I've got an ecobee and I've been really happy with it. I couldn't care less how it looks as it's installed in the wiring closet and the remote sensors are the only thing we ever see. The remote sensors are also great if you house doesn't heat up evenly. My "morning" mode only take the bedroom sensor into account, while the other times of day average all the sensors that have detected motion recently.

I'm intrigued by the slowness you describe with zwave. Mine always seem quite responsive, though I don't have complicated scenes with lots of devices. I'm wondering if your controller was more of an issue than zwave?