^^
Pretty much my thoughts, essentially google are still providing nexus quality hardware but instead, they have added apple price tags just because they think they can as they are the mighty google brand.
Nexus 5x/6p had/have fantastic cameras, you just need to have HDR+ enabled (much the same with the pixels even). I bought a nexus 6p on release day but couldn't get use to the size so was forced to the 5x, tried a 6p again but as per usual, just too big.
I'm not necessarily over the moon with my 5x but at £290, I couldn't/can't complain too much, main downside is the speaker and now, the battery life.... With the 6p, I had no issues, it was the perfect phone except the size.... I would have happily paid £600+ for the 6p as it was "worth" it, it had everything and more back then for my needs (no wireless charging but I could overlook that as everything else was great). Pixel phones just don't have the hardware to back up their price tag when compared to other flagship devices IMO. The software is still there but these days, it doesn't have as much of an impact given that google have off loaded most/all of their apps to the play store and new android versions don't bring an awful lot to the table for OEM skins/devices.