I’ve owned and ridden both and personally find that a faired bike is much more comfortable when the ride is at highway speed and exceeds an hour or so. It’s amazing how much buffeting is removed by a good fairing and this can make longer rides much less tiring — which ultimately improves your ability to remain alert and can improve safety.
Balanced against this is the fact that fairings can be a big PIA with maintenance. Also, not all bikes are conducive to just leaving the lowers off as they may provide important support to the uppers.
As for drops: There are few parts on the side of the bike that do well on the ground. Fairings are expensive, but so is the tank, mirrors, turn signals, engine case, etc. This is where a used bike really makes sense — limiting the ding to your resale as well as being far less disheartening if you get that first scratch.