@Top-L
As far as the G11, I know you had some reservations about it and I was following your thread on it. Tbh, I think you may have scared me away from that unit. Although the touch screen does sound like a great feature.
I think I had some bad luck. The first one from Amazon, one of the screens was out. The replacement from Sweetwater had the touchscreen hanging out of its socket. This soured my initial impression.
Furthermore, the presets are so bad that during the first day of trying to dial in my tones, I made some mistakes. Some of the presets have multiple IRs and cab sims mixed together, in fact the first preset 001 comes with a boxy sound because of this. I think they are trying to show users that there can be multiple IRs and cab sims in a single patch, which is a powerful feature, but creates some phase issues in that patch. Its something you might do for a rythym guitar in a mix, but its not a great way to showcase the amp tones.
Making matters worse, when you insert a new cab sim in a patch, the mic is turned off by default for some unknown reason. I was screwing around for a good while without the mic sim on which was why it sounded grainy.
There are powerful hi/lo pass filters that are at 50% stock in the cab sim, by just adjusting them slightly the tone will either be up front or way back in the mix. Its not clear whats going on when you first start playing it.
I wouldn't recommend the G11 to you. Its an immediate gratification box that is soured by bad presets that are trying to do too much.
But having used the G11 touch screen and appreciating the simplicity of the interface, I don't know which other one I would recommend. In the $500-600 range, I think the G11 is a no brainer over something like the Pod Go or HX Stomp (unless you wanted a small format box to mix with other pedals.) None of the other low end boxes have dual fx loops or midi out (no chance to switch external amps or gear), and I don't think they sound as good as the Zoom.
In the $800-1000 range, there is the Headrush, which has touch interface, but it a monstrous size and seems to have limited palette of FX. There are the GT1000 and FM3 which are very tweakable, but no touch interface. The FM3 takes considerable time switching patches, so it takes a good bit of programming with scenes, and you only get three switches, no pedal, so there is some mental math you need to do to set it up for live playing. The GT1000 interface, I'm familiar with it, and just can't see myself dealing with that for another five years. A week with drag/drop patches/banks and I can't go back to the GT way.
Spend $1200-1500 gets you a Helix LT or Helix. I'm not convinced the modeling is worth that much and the interface is not-touch so end of life. They are five years old at this point, there was something about the distortion quality that was off putting to me, but other people like it.
I am going to use the Zoom G11 until the next generation of GT or Helix with touch screen comes out. The Quad Cortex might be a contender, but its 3x the cost of the Zoom. I wouldn't go any lower in price than the G11, because then you start losing essentials like MIDI.
If money is not an issue and if you want future proof, an AXE FX3 with FC6 or 12 foot control is the only best choice (even though no touch interface, the computer interface is really good). The Quad Cortex would be my next choice, but its not out yet. After that.... I would consider the Headrush or Zoom G11. GT1000 or FM3 if you plan to computer edit and rearrange your patches on the PC. Maybe a Helix if your ears like their amp modeling. (Although I bet the next gen Helix is right around the corner.) Going down in price further, Hotone Ampero or Pod Go, you are missing midi out, and/or touch.
