I myself have a Nexus 6P, but I've got three friends that bought the Pixel on launch day. In the months since I've played around with their phones for hours, and I think it's worth the price. Basically, the phone is as "clean" as can be with stock Android, packs awesome hardware (the camera is better than my Nexus', with details much better defined). I was skeptical about Google's decision to drop the front facing stereo speakers, but the sound quality is great as well!
As for durability, two of my friends have theirs in thick cases, and a third has nothing on it - but so far no scratches on that one either.