Iv been using vi because it’s built in. But real life experience is nano better? Easier? I basically cat into the file to make sure it’s what I want, then vi into it, tap I make my changes, :wq out and I’m done. So overall it’s fine, but it can feel a bit clunky navigating the file, is nano just a facelift or is there a lot of qol?
I would just install, but I don’t like messing with packages without researching first
Use whatever you prefer[0], there is no other answer.
There's really no point in Editor Wars.
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[0] if you base that on chances of it being preinstalled, features, default colour scheme or the phase of the moon can only be determined by one person, you yourself.
I’m asking from a functionality standpoint I had to search how to use vi because it wasn’t very clear
When I started with Linux, I had to search how to use Vim/Vi as well, and when I used a system with Nano as default editor, I had to research again. I don't see a functionality issue here, just preference.
You can freely install nano and stick to it without a negative impact on the system's workings.
vi is everything but beginner friendly, but you can use it for everything, from software development to writing books (LaTeX). Admittedly, most would prefer vim over busybox vi on systems with sufficient resources.
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Disclaimer: I am using vim for basically anything that touches configuration- or source files of various programming languages.
I think vi/vim is more beneficial to learn as it is pre-installed on almost every Linux system. But as has been stated nano is just fine if you prefer it.
I prefer nano, easy to use. Much easier for beginners.
(Note that I have programmed decades ago with line-based "ed", so I am familiar also with ancient hard-to-use tools... Including Emacs with lisp...)
Choice of editor is subjective.
My personal take is that I very much enjoy editing in 'vi'. Editing in 'vi' is an acquired taste that might be compared with drinking wine or whisky; once acquired, you will always favour it over drinking an alcopop like Smirnoff Ice. If you imagine Neo from the Matrix, he would definitely be using 'vi' rather than 'nano' or 'emacs' .
On OpenWrt, I especially like 'vim-fuller' with colours:
Some may laugh at this (and likely have merit in doing so), but in developing my various OpenWrt projects on GitHub I actually just edit the files on my router using 'vim' and upload to GitHub using git on the router. I find it cool how all that can be done over ssh.
thats pretty!
In spirit of editor wars, pretty similar with "nano-full" that has also OpenWrt uci config file format detection...
Just my 2¢:
I use mc/mcedit/mcview whenever I can (and in OpenWrt I mostly can).
Both vi and nano are "acquired taste"... I failed to acquire even if/when forced to use them.
Syntax highlighting for UCI files is not working for me. I added 'syn on' in a .vimrc file but still no go. What am I missing?
EDIT: solved it with this: https://github.com/cmcaine/vim-uci
Slightly off topic, but since you brought up the mighty ed:
https://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/ed-msg.txt
Personally, I sped far too little time inside any one editor to become fully proficient, so for me editors that give some visual feed back about what commands they support are really helpful, so for my OpenWer needs I either use nano or mc's editor and vi only if out of other options 
Isn't vi just a BusyBox extension on OpenWrt, like lots of commands? Makes sense to just use that instead of spending extra space on a separate text editor, by default.
Yes, it's one of the busybox applets.
If you can learn the basics of vi (not vim, or vim-enhanced, or any of the more modern variants) then you'll be doing just fine in the vast majority of Linux and POSIX compliant UNIX distributions, especially in emergency/rescue/single user mode.
Learning any other editor's syntax after that is just gravy. Or custard, depending on preference 
I normally use vi, for heavy-duty jobs (i.e. software development, browsing multi-megabyte files, etc) I switch to GNU Emacs. I'm too old to try nano, I'd rather use Wordstar.
