When I bought my Walther, I had a choice between models, button or paddle release. After messing around with both, I chose the button model. Thirty years of shooting with button magazine releases will do that to you.
No matter what, you are going to be adjusting your grip during a magazine change. Watch M or GM class shooters and they will readjust their grip before firing after a mag change. They just do it very efficiently and very quickly.
I am militantly lefty. I don't buy a full sized pistol if I can't reverse the magazine release to the right side. I can work a left side mag release, but it involves more manipulation. The key to speed is economy of motion. The reason I haven't gotten into the 2011 craze is because the availability of ambidextrous magazines in the 1911 and 2011 platforms.
I liked the truly ambidextrous button magazine release on the Ruger P series when I had one in the 90s. The gun was also a brick and I was inexperienced. Time marches on.
Things change when you start entering the sub-compact and micro pistol range. I am not worried about magazine change par times if I am carrying a G43. In fact, odds are I am not carry a spare magazine if I am carrying a G43. If I was worried about John Wick type gun fights, I wouldn't be carrying a sub compact.
I stopped carrying an M&P Shield because I could not reverse the magazine release as a lefty. There were several times where I bumped the magazine release while carrying. It is somewhat embarrassing to have your magazine fall to the ground while getting out of the car. Having the magazine release on the week side of the gun means it is more protected in the holster. It is as much about keeping the mag in the gun as taking it out of the gun.
Mess around with pocket and micro pistols and you soon see the advantage on heal magazine releases. With tiny pistols grip space is at a premium. You need to modify your grip to shoot them effectively. The heal release is the logical place to put the magazine release. No one is speed changing magazines with a micro pistol. Most don't even come with a spare magazine.
My point? Different shooting and carry styles have different requirements. There is no one style that is better than another.