Can you “feel” the differences in hubs while riding? In my experience, no, other than differences in the number of engagement points in the free-hub.
But there are many other reasons to get one hub over another:
Weight: self explanatory
Maintenance: most half decent hubs will last pretty much indefinitely, but the maintenance required will vary.
Many less expensive hubs (as well as all Shimano hubs as far as I know) are cup and cone. These will require periodic maintenance (disassembling, cleaning, regreasing, sometimes replacing the ball bearings which are cheap). If you let them go to long, you can damage the cup and/or cone. Cones are generally replaceable, cups are generally not.
How often you need to do this varied. On my road bike with Shimano hubs, I did it about every other years. On a older MTB with LX hubs I did so every year, and should have done so more often (One if the cups got a little worn).
Most higher end hubs use replaceable sealed cartridge bearings. These are basically maintenance free, and in better hubs will last a very long time.
I have hubs from DT Swiss and Hope ranging from 9 to 19 years old in pretty constant use. The only time I have replaced bearings is when I have converted the Hope rear hub to 142x12 from QR. My front Hugo (DT Swiss) 240 hub is 19 years ild on the original bearings.
Convertibility: with constantly changing axle and dropout standards, it is a plus to have a design that can be converted from one to another, either by end caps or a different installed axle and bearings.
Last edited by Kapusta; 10-27-19 at 08:35 AM.