ED combat is better than SC combat right now, it's not really even close. SC is nowhere near its end state either; shields are unbalanced or bugged, armor isn't really implemented, they keep changing the speed of combat (and rumors are they will slow it again, bringing it closer to ... ED), they've changed weapon firing rates, missiles still aren't balanced. So the jury is still out on SC combat in my opinion, but if I had to compare I'd say ED's is a lot better at present.
But I actually find the flight model and combat to be really quite excellent in Elite. The ships have discernable mass and momentum, responsive but not jerky, and there is a good paper/rock/scissors to the loadouts. I think what Elite does best are the technical pillars - the feel of flying, the fidelity of the galaxy, the balancing of the ships, and the procgen is pretty solid actually. Where it falls over is storytelling and individual player agency, which is where I think SC is going to shine.
On Odyssey I think it's a missed opportunity. It feels like shortcuts were taken. It's only half implemented into the "ship" game and there are lots of choices made that show you how rushed it was - for example the payouts between ground and ship missions are way out of whack, the prices are all over the place (a suit of armor costs more than a hold full of gold or even a new ship in some cases), and you can't do seemingly obvious things like modify your ship loadout from a terminal on foot.
That's my main problem with Elite ... it's fun to play for a little while but then you start to see all the missed connections and lack of overall cohesiveness. I'm not sure if it's a lack of ambition, or funding, or something else but it's a shame because for a good 5 years or so there was really nothing else like it.
