Correct me if I'm wrong but you're not disagreeing the conclusion that software is more important, you're just arguing the details as to which software is superior.
If I could mix and match here is what I'd take:
Software: iOS
Hardware: Nokia
Customer Service: Apple
Ecosystem: Amazon
Carrier: none of the above (the US sucks so bad...)
That's basically right. Apple makes fantastic hardware. None of the other manufacturers come close on design and execution. As far as software goes, I'm more concerned about what I can do with it than the polish.
I'm curious as to why you would prefer a Nokia handset to an Apple one. I've found their designs to be uninspiring.
Pretty much every review of the N9/Lumia series has mentioned the superior hardware. My main criticism of the 4/4S edges are on this page somewhere.
I don't claim any special experience here, Samsung, HTC and Motorola can all make really swell phones and it's hard to blame them when Verizon forces them to put a juice hogging 45 nm LTE chip in all their top end phones. Fujitsu phones are gorgeous but not widely reviewed in the English tech blogosphere.
All my Nokia phones still work or should work,
(Nokia 5110 from 1999, Nokia 5125 from 2001, Nokia 1100 from 2004, Nokia 5200 from 2007, Nokia N86 from 2009).
My carrier had to convince me to leave my 5125 as they were turning off the analog service (it's now used as an alarm clock), and I still use the 1100 sometimes.
However, I finally switched (partways) to Samsung, entirely due to the software (I wanted an Android phone), even though my N86 is better built and has a better camera (and hardware camera button, which I prefer).
If I could mix and match here is what I'd take:
Software: iOS
Hardware: Nokia
Customer Service: Apple
Ecosystem: Amazon
Carrier: none of the above (the US sucks so bad...)