Opinions will vary like anything cycling related, some people don’t like Hope at all but I have some tech X2’s and find them better in some respects than my Elixir’s, while the Elixir brakes do have some decent stopping power, I think they can be a little too ‘grabby’ at times, the braking with the Tech X2’s seems far more subtle by comparison.
The most notable difference for me is how well they modulate, I can brake slowly on very steep terrain in a very smooth deliberate manner, if I was doing this with the Elixir’s, I would most probably pull slightly too hard at some point resulting in a possible ‘over the bar’ incident, or almost.
I like the fact you can make adjustments on the levers and the fact that the Hope levers feel really solid and strong. So personally I like them, they’re more than just bling factor IMO.