Pixel is an awesome phone.
I am a bit biased however, as I greatly mark down any phone that bloats Android such as TouchWiz does.
But from my personal usage of a Pixel, it's awesome.
Aside from that, I have also multiple family members with Moto phones and they are awesome as well. They do have lower price range models that actually work really, really well, as well as a couple high-end models if that is more your fancy.