Mmm... define "smarter."
More savvy, in a very literal sense, of how to maintain their image through internal propaganda? Definitely. More capable of getting away with it? They certainly believe themselves to be, yes.
But I don't think their attitudes or priorities are any different. Maybe there are some exceptions within the Party but the prevailing orthodoxy in Xi's regime (on full display since the 19th NPPCC in 2017) has been Stalinism with Chinese seasoning sprinkled on some of the buzzwords. If we were discussing the China I saw when I first got there back in 2012 I might see it differently, but in 2017 it became pretty clear that China's governmental doctrine is now in "Mao 2.0" territory and they make no secret of that.