Was in the exact same boat - order from Amazon got delayed. I ended up cancelling the pre-order, as I wouldn't be around near Christmas to receive the phone. Luckily, I placed an order with TI Ltd yesterday, and the elusive 950 XL arrived this morning.
It was slightly cheaper than Amazon, and I was able to redeem the free display dock with no issues, so I am quite happy with how things turned out.
As for the phone itself - it has exceeded my expectations in every way. After reading so much negativity around it, I was not expecting the phone to be so good! Of course, I have only had this unit for half a day, so it could be that there are issues which I have yet to notice.
Some quick observations:
- Windows Hello seems to work better with more training. It didn't work as reliably as I would have liked at first, but it already feels much better after several 'training' sessions through the settings page. Note that with the later training sessions, I just ignored the instructions to take off my glasses, and kept them on throughout - that may have been a factor.
- No creaking issues on this unit, luckily. There is a very slight give when I push the cover on its lower backside, but I cannot get the unit to creak at all, no matter how hard I grip on the sides.
- The button layout is rather... interesting. I am still getting used to the power button's new location, but it is noticeably recessed compared to the two volume buttons on its side, so that does help in 'feeling' it out.
- The unit does not feel cheap at all, at least in my opinion. It is light (maybe about a third lighter than the 1520?), but feeling light and feeling cheap are two very different things. The plastic back cover feels very similar to the texture of previous high-end Lumias; if you liked the feel of the 1520, you will probably like this one also.
- My unit is CV-GB, but the 'System' -> 'About' page shows AT&T's website and number on it. Interesting? Regardless, it is working without issues on the Three network.