Gain the ability to entirely swap out and heavily customize the firmware.
Gain the ability to remove pre-installed bloatware and effectively disable Google services, which improves performance and privacy.
Apps with root access gain functionality that would never be allowed on official app repositories, such as fine control of the hardware and device-wide content blocking.
Gain a proper task manager that can terminate any running program and a file manager that can read and edit any file on storage, including hidden files.
Cons:
A lot of widely used "normie" apps such as mobile payment apps will detect a root and disable their own functionality. There are sometimes ways around that but it's not guaranteed.
Arguably a way more involved process than jailbreaking an iPhone. Not a friendly and simple process for non-technical people at all. Most rooting guides assumes technical familiarity with bootloaders and firmware packages, including how to find the most suitable firmware package for your device.
Good chance to brick your phone in the process. Your warranty will also be voided if that is something you care about.
veuzi wrote (edited )
Pros:
Cons: