Well I didn't have any issues, maybe you should side load it then. Even side loading has some risks, some people complaining phone runs slow, and freezes after side loading. Anything you do to your phone, has some risks.
Casual Updates, really? Google pixel is always up to date, and gets the latest security patch first. Samsung lags, when it comes to updates, especially when the device gets past the one year mark. Google already said there going to support the google Pixel 2/2XL for three years. The issue is, the devices are not seeing the update, and not getting applied to some devices.