If you want it for freehand I would then ask 'what are you routing' as in, what kind of cut, what kind of wood, what frequency are you using it?
You could get a 1 HP Colt trim router, which fits easily in the hand and has a plunge base you could buy. Great little router, not too heavy (heavy enough you never forget you're working with a lethal tool) and the base is square for the times you are doing inside cuts and need that. It only uses 1/4" shank bits and you don't want to try removing crazy amounts on a single pass. Of my four routers, it's the only one I'd want to work overhead or prefer to use horizontally if I could help it.
Or you could get either a Bosch 1617EV or a Dewalt 618PK both come with both fixed & plunge bases. IMO the DW618 is a better version of the 690 PC. Both give you 1/4" & 1/2" collets so there's not much you can't do until you need a table or shaper. Both are compatible with almost any router attachment you could ask for.
My go to for the freehand work is the Bosch 1617 if it's on a bench or fixed piece. The plunge base is amazing. I like it has the D shape instead of a full circle. much easier to follow a straight edge with it. Not that it's terribly hard with the round bases but its one less possibility for the router to come out from under you.
I also own the PC 7518 and it lives (well it's all still packed up) in the table full time. This could but would not be ideal as a handheld router.
The best router is the safest, especially being that you want it handheld. Go touch all the display models. See where all the controls are. You need a clearer picture of what you want to do, what you want your end result to be. That will tell you what things need to be at your fingertips; you mentioned plunge control, you want to find that on every plunge router you try and work with it to where it's comfortable for you. Not saying it would be the end of the world, but depending on the cut you're making you can make a nasty gouge if you're not smooth, that goes for running it along the cut, plunging, whatever.
Certain controls like the plunge depth stop are important, but you set those before the cut. The Bosch & Dewalt ones both mechanically work similar but have very different ways to set them. The dewalt is easier to set but less options (the Bosch gives you control both how deep and 8 steps where it stops, the dewalt just has 3 steps for where it stops) so there's some minor things you might not know just from looking. The speed, power switch, and plunge lever are ones you'll be working with and need your fingers to be able to get them quickly and easily.
Bosch
