But why did he do that? Because the WP OS is lacking and he wants the best of both worlds. The hardware design of the 8X and the functionality of Android.
There is no hidden agenda behind that, just a desire for perfection.
You can have a bias without having a "hidden agenda".
For example, in the NFL, the most talked about teams are the Cowboys, Raiders, and Jets. None of those teams are any good and don't deserved to be talked about nearly as much as they are. The media doesn't have some weird hidden agenda in talking about them, but they have a bias because there are more people who are fans of those teams than other teams.
The Verge is catering to its audience, which is probably something like 65% Android fans, 30% Apple fans, and 5% Microsoft fans. And so when they bash Microsoft, they know they're getting chuckles from 95% of their audience. But if they bash Android, that's only 35% of their audience that's entertained.
I guess the phrase "hidden agenda" implies something dishonest - I don't think the Verge is dishonest, I just think they do have a bias. Then again, they never claimed to be true journalists or anything - its fine for a blog to have a bias.