i have heard lews and Abu are made in the same factory. Taking this into consideration do you feel that essentially they are the same but just look different? Personally, i don’t think so. But i would like to hear what you have to say.

My expediter with Lews and abu.gracia are that lews has better performance but not as quality materials while abu Garcias reels dont perform as well but are longer lasting

Lews typically are a touch cheaper on a per feature basis possibly accounting for the performance referenced. That factory makes a wide range of models with lots of mix and match options material and features wise. It's probably not fair to say they are "the same reel " but equally unfair to say one is really "better" than the other across the board. 

They are both actually made by doyo in Korean factories. Doyo also manufactures reels for bass pro, browning, pfleuger and others. A lot of companies have propietary designs that they pay doyo or banax(another Korean company) to manufacture but many parts interchange between reels

Abu Garcia will always be what I fish with for as long as I fish. That will be my first reel and my last. Now rods.... that's a different story

My Lew's have lasted a lot longer than my abu reels. I'm pretty biased but after working in a shop I've had the chance to try out pretty much every reel manufacturer. If its Lew's vs Abu casting reels I go Lew's all day. Don't reel like their (lew's)  spinning reels which is unfortunate. Much rather have a Diawa, Quantum, or Shimano Spinning reel. Tested out the Smoke reels, feels weird but once you fish it feels different. Have a sterling silver diawa tatula en route. To answer your question my tournament pro outcasts my stx by a mile. Not a fan of the last model stx if you look at my post history lol.