Camp will be on my back roughly 50% of the time so weight is a concern as is setting it up.
Im holing someone with experience with both of these can chime in with what they see as the best use case for each is.
I think camp on your back vs not is the biggest differentiator for me. I use my trekking poles enough for hiking, glassing, and shooting that I'm not willing to leave them behind as part of a pitched tent really ever. That makes it an easy choice for me for any 'base-camp' style hunts to go freestanding.
I’m leaning towards an xdome for ease of set up, but getting 4 stakes in hard ground might be easier then fiddling with poles.
I did not find this to be the case, I would expect x-dome to be easier in almost all cases. YMMV.
Also debating solid vs mesh. My current sleep system is a xtherm pad and 10* zen bivy so I’ll probably go mesh, unless someone thinks the 20d fly on the xmid solid is a must.
I think insulation wise you'll be fine without the solid unless you're really pushing into the late season. I think the other thing to consider would be if you're ever expecting sand/snow 'spindrift' under the fly edge. x-mid at least has pretty good fly coverage and I would expect it to be better than most 3 season tents in that regard. Overall though I think for most conditions you'd use a UL shelter for that mesh would be preferred. I did end up a tear in the mesh this season though with not that many days, the solid may be less fragile.
longer stories and a summary of my experiences with the x-mid:
I own an x-mid 1 (mesh not solid) and have used it on a couple hunting trips and 1 or 2 backpacking/scouting trips.
I don't have any first person experience with the x-dome. I have a hilleberg Unna which (although heavier and burlier) seems like it shares a similar pitching method to the x-dome. have probably 2x as many nights in hilleberg as durston so far.
My hunts with the x-mid have been in mid/late September around 6000-7000' of elevation in WA state. Overnight temps in the 25-35F range. Winds definitely up to 20mph, maybe with the occasional gust to 30mph. Have had drizzle in it so far but not heavy rain. Have never felt like it was not enough shelter for those conditions although I have become a little more site selective.
I picked up the x-mid to save weight / volume from the hilleberg while I aim to switch from a base camp & day hunt, to camp on your back style of hunting in order to avoid turn around times on stalks and cliffing out in the dark. If I owned an x-dome already I'm not sure I would have bothered buying another tent for the $$ + 8oz weight saving (x-mid is 45oz lighter than my hilleberg lol).
I would say that from the setup factor that free-standing with tent poles is noticeably less faff-factor than the x-mid, especially if you have a crunched tent-site or anything. the ability to pitch the whole shelter and then move it around until it fits has been easier for me than getting 2 or 3 stakes in, realizing the 4th won't go, then tweaking every corner a few more inches until you get it right. I'm getting more efficient but there's a marked learning curve to it and it certainly requires more thought/planning. The first night I ever used it I had very hard ground and had a couple iffy stakes that I tried backing up with dead-man rocks on top. That coincided with the windiest conditions I've used it in and I ended up having to get up several times in the night when the wind popped a peg out and the whole tent wall was flapping. I have since learned to be more selective with my sites but I don't think I would have had to move or adjust a freestanding shelter there, I think I would have been able to ride out the night. I have also switched up to some burlier (easton nano nail) stakes (at Dan Durston's recommendation) as I busted up the stock ones pretty good pounding 'em into hard ground with rocks.
My hilleberg has a solid inner tent which while probably heavier fabric deniers is otherwise probably fairly similar to trade-offs you'd have for durston mesh vs solid. I will say there is a noticeable insulation value to the solid inner tent. I had one night where the garmin was forecasting ~18-22F in my hilleberg and I hung my watch in the inside to get an actual temperature reading, ended up being ~35-40F inside, so probably ~15+F inside-outside differential which was pretty impressive. I was very comfy with my xtherm pad and 30F quilt. That said I wouldn't hesitate to bring my x-mid to similar conditions and wear my puffy in bed if I was chilly.
