I think one big thing that differs between the Nexus line and the Pixel line of phones is who was actually supporting the phone after its sale. The Nexus phones were these shared branding between Google and the makers (LG, HTC, whoever). So it led to some pointing at the other person when there were problems.
With the Pixel line, Google fully owns support of the devices, which makes it a bit easier for Google to deal with customer support issues like this.
I think one big thing that differs between the Nexus line and the Pixel line of phones is who was actually supporting the phone after its sale. The Nexus phones were these shared branding between Google and the makers (LG, HTC, whoever). So it led to some pointing at the other person when there were problems.
With the Pixel line, Google fully owns support of the devices, which makes it a bit easier for Google to deal with customer support issues like this.