RTLSDRs only have a 8-Bit ADC that easily drown next to strong transmitters.

I remember the Ettus devices to be much much much more powerful.

the Ettus USRP SDRs predate RTL-SDR by almost (not quite) a decade.

Not with RTL-SDR specifically but by introducing one of the first open-architecture SDRs, the USRP.

RTL-SDR is the cheapest imaginable commodity implementation of SDR technology, while USRP was... well, pricy enough to bring in some solid revenue and get his company bought. More power to him, it was (and is) an incredibly useful platform.