Update: I have reached out to support and although my hopes were not high due to the comments here on the forum, they actually solved the issue. I need to say that in addition to the general slowness of the app, I also identified sync issues during the process. Some stuff didn't get into Evernote on Android nor out. I didn't realized it earlier because basically I stopped using it since the new version first came out on Android.
They told me they did some backend changes. Not sure what they are, but for the first time since Evernote 10 arrived on Android, it became usable. I still would not say that the new Evernote on Android is an outstanding experience overall. But now, notes sync both ways, notebooks and home view load faster than before (significantly less than a minute as was the case before), and the app became somewhat more responsive in general.
I had tried everything previously, deleting cache, and app data, re-installing the app all to no avail. I wasn't ever able to use the new version of the App on Android since it came out but now it will be useful definitely.