Yes, the S7 Camera and the hardware design is a big step up from the competition.I think the iPhone 6 is ugly and uninspired in comparison (the 6s & 7 by extension).

My first experience with Samsung was the Galaxy S3. The software support lasted less than 10 months. S3 didn't get Kit Kat, Samsung excuse was "not enough RAM" or something, a lie no matter how you cut it.

Anyon who follows tech blogs know that any smartphone with Jelly Bean, will run with Kit Kat better. That was Kit Kat goal after all, extreme optimizing so that low end devices don't look embarrassing when compared to WM8 devices, which were rapidly gaining market share in developing countries because they were very cheap and functioned well for the price. Kit Kat devices killed that ray of hope MS had in the mobile space. I actually still have a Moto G Google Play Edition. It runs lollipop better than my S3 ran jelly bean, despite being weaker than the Galaxy S3. But that's history, Samsung is much better at making smartphones now. 

I got an iPhone 6 for my next flagship experience, and the thing that impressed me the most was the Permissions functionality. "You are saying I can download an App and choose what it data it can access and what data it can't? Wow lol". It's been part of iOS for a long time and Google only introduced it to Android with Marshmallow (after I migrated). So yeah, besides the timely software updates, I actually value the efforts Apple does to keep you in charge when it comes to privacy. Not a big deal to most people, and certainly not to me, I use Chrome and facebook after all, but it was still an annoyance with apps getting a snoop on my contacts and start suggesting them to me and me to them or whatever. 

If the next iPhone SE will have the current 6s enclosure, then I think I am done with premium iPhones. The current SE is a beauty but too small, give it the 6 enclosure and 32 gig base storage and I'll bite. Plus, there is a headphone jack!

Xiaomi note 2, looks familiar? XD

Camera

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Pixel-XL-vs-iPhone-7-Plus-vs-Galaxy-S7-edge-blind-camera-comparison-vote-here_id86869
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/18/13304476/google-pixel-vs-iphone-7-samsung-galaxy-s7-edge-camera-comparison

I've read many other reviews, and of course used my actual device, all in all the sum is that Pixel/S7 are better than iPhone7 in pretty much every scenario. PIxel and S7 compare well. Some cases one is better than other but they are very similar overall. Additionally the new camera app has a ton of great features that match anything S7 has with the exception of the stabalization. S7 does not take the cake. There are certainly real-world scenarios where Pixel is better, but there are enough shots that show S7 as being better as well to justify a statement like, "they are effectively equal". Some reviewers are coming back to notate how leaving Pixel on HDR+ Auto recieves the best results. 

Pixel can even make animated GIFs from your burst mode pics. Pretty awesome.

Some other topics we went back and forth on...

Split Screen Apps

Yes, Pixel has this feature. While an app is open, long-press the recent apps button to add a 2nd app to the screen.
http://phandroid.com/2016/10/18/google-pixel-tips-tricks/

Water Resistence

Yes, Pixel doesn't have the rating. Interviews has shown that Google, with its first in-house phone, ran out of time to finalize what was required for the best rating. However, real-world tests show it works even after being submerged for over an hour.

http://bgr.com/2016/10/23/google-pixel-review-water-resistance/
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/10/google-pixel-underwater-test-1-hour/

Personal Observations

First off, this phone is insanely fast and responsive. I touch the fingerprint sensor and its near instant on. Comparing to my wife's S6, this is a night/day difference when going in/out of apps or into home screen when locked. I'm sure S7 would be closer, but I think the fact that this is similar/better hardware (w/S7) on vanilla Android, it would still be noticeable that Pixel is more responsive.

Night Light feature is pretty awesome but a little thing.
Assistant is bugging me as I have used Google's standard voice for years and it was near-perfect. This is definitely a different system as it is relearning my voice patterns. Still accurate, but I can tell a slight difference. Overall Assistant is a feature upgrade however.
USB-C is crazy fast charge and universal. I have a 3rd party USB-C car charge that is just as fast as my home.
Battery life itself is really good. All day is a buzz phrase and YMMV of course, but I notice a much better life span with higher screen brightness than I've had with any previous phone. (I leave my brightness set vs using auto)
I do miss my gesture functionality from MotoX. But Pixel added some shortcuts that are almost as good such as double-click power button to open camera and the awesome pop-up shortcuts on apps are fantastic.

Any specific question, let me know.

Wait how are they effectively equal when S7 beats the Pixel in auto-focus, stablization and low light? Software cannot over-come hardware issues regardless of how many updates it has. Pixel lacks Samsung's OIS, Dual Pixel auto-focus and ISOCELL lowlight. When there are enough shots in great lighting to make both Pixel and S7 be better in certain situations, the tie breaker comes to the rest of the features.

Oh and the S7 can do something similar to the gif thing from pictures

Split Screen apps: Samsung had this since the Galaxy S4. Sure it didn't work with all the apps but the apps it did work with was the ones that people used the most frequently anyway.

Water-Resistance: The issue with this is that it will vary from test to test. There is no guarantee that it will work from phone to phone. Galaxy S7 lasted over 16 hours under water in tests so Pixel lasting over an hour isn't exactly impressive considering other non-water resistant phones can last similar amounts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_HbztTpL08

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vn3JOnun3Y

What the rating does is that it gives you a guarantee that every phone will last a minimum amount of time in those conditions. And running out of time doesn't really mean much considering how many other things it is lacking. What did they spend all that extra time in? :/

And it is good to see that you are enjoying your phone though!

You're just not willing to admit that they are both worth their same $600+ price tags are you? :) 

Many many reviews show pictures that go back and forth at being better. That is why I am saying they are effectively the same.

I'm not saying Pixel is water proof, just that even without a rating it is good enough for a phone.

Thank you, it is an awesome phone.

How can I? I want to but Google's decisions makes it impossible. It's not like I don't want an Android phone that can beat Apple in their own game (software updates). But the Pixel makes it impossible to do so. I recommended the Nexus 6P last year over the Galaxy S6 because S6 was a nonsense device.

Like even if we pretend that Pixel has a better camera than the S7, it is still missing water-resistance, and micro-sd card. Iphone's don't have micro-sd but it has NVMe storage where as no android phone until the Galaxy S8 (most likely) will. For its price, it is sooo hard to justify because Apple does software better (4+ years + OS optimization) while S7 does the hardware better. Pixel does some software better than S7 (like the OS smooth and responsiveness) but falls quite short of the hardware (apart from the camera) and it does a couple of things better than the iphone 7 in hardware but falls short of the software support.

Imo, it is better to critize their mistakes so that they can improve up on them in their second iteration than to turn a blind eye to them. I don't mean that in an insulting way or anything.

And yes, I have seen those reviews of the cameras but virtually all of them do state the S7 beats it in the ones I have said while in great lighting, I have seen some say Pixel is better while others say S7 is better.

I have no doubt that it is a solid phone, my issue will always be its price/value outside of personal perference.