I think you need to consider your use profile when selecting a winch. When I was selecting mine, I did not have much experience with winches, and only minimal exposure to winching operations.
My first consideration is the fact that we usually ride alone, in fairly remote public land areas, often on weekdays. If I had a buddy along who also had a winch, or it was a heavily traveled trail with lots of winch equipped folks (or someone who could give me a ride out), I'd be a lot more tolerant of winch failure.
I could easily experience a situation where we needed a winch, had a winch failure, and had to at least overnight or walk out 10 miles or so to get help. Under such circumstances a "lifetime warranty" is meaningless.
So I went Warn for the simple reason that they're considered best in class and likely the most reliable. I certainly couldn't ascertain relative odds of failure of Viper/SmittyBilt/KFI/Viper/SATV/HF etc. They all seem to be Chinese imitations of proven Warn designs, and as such will likely work just fine if manufactured well enough.
No winch is failure proof - I don't think my Warn is the end all. But I do think it gives me the best odds of not experiencing a failure when I need it. I still carry sufficient emergency gear to overnight/walk out if necessary. I do believe I made the right decision for my user profile. Your user profile may be completely different. Lots of people/other machines around and a mile or two to the truck, plus a cell signal creates a completely different set of consequences.
After writing this I'm now thinking I should throw a comealong in my recovery box for backup. Belt and suspenders.
ETA I also have a Garmin InReach so we can contact help from the boonies if needed.
