I highly recommend only getting Nexus devices since I grab my 2012 Nexus 7. Getting all updates before everyone is amazing. I have KitKat on a 2012 device while most of the top devices of 2013 are still waiting for it to arrive. Despite that, stock Android is more polished and clean.

People sometimes criticize Android because they got a low-end of mid-end phone and expected iPhone level performance. If a low-end phone was as fast as a high-end one, I wouldn't pay that much for a more expensive device and simply would get the cheaper one.

I believe that the best point in Android is that it is the mobile OS that is closer to replace a PC in more aspects than the others. The Android SDK is way better than the iOS and Windows Phone one and I say that by experience. I'm currently working on a app that uses Bluetooth to comunicate with a PC and pass raw data while collecting multitouch input and saving it to a database. The multitouch resources in Android SDK are way more advanced than in the iOS SDK and that is clear because this app was being made for iOS before and we just changed because iOS couldn't use Bluetooth communication like we needed and after that we noticed too that a lot of problems we had tracking touch would be gone thanks to Android SDK too. From my experience, it's clear that Android has a lot more potential for compelling and advanced apps simply because the SDK allows you to do much more. Another point where Android shines is the sharing. Having a system wide data sharing between apps is priceless.

For the user, it means better apps. Good BitTorrent clients are one that I use a lot, emulators are a nice touch too, specially because I can simply plug a DualShock 3 on it and use without any extra configuration. Being able to read flash drives or pass files via Bluetooth is great too (a lot of people say that I can just use the cloud for it. I personally don't see any logic in passing via Internet a 100MB file for someone that is right in front of you and use both people 3G data connection for that, still having to hope that you have a good 3G there). With 4.4 they added direct printing (without cloud printing) and that just allows me to simply print important documents right from my tablet wihout having to turn my laptop on just to print 2 pages.

It depends on the manufacturer too. My old WP7 (Samsung Omnia W), was a piece of crap before the Mango update. When you received a text or FB message, sometimes the phone would freeze and you have to force a reboot. And worse of all, it would loss the message you received and didn't saw, letting me trying to guess who was trying to talk to me. It was a software issue (and it was in all Omnia Ws. I've had around 10 friends with that phone), caused by the OS trying to unlock the screen automatically using the proximity sensor data (detecting that you got the phone out of the pocket). If you pressed a button in that 2 or 3 seconds interval, the phone freezes. 

Only in terms of cost to license and transparency. Open is really no guarantee of quality, security, innovation, or anything else.

That critical SSL bug in iOS that I mentioned? It was around for a few months. A similar Linux vulnerability went undetected for nine years.

Open software licensing is a useful tool, but it's time to let the faith in the Messianic Power of Open die. No one solution can possibly be best for all problems.

I have the Kyrocera :Torque and its that way also, pretty awesome battery life, +NFC on and it still is pretty well battery power stocked.