I also became aware of how insidious Google analytics is, shaping and tracking my browsing and search results.
GA has nothing to do with the browser - it's something web developers use to track visits to the page. In fact, you're "using" it by viewing Mac-Forums:
I fear that there is this myth that Chrome tracks your usage, of which there is no proof. The tinfoilers, as I like to call them, propagate this with no evidence which is frustrating given that any and all tracking that Google does comes from their web properties. I'm not suggesting that you're a tinfoiler but if you don't want to be tracked by Google (a valid concern), you need to abandon their services, not the software.
Thats when I start searching for an alternative developing competitor.
Opera 30 is really a great browser but a bit different.
Opera uses Chromium at its heart (which is developed in large part by Google).
They used to have their own engine, Presto, and it was pretty solid for a while but it became rather antiquated and was lagging the efforts of companies like Google and Mozilla who had the resources to develop much more comprehensive engines. If you're really curious to see what Opera was like before Chromium, you have to go a few releases back.
It is open source and has an iOS browser app which syncs across all my portable devices.
It's not open source (it uses open source code but the browser as a whole isn't).
You certainly are right about the cross-platform support though, being the only browser other than Chrome that works basically everywhere. That said, Firefox is actively developing their iOS client (which, unfortunately, will be a crippled disaster compared to their Android version because of Apple's restrictions on apps...boo...).