The criticism is there because of the notch. You cannot disregard it here.

It is poor design to add a notch while still keeping half the design a notch is a compromise for. It's pointless.

Design should be one of two ways.

Dual speakers w/ slim forehead and chin.

No dual speakers w/ notch and no chin.

Google mashed them together, and it was a horrible decision. You can't please everyone. That's a fact. However the 3XL takes the worst of both, and combines them. They would piss off people either way. But opted to piss off both sides instead of one.

Putting a notch on a design that still keeps stereo speakers is redundant. More so when you cant slim down the bezels from before, making both the notch and chin extremely huge and obtrusive in a clash of design languages.

A clash in design languages that has no place on a device that costs over a grand to boot.

So the notch plays a crucial role here regarding speakers. Disregarding it is cherry picking.