Can't you try the two phones you like in a dealer? Then you could see if you preferred one. I had a play about on my brothers nexus a couple of days ago and I must say I was very impressed. My phone, an HTC one x is pretty good and I've been more than happy with it but I must say the smoothness...
Evernote. Best note taking app out there. Slick and works brilliantly syncing between devices and a pc if you've still got one!
And Swype keyboard which works better than the jelly bean version of swipe. But it should, they've been doing it for years more.
Biz calendar. More options than...
My brother and his wife have just received theirs from the play store. They ordered a week or two before Christmas so they are available if you are prepared to wait. Do you have the option of placing an order?
Is your phone an older android phone? If so, set up a Google account, get your phone to sync contacts (then they are all stored by Google online) and then when you sign in to Google on the nexus, your contacts should sync.