After looking around for a smartphone the past month or so, I had narrowed my selection down to two: the OnePlus 5T and Google Pixel 2 XL. In the end, I chose the Pixel 2 XL given Australian support and the fact the SAR rating was far lower than the OnePlus 5T (I am conscious of these things... radiation iz bad guys!). Anyway, I ended up paying $150 less than the marked price on the Google Store as JB Hi Fi had a sale on. I also got a free Google Home Mini so that sweetened the deal a bit more.
If you're interested in specs:
https://www.gsmarena.com/google_pixel_2_xl-8720.phpIt's a really nice phone. If you have an interest in Android development and modding, you'd know that stock Android is by far the best option out there as it's unmodified. Most providers add their own UI/layer onto Android which in turn makes things look.. not so great (e.g. Samsung with Touchwiz).
Plus as it's a Google phone, they guarantee 3 years of updates (first), which means that you get to update to the latest version of Android as soon as Google releases it (not having to wait for a manufacturer like Samsung to do their bs and waste time).
For the last 3 years before I bought this Pixel, I was on a Samsung Galaxy S5. I hated Samsung's Touchwiz UI so decided to root my phone and replace the entire OS with
Lineage. Rooting your phone and playing around with the internals is
not illegal, however it voids your warranty so highly advise against it unless you know what you're doing.
Enjoy