Hangouts

 

Up until yesterday, when the ads update came, I used 8sms I'm giving Chomp a go

 

Textra SMS is very nice, and very clean looking. Material design is implemented as well.

 

Doh! Just re-read your post!

Textra does have emoji support btw https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.textra.emoji

 

Another vote for Textra, looks and works great.

 

I didn't like the idea of using Hangout and then found SMS Messaging (AOSP), which is just what I wanted, as I really liked the stock messaging app for my needs on my old 4.3 Galaxy Nexus.

 

Evolve SMS

 

Go and side load the stock messaging app for android L. Works flawlessly apart from the search function for me. Loving it so far. Go to Download: Leaked Android 5.0 Lollipop apps

 

Does it work fine on KitKat?

Edit: Quick question. When you update to 5.0 do you still retain your old texts (e.g. Hangouts)?

 

Yes the messenger app does, works great actually

Yes it merges your texts over into the 5.0 app

 

I'm super happy with Textra, not only is it fast reliable with a very nice UI, it's also updated frequently a sign of a pro developer. I use it for both business and personal, it's never faltered.

 

I've done exactly the same