True, while the gap is closing, there is still a gap. That's really not my main holdup, it's getting root without losing too many features.
Google has been tightening the reins on Android for years. Hopefully we will get full root access without many sacrifices, just need to wait and see
Losing features? Aside from hardware, the ONLY feature that matters is being able to clear out all the google-spyware and run a pure AOSP.
Hardware-wise, some reasonable level of performance and a screen that is *nearly* as wide as a Nexus 6 is what I'm after in it. Would be nice if the screen was equal or even better, bigger than N6, but it seems that all the dainty fingered fairies that work for Google can't picture what is needed for comfortable use by man-hands.