I have a pair of KLIM Bandland Pro pants and a pair of Motoport AirMesh Kevlar II pants. The KLIM are GoreTex and VERY water proof. The Motoports are mesh. The BIG difference is how hard/easy they are to put on over other pants/boots.
The KLIM do not unzip up the legs. They have a zipper on each leg that comes up to about the top of the calf. Opening it, allows for more room at the bottom of the legs, but there is still a flap inside so that the material comes all the way to the bottom, similar to the wrist cuff on many jackets. These pants CANNOT be put on over boots you are already wearing. So to put them on or take them off, I always have to have my boots off. The thing is, I don't ALWAYS want to take my boots off just because I want the pants off. The most frequent situation is getting to a campsite at the end of the day or breaking camp in the morning. I may not want the pants on during those times, but I generally still want my boots on while I walk around. It is not a huge deal, just an annoyance. These are not really pants I would pick for commuting. I use them for day rides and dualsporting. I wear LD Comfort tights with them. If it is cold, I wear my KLIM mid layer pants over the LD tights. If it is REALLY cold, I wear my heated vest with the KLIM mid layer jacket. This setup is good for 110 F down to around 25 F.
The Motoport pants have a full length zipper on the right leg, and and ankle to crotch zipper on the left leg. I can easily get these on/off over my bulky dirt boots. I only wear these if I know there is no chance of rain and it is not too cold. I might wear jeans under them or the LD tights. They look horribly bulky but I don't even notice them when riding. I have a rain liner for them, but hate it because the liner against my body makes me cold! I much prefer either an external rain pant/jacket or GoreTex. This is why I finally popped for the Badlands Pro pants/jacket. I LOVE not having to worry about liners or external covers and not having to pack them. I also like having water proof pockets.
The comment above about hip protection is a good one. I don't know why, but MANY pants have zero hip armor. This makes no sense to me. If you come off the bike, the likelihood that you will land squarely on your hip is pretty high... Trust me on this one
Hip bruises take a LONG time to heal, like a year or more before you can lay on that side without it hurting even if you are on a soft mattress. I had extra armor added to the Motorport pants when I ordered them. They argued with me, but I insisted. It was worth it. The padded underpants are a good idea. Again, most pants have no tail bone protection. They seem to think the only thing you will ever hit is your knee caps
You want impact absorption AND abrasion resistance. This means at least some kind of armor and then high strength denier/cordura type material. I would not waste my time with those Kevlar reinforced jeans. They are better than nothing, but they offer no impact protection. I am not just talking about high speed impacts either. When you are dualsporting, landing on your knees in a tip over is not uncommon. A rock to the kneecap is extremely NOT FUN... Seriously... Even moderate knee armor can save you a world of pain here.