The big plus point is it will cost a fraction of the price of an Apple product. The downside is you'll be sharing all your data with Google and they are going to sell those data to the highest bidder.
On the technical side, Android's version of Linux has been around for a long time now and in my view is refined to a very high standard. The Play Store has Apps for everything and many of them are free but not free of adverts. Start by choosing a security utility - Lookout is a good one.
Don't stint on the cash - cheapies won't last long so be prepared to pay for a good one and add at least a 32GB micro SD Card