chunk of the screen and makes it hard to reach the apps in the upper corners of the folder. I have switched to Action Launcher, which I have used in the past with non-Pixel phones.
• I guess I'm used to the Pixel lock screen, but I really don't care for their lock screen.
• The Intelligent Scan is cool, but there are obvious scenarios where it won't work. I also think it significantly impacts battery life.
• The navigation bar not changing to black or adapting its color is a bit annoying. This is a nit pick for sure, but it just feels half baked too. I was able to enable it, though.
• The Always-On-Display clock moving around feels weird as well.
• I feel like the quality is more even with the camera on the Pixel 2, however when the Note 9 is at its best it beats the Pixel 2 at its best. 

Overall it's a great phone. It's not worth what it's priced at, IMO. I was able to get it at a significant discount which made it worth it.