That to me is the beauty of Android. If you want a REALLY good phone, at half the price of an Apple device, this is the one. If you want a better camera or better battery life, yes these are available, one operating system and a myriad of choices.
This review is worth a read, especially the...
The logic is that SMS will go the way of the fax machine. If you chain together all the different ways you can communicate with people via a modern phone, text messaging is the lowest common denominator. It will take a few years, but the writing is on the wall. I haven't tried the hangout...