I was going through the reviews of the album for something separate and found some about You & I album version. They're pretty positive:
"You & I' is another quieted moment, one that doesn't even feature an anthemic chorus. It is here where the boys have actually made some steps away from their safe zone, even if it does contain a typically power pop chorus, in this pensive, acoustic number. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless." - He only named a few songs so it must have stood out. Contact Music
""You and I," meanwhile, is a lovely, asymmetrical little ballad that never indulges in the kind of soggy bombast that sinks so many boy-band love songs—perhaps because it was patterned on Peter Gabriel's immortal "In Your Eyes."" [he didn't like Happily, TTD or BTW] Daily Beast
"“You and I”: It should be “between you and me,” boys, not “you and I,” but who are we to let grammar get between us and an elegant ballad that will have the long time fans waving their cell phones in the air as the boys sing, “You and I, we don’t want to be like them. We can make it to the end. Nothing can come between you and I. Not even the gods above can separate the two of us.” This is the kind of song that 15-year old girls put on repeat as they clutch their pillows. Having been a 15-year old girl once, trust me, that is a big compliment. Could be massive. GRADE: B+ " Hitfix
"there are plenty of tracks that will undoubtedly show up (alongside the title track) on their Greatest Hits collection. "Best Song Ever" is a buoyant, instantly catchy radio hit that may not be the best song ever, but it may be theirs, the dramatic "Diana" adds a little bit of adult feeling into the mix, and the cinematically swoony ballad "You & I" shows that the group have a sure-handed way with a big ballad and can tap into some real emotion." All Music
"In fact, their voices have matured and deepened enough so they don’t sound ridiculous on Midnight Memories’ more adult material—bouncy Mumford & Sons/Lumineers-esque strums (“Through The Dark,” “Happily”), syrupy soft rock ballads (“You & I”), or raucous glam (the title track and its Mutt Lange-era Def Leppard flourishes)." AV Club
"the real subject is the band's fans, the Twitter equivalent of soccer hooligans; in "You & I," 1D depict loyalty as heroism worthy of Katniss Everdeen. They joyfully plunder rock riffs and hip-hop beats, but a logjam of lousy ballads suggests Bryan Adams embodies their ideal of maturity" Rolling Stone
"“You & I” slows the tempo following the rocking title track. The timbre shifts, with the use of acoustic guitar and touches of strings. The reason why “You & I” is effective is because it manages to both fit the boy-band mold as well as incorporate rock cues without separating the two. After all, few would label 1D as a legit ‘rock band’. Another more ‘serious’ cut, “You & I” follows the footsteps of “Story of My Life” to infuse more of a mature side to the band. Here, the young men straddle the line just right without boring the listeners. After striking gold on “You & I”, the band strikes out on “Don’t Forget Where You Belong”." Brent Music
Let's not forget as well that aside from Radio 1 MM was a radio flop as well. I think You & I will do quite well on commercial radio and sell well too - not SOML levels but I think it'll be Top 10. SOML got no.2 weeks after the fan pre-order due to them finally doing promo targeting new buyers.
