I personally am ok with the rounded corners since it makes it more ergonomic to handle. Part of why I got rid of my s22 ultra was the corners bit into my palm whenever I held it with one hand.
Next up, one of the most important updates for this new release from Google would be its dedicated chipset, with Pixel 9 to get the Tensor G4 SoC. However, early leaks of the Tensor G4 regarded that its benchmark test only delivered slight improvements compared to the old Tensor G3 from the Pixel 8 series, but was said to feature a new ARMv9-A core.
The odd bit here is that Pixel phones were not necessarily considered flagship phones. And accordingly we're priced not as flagship phones but if rumors are correct they are trying to get a flagship phone price for non flagship phone.
For me, phones have been more than powerful enough for probably 5 years. I'm predominantly looking for battery life from my new phone, not more power. I think I'd happily use a Pixel 1 processor if it had double the battery life.