I tried all three over an extended time and here's my conclusion.
*** NOVA
This is by far the most customizable. Absolutely every aspect of design and layout can be changed. It has Google newsfeed integration with an add-on app, and the v8 beta has Material You theming throughout. BUT... it is still stuck in the 2009 design paradigm, using a traditional app drawer. It's comfortable and convenient, but can involve many taps and swipes to get where you want.
*** NIAGARA
This launcher totally breaks from traditional design. There is no app drawer and there are no other screens; everything is accessible by swiping the alphabetic list. Once you wrap your head around it, this turns out to be a very fast and compact way of getting to apps you'd normally look for in the drawer or a secondary homescreen. For instance, in Nova, I had a folder on a secondary screen that contained specialty apps related to my amateur radio hobby. To access one of them in Nova required swiping left to the secondary homescreen, tapping open the folder, and then tapping the specific app. In Niagara, I have prepended all the hobby apps (some with very non-intuitive names) with "RADIO -". To open one, I simply swipe the alphabetic list till the R's pop out, and without releasing my finger, slide it to the specific app. When I release, the app opens! You can still incorporate folders and shortcuts if you want. You can even hide the alphabetic list; it will become momentarily visible when you swipe along the right edge. It also has Google feed integration assignable to a button or gesture, and infinite scrolling stackable widgets (up to four). The left column is self-assignable "favorites" and can contain apps, folders, and shortcuts. Additionally, folders can contain widgets.
*** SMART 6
This one is without a doubt the most beautiful, and a hybrid between Nova and Niagara. It has many of the features of both, plus some unique features of its own. Unfortunately, it also seems to have some arbitrary restrictions. For uniqueness, it offers built-in wallpaper blurring (optional), built-in icon pack creation via an add-on app (Icon Pack Studio)*, and Microsoft AWA Google newsfeed (the latter via an add-on app). It has stackable widgets like Niagara, but not infinite scroll; if you want to get to the first widget you must swipe all the way back. You can add shortcuts to the homesceen or folders but only for certain apps. You can have multipe homescreens. but they also don't infinite wrap. Smart Launcher still uses the icon grid concept, but it can be set separately for homescreen(s) and drawer. The drawer can be traditional (single vertical scroll) or broken into categories, which show on the extreme left column. It will automatically categorize when first setting up, but like most launchers with this feature, does a a poor job on non-standard apps. You can move apps freely betweem categories and hide apps, just like the other two launchers.
All three launchers handle on-screen notifications, but in their own way. Nova uses either the Android "dot" or numbered badges (ala iPhone). Niagara has "previews" which give add the beginning of the notification to the favorites list on the left. Smart Launcher highlights the icon text of the app or uses numbered badges. Nova and Niagara also include Sesame integration; Smart has index searching for fast finding an app in the drawer (regardless of what category it's in). For the ultimate in customization, Nova is the answer. For minimalism and ease of use, go with Niagara. For minimalism with a traditional (or non-traditional) app drawer, go Smart. This is one person's opinion, YMMV.
* Icon Pack Studio also works with Nova and Niagara via another add-on app, "IPS Exporter" (Nova/Niagara/Smart, below).
*** NOVA
This is by far the most customizable. Absolutely every aspect of design and layout can be changed. It has Google newsfeed integration with an add-on app, and the v8 beta has Material You theming throughout. BUT... it is still stuck in the 2009 design paradigm, using a traditional app drawer. It's comfortable and convenient, but can involve many taps and swipes to get where you want.
*** NIAGARA
This launcher totally breaks from traditional design. There is no app drawer and there are no other screens; everything is accessible by swiping the alphabetic list. Once you wrap your head around it, this turns out to be a very fast and compact way of getting to apps you'd normally look for in the drawer or a secondary homescreen. For instance, in Nova, I had a folder on a secondary screen that contained specialty apps related to my amateur radio hobby. To access one of them in Nova required swiping left to the secondary homescreen, tapping open the folder, and then tapping the specific app. In Niagara, I have prepended all the hobby apps (some with very non-intuitive names) with "RADIO -". To open one, I simply swipe the alphabetic list till the R's pop out, and without releasing my finger, slide it to the specific app. When I release, the app opens! You can still incorporate folders and shortcuts if you want. You can even hide the alphabetic list; it will become momentarily visible when you swipe along the right edge. It also has Google feed integration assignable to a button or gesture, and infinite scrolling stackable widgets (up to four). The left column is self-assignable "favorites" and can contain apps, folders, and shortcuts. Additionally, folders can contain widgets.
*** SMART 6
This one is without a doubt the most beautiful, and a hybrid between Nova and Niagara. It has many of the features of both, plus some unique features of its own. Unfortunately, it also seems to have some arbitrary restrictions. For uniqueness, it offers built-in wallpaper blurring (optional), built-in icon pack creation via an add-on app (Icon Pack Studio)*, and Microsoft AWA Google newsfeed (the latter via an add-on app). It has stackable widgets like Niagara, but not infinite scroll; if you want to get to the first widget you must swipe all the way back. You can add shortcuts to the homesceen or folders but only for certain apps. You can have multipe homescreens. but they also don't infinite wrap. Smart Launcher still uses the icon grid concept, but it can be set separately for homescreen(s) and drawer. The drawer can be traditional (single vertical scroll) or broken into categories, which show on the extreme left column. It will automatically categorize when first setting up, but like most launchers with this feature, does a a poor job on non-standard apps. You can move apps freely betweem categories and hide apps, just like the other two launchers.
All three launchers handle on-screen notifications, but in their own way. Nova uses either the Android "dot" or numbered badges (ala iPhone). Niagara has "previews" which give add the beginning of the notification to the favorites list on the left. Smart Launcher highlights the icon text of the app or uses numbered badges. Nova and Niagara also include Sesame integration; Smart has index searching for fast finding an app in the drawer (regardless of what category it's in). For the ultimate in customization, Nova is the answer. For minimalism and ease of use, go with Niagara. For minimalism with a traditional (or non-traditional) app drawer, go Smart. This is one person's opinion, YMMV.
* Icon Pack Studio also works with Nova and Niagara via another add-on app, "IPS Exporter" (Nova/Niagara/Smart, below).
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