I had the chance to look deeper into this pistol yesterday. I stripped it down and then compared it to several other popular poly guns we sell.
I take back my previous statement about being a re packaged XD. Its nothing of the sort. As mentioned earlier its fire control looks very similar to the SIG P320. stamped sheetmetal rails and all. I didn't go so far as to try and remove it, but it has a similar design. Those sheetmetal rails have been problematic at times in some designs. Mostly for accuracy. I would have preferred to see machined rails like the P365, XD or M&P 2.0. But our example did not have the same tolerance issues as some P320's I've had. If HS can keep a hold of the tolerances, it should be accurate.
Physical size was identical to a G17, including bore axis. Much improved bore axis over the XD. The grip is certainly improved over a Glock, but I still find the M&P 2.0 to be better, For my hand. The mag release of the Echelon would be a huge non starter for me. I have normal sized hands, and I can not get the mag to release with out considerably more fiddling around than almost any handgun.
The slide cuts for optic are nice and the sights aren't some giant suppressor style. I hate those huge irons on some handguns.
The trigger is ok. It is much better than the factory M&P or Glock, Not quite as good as my P365. I could live with it as is. But its no 1911 trigger, no one should expect it to be.
Overall its a big improvement from the XD line.