I avoided the 2020 for other reasons. I actually had a touring XT on order, the dealer was going to swap out with my 19 for no charge, just cost difference. When it came in and I test drove it, I felt the interior was a bit 'cheaper'. The dash was a harder, cheaper seeming touch material, same with some of the trim elsewhere in the vehicle. I wasn't a fan of the HU either, but I could have gotten used to it. The real turn off for me was during my test drive the dash had a terrible buzzing sound and just didn't seem well put together. Also the emissions specs on the XT are horrible with 4 times the NOx and two times the CO levels of my 2019, 2.5. I thanked the dealer for the offer and passed keeping my 2019 2.5 touring. Rock solid, although I'm having the transmission ground cable rattle noise now that it's cold. I picked up a pack of zip ties to tie it down this weekend.
As far as start/stop, I didn't mind it. It would have been nice to be easier to turn off, like my old BMW was. The Forester has a button on the dash, I don't know why they didn't do that with the Outback. But the implementation was pretty good really. You stop with normal force on the brake pedal and it doesn't engage, but then give it a bit extra shove and it engages. I could get used to that. S/S was hardly my reason for passing on the 2020 XT. The thought of not having to deal with direct injection is nice too. My wife has a Forester XT, and I know at some point she'll need a valve cleaning.