OP, I thought the same as you after reading the post that appeared to be a Nike employee. They usually get in on threads such as this. Often it is laughably obvious. So, yeah I thought about a post similar to yours, but his re-response seemed somewhat convincing,and if you remember old threads they don't really use registered names. Maybe I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
So, a lot of people are just pure Swoosh wearers because peer pressure required them in high school and most college teams I'm aware of are Nike sponsored. It takes mental effort to switch brand loyalty. Add to that those that weren't really fans before but tried the 4% and were smitten.
Thing is, though, it harder to find someone who's been in the Brooks HE2, the NB RCE2, and the Saucony EP, each for a significant number of miles and objectively compared them. It is likely that any of them will be good for you - the thread seems to be in agreement there. All of the posters together have probably worn various shoes with similar technology. Again, they say the newer shoes as a group do work.
But the thing is, the exact design can be tuned for an individual. It seems clear that for the 4% and Alphafly (I believe the Next% also) it was Kipchoge on the treadmill. They curved the plate different ways, put it higher or lower in the foam, and tried different heel-toe drops and outsole shapes. They went with whatever he was most efficient in. Or that's how I understood it at the time articles were floating around about the development process.
For the Saucony, Ward was on the treadmill with the machines hooked up. He was given several different prototypes with varying shapes and stuff. One stood out. They refined it further from there, measuring CO2 output and so forth. So for him, we know the Pro is probably close to ideal.
Desi was likely a guinea pig for Brooks, and she was in the HE2 prior to it really being out. I'd guess she had input into the design. So they may all be decent, but one might be quite a bit better for you than another. We know what is ideal for EK, but it seems likely Huddle would have a different result if she was in a competitor's shoe, but she can't really go that route.
Ward's shoe didn't give her the same effect it gave him - we just don't know what Desi's shoe would have done. Trying every permutation is likely to stumble across a perfect - for you - setup.
What I'm saying is the best plan would be to try 5 of them and measure things yourself, but for those with $<1000 to put into this, you'll have to guess. You can use durability reports to bias your decision, but beware of using popularity as a factor since most Americans ran their first 10,000 miles in Nike (twice that if they ended up at a sponsor college) and habits are hard to break, so they're automatically reaching for those whether or not the newest NB (which looks very good to me) would be better for them or not.
By the way, I'm ordering asics Magic Speed. This may be a slightly heavier and more durable version of Sara Hall's shoe - perhaps their analog to the Endorphin Speed. I'll see what I think. If they come out with a model an ounce and change lighter in the near future, I'll judge the pair I have and either get the top-end racing version or not. Or perhaps they consider it their premium marathoner and possibility it will feel that way for me. Did the same with Saucony, given the geometry and foam of the Pro and Speed are very similar.
Haven't been in the Nike as the lack of outsole rubber on the heel, the narrow (for my foot) fit, and the high heel-toe drop don't work for me. Any of these could be a show stopper, but combined I just know it won't work. (The Alpha seems to have a lower drop than the VF series but even big fans of the brand say it is hard to run in effectively. I believe KB wears the other one.) Haven't been in the Brooks but think I'd like it. Don't think I'd like the NB RC version 1 (both the geometry and high drop) but suspect I'd really like the 2nd edition.
Have the Hoka Rocket X and like them. Not many miles in them yet, but have good time trial results on courses I had run several times and knew what times I should be able to hit. The best of these was about as fast as I could have expected. Probably the least popular of the aforementioned primarily due to the fact that the brand is less established and lacks the built in fan club that Nike and others get simply due to cultural forces. Nevertheless, Ali T, the Scotts at NAZ, and others have had very good results in them, so it seems likely that if hooked up to the machines on a treadmill, they could be the best for someone (not saying everyone, obviously) compared against all the competitors. Perhaps Ali would find this to be the case. At any rate, if you prefer a low drop, wide and stable base, and firmer (not hard, but not super spongy) ride, they should be on your short list. Good luck!