Late to the party, but my thoughts run as follows:
It's pretty clear that price is at least to some degree a factor, or you wouldn't ask (the 3 XL is equal or an upgrade in every regard (and if you're a notch-hater, disabling its visibility in developer settings still leaves you with the same size/resolution display as offered in the 2 XL).
With that, the difference in performance is minimal. Yes, the 3 XL chip is faster and performs better in benchmarks, but you won't notice much in real life use, and the 2 XL is still very, very zippy and smooth.
The 3 XL does perform a bit better in video stabilization and on zoomed shots, but other than that the camera difference is minimal at best.
The 2 XL comes with a 2 year warranty (having been granted an additional year in response to the multiple (and mostly resolved by software) issues it faced at launch, while the 3 XL carries a 1 year warranty, so both will be covered for the same term. If you anticipate upgrading from either in the next 2-3 years, OS update availability should not be a concern.
Basically, the 3 XL is an iterative update to the 2 XL, lacking in the way of compelling upgrades to its predecessor (since much of what it introduced has since been provided to the 2 XL).
I would generally recommend the 2 XL, and having the several-hundred-dollar savings to put towards your next upgrade (perhaps the 4 XL, which will likely be a real, generational upgrade since the acquired HTC talent will have been able to put forth their collective expertise from its initial development instead of having come on board when much of the 3 / 3 XL design was already too far along to be significantly altered).
It's pretty clear that price is at least to some degree a factor, or you wouldn't ask (the 3 XL is equal or an upgrade in every regard (and if you're a notch-hater, disabling its visibility in developer settings still leaves you with the same size/resolution display as offered in the 2 XL).
With that, the difference in performance is minimal. Yes, the 3 XL chip is faster and performs better in benchmarks, but you won't notice much in real life use, and the 2 XL is still very, very zippy and smooth.
The 3 XL does perform a bit better in video stabilization and on zoomed shots, but other than that the camera difference is minimal at best.
The 2 XL comes with a 2 year warranty (having been granted an additional year in response to the multiple (and mostly resolved by software) issues it faced at launch, while the 3 XL carries a 1 year warranty, so both will be covered for the same term. If you anticipate upgrading from either in the next 2-3 years, OS update availability should not be a concern.
Basically, the 3 XL is an iterative update to the 2 XL, lacking in the way of compelling upgrades to its predecessor (since much of what it introduced has since been provided to the 2 XL).
I would generally recommend the 2 XL, and having the several-hundred-dollar savings to put towards your next upgrade (perhaps the 4 XL, which will likely be a real, generational upgrade since the acquired HTC talent will have been able to put forth their collective expertise from its initial development instead of having come on board when much of the 3 / 3 XL design was already too far along to be significantly altered).
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