Okay... I own an Akorn, kettle, two UDS' and a mini WSM. Ill try to answer the op question without blathering too much here. Akorn, for the money is an excellent way to get into kamado cooking and imo are very well built units. Mine went together without a hitch and has given many great cooks. One of my favorite things about it- It KILLS on pizza!!! With a heavy stone, you can make wood fired quality pizza with ease. Ok to the kettle since its been mentioned. Super versatile! For grilling, quick smoking then reverse searing you can't beat em. There's a reason they're in so many backyards across America, and most people don't even realize you can smoke on them too. Cost comparatively much cheaper than an Akorn, so that may be a factor in your decision. UDS are simply awesome cookers too, but unless you build it to grill I.e. so you can raise basket under grate, you won't be grilling on one. And you have to build it which turns some folks off the idea.
I don't own a large WSM, but I do have a mini WSM that I built with a smokey joe gold. Excellent cooker for smoking, reverse searing and grilling. Easy to smoke on it then simply remove center "barrel" (which is a tamale pot) then put grate right on kettle bottom for searing meats. That said this is on a much smaller scale than an actual WSM. Not so sure I'd want to mess with an 18" or 22" lid and barrel while hot when trying to setup for grilling after a smoke to finish over coals. And as bbgeekess stated, you'd be bending over to do so. I don't have that issue with little smokey joe gold as its a "tabletop grill", plus its my traveler smoker so I deal with it if no table available.
I don't know, a 22.5" kettle sounds like it might fit your needs well, as does an Akorn but you're gonna shell out some more clams for one of those. Unless you find one on sale like I did
