I've spent a ton of time on both, and personally I prefer the Pro. Premium/LE is fun, the upper playfield castle shots change the calculus on house battles (I find completing the castle lanes much easier than doing the actual mode shots) but also significantly impacts the velocity—both waiting for the ball to get kicked up, and waiting for it to make its way back down. The Pro is a lot faster and smoother, with a clean open playfield that gets out of the way and lets the rules do the heavy lifting. I certainly enjoy them both, but Pro is the more fun shooter in my opinion.

Agreed, but that's exactly what I love about it. The playfield stays out of the way (especially on Pro, which I prefer) and lets the rules do the heavy lifting. No fancy mechs or elaborate toys or complicated ball paths: just a handful of shots that you need to practice, and a deep ruleset with tons of strategy to keep it interesting.

I've spent many hours on an LE and never noticed an issue with the orbit, I didn't even know it was a thing until seeing threads about it. Not sure if it came at a different time in manufacturing or if I just blamed myself if an orbit didn't go all the way, but I've always felt like the orbits worked just fine. If the question is "should I take the time to fix the orbit or disable in software?" I'd say "only if you're experiencing the issue and it bothers you."