Ryanair still makes more sense in my opinion. Other people have their own opinions. With Ryanair you will get good training, experience and a type rating you can leverage worldwide. Despite Ryanair's poor reputation for employee treatment, you get a known operator and experience that other people respect for the most part. Plus, I know some Ryanair pilots who really enjoy their jobs - although they got the base they wanted early in the process.
Where you would be located will be an important consideration. If you are English and you end up at a Ryanair base in Poland or Germany, perhpas that would not provide the QOL you want. Then again, moving to Eastern Europe for the XLS job might not be favorable either. Hopefully you could get some indication from Ryanair on the possible bases for newbies.
Bottom line: flying for Ryanair for a few years will not hurt your career options in the long run. Maybe you will actually like it.
Good luck