Just some random thoughts from the Verizon store last night...
Apple: I bought my wife the 5s, as I had set out to do. The phone quality was at least as good as any other phone out there, and after playing with every one for a short while (Android, Windows, BlackBerry), I think iOS still has the smoothest and most consistent interface. That said, I think Apple is going to have to offer at least one model with a larger screen. And that doesn't necessarily mean a larger form factor (see below). And Apple absolutely does not have an advantage in display quality anymore. I think they used to, but those days are in the past now. All of the phones had wonderful display screens.
Android: the Galaxy Note phones were visually stunning...obviously very large with tablet-like screens. What do they call these now? Phablets? Anyway, very cool, but way too big for me. The Android interface has come a long way since Gingerbread that's on our Droid 2, but in some ways, it's still not as smooth as I think it could be. I saw at least two phones (and both were Motorolas) that had an error message on the screen that said something like "Process com.motorola.something has stopped responding." What really impressed me, from a hardware footprint standpoint, was the Motorola Droid Mini. As I recall, it had a 4.5" screen, but it was a beautiful edge-to-edge screen, and the entire phone's form factor was no larger than my iPhone 4s, with its much smaller 3.5" screen. Very light weight, and very pocketable (which is how I carry my phone most of the time). I liked it a lot, the Droid Mini.
Windows: I really wanted to like the Windows phones, and there was nothing wrong with the hardware. They had two Nokia Lumia phones...a 922 and a 928 or something similar (older and newer). Both held well in the hand and both responded well, but I just don't care for Windows' tiled environment. There's a "clean" look, and then there's a "sterile" look, and Windows looked very "sterile" to me; visually cold.
BlackBerry: I played with a Z30 that really surprised me; I liked it quite a lot. I really liked the virtual keyboard, I liked most of the interface, and the BB Hub seemed cool. (My brother has a Z10 and loves the Hub.) The UI was a little complex for my tastes, but it looked very functional.