What is your carrier?

Going to be switching to AT&T, my dad just got a job as a tech and we get a huge discount for it, versus our current which is T-Mobile as of this second.

The best android phones AT&T have at the moment are the HTC One, the Galaxy S4, and the Galaxy Note II.

Personally I would get the HTC One, due to its amazing build quality (made of aluminum), design and great camera.

The Galaxy S4 has a microSD slot for expandable storage, but it has a terrible build quality. The thing is made from the cheapest plastic material Samsung could find

The Galaxy Note has a very large screen and a very very cool stylus built into it. It also has a microSD slot for expandable storage, but like with all Samsung phones the thing feels like a cheap plastic toy.

Each of them have quad core processors and relatively similar performance, so I'd recommend going to the store and actually get a physical feel for them.

Get an HTC One or a Nexus 4 (off contract from Google)

HTC One, by a long shot. That being said; I hate sense, so I'd recommend flashing a different ROM to the thing.

Nexus 4 if your main usage for the phone is developing applications and testing them on it.

You have to do a few special tweaks to the Nexus 4 in order to get 4G speeds working on it with AT&T

Totally forgot about 4G, mostly because we don't have it over here.
Not sure if those tweaks still work but I've only owned nexus devices and am happy with them.

I work with mobiles, I'm not 100% how the American carries work (But from what I've heard, I feel sorry for you guys, it seems quite shitty) but I can give a breakdown of the general pro's and cons of the more popular ones.

I mainly deal with software issues at work, but sometimes I gotta sort some hardware issues, I can fix phones but I'm not meant to as I'm not an engineer, anyway...

HTC One

Pros
- Excellent build quality and size.
- Good multitask feature
- Speakers are fucking good
- Looks awesome
- UI is simple and clean
- Really awesome if you 420r00t it and get the HTC button to work
- 32GB minimum of internal memory
- Camera is awesome

Cons
- Sense UI looks outdated compared to stock Andriod (Slight contradiction, but if you use one and try and Nexus 4 you will see what I mean)
- Software features have stupid names, blinkfeed, zoe, boomsound (Not really an issue but a gripe of mine :D)
- Internal memory, it's good that you get a lot built in but SD cards are a must for some people.
- Some of the default SMS, Music players are really bad, this is on opinion but the HTC music player is one of the worse I've used.
- Only 4.1

Can't think of anything more for now, it's a really good phone, I would get one but I really like my phone to not have much manufacturer software on it, mainly because I'm not a fan of the Sense UI. If you can overlook that then I'd say go for it. It's one of the best out there.

Galaxy S4

Pros

- Memory 16, 32, 64 available and SD expandable as well.
- Awesome display
- Removable battery, now this is really good as the amount of issues that people have with their phones (battery life, freezing, signal etc. etc.) can be solved by just pulling that bitch out and slamming it back in.
- Pretty sleek design
- Has the same features from the S3 which were awesome.
- Has 4.2
Cons

- There's a load of features that are pointless, Smart Pause, S Health, S Voice, fucking wizard touch shit, the features added to the S3 were awesome, the ones added to the S4 were things that nobody ever wanted.
- Bloatware, because of the large amount of features, the software takes up around 7 GB of the 16 available, include your carriers bloatware you could be left with around 6 GB of internal memory to use, take note, some apps can't be moved to the SD card.
- Build quality is pretty poor it's quite a fragile thing and the screen can crack easily, I've already seen plenty that have charging ports already break.
- UI is just not my taste, the whole nature shit isn't what I want in a phone (again personal preference)
- The settings menu is really really bad, I have no idea why the tried to organize it but they have tried and they have failed.

I'd rate this lower that the GS3 imo, the screen is awesome and it looks nice, but as soon as you start using it to me that's when it starts to get a bit shit. Again, having a CM mod is the only way I'd use this phone, and if you really like Android this phone really does a good job on making it not look like Android at all.

In all honesty, I would say get a Galaxy S3 or a Note 2 over an S4, you have less features but you retain the good ones, there's less intrusive software on them and they are still awesome phones.

Xperia Z (I have this)

Pros
- Good build quality, very strong, I've dropped it loads of times on purpose to show everyone and there's not a scratch on it, and it's MOTHER FUCKING WATER PROOF WHICH MEANS TAKING PHONE CALLS IN THE SHOWER.
- It's just a re skinned version of Android so it's close to stock which is what I like about it.
- Quite a decent portion of the manufacturer software can be removed, the rest are things like diagnostics, battery saving (stamina mode), backup etc.
- Looks awesome, the screen is very good and the design is pretty sweet.
- SD card support (only up to 32GB) with 16gb internal
- Sony have awesome developer support if you like fucking with your phone,
OH SHIT I RAN OUT OF SPACE

So you can fuck shit up ez.
- 2 year manufacturer warranty, I think most only have one.

Cons
- It's fucking big
- The speaker is quiet, I've never missed a call or anything like that but it is quiet compared to others.
- Feels a bit odd in the hand at first
- Some people complain about viewing angles, but I've not had an issue.

Nexus 4

GET THIS PHONE IF YOU DONT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT BATTERY LIFE AND MEMORY, IT'S PRETTY FUCKING GOOD. That's the only thing I can say about it.

In regards to what you said about performance, all the phones have 2GB of RAM and are quad core or dual core, which will give you more than enough.

SCRAP EVERYHING I'VE JUST SAID GOOGLE ARE GOING TO DO BE DOING A STOCK ANDROID OF THE S4! http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/15/google-samung-galaxy-s-4-running-stock-android/

Man, I wish I didn't type so much

Definitely stick with droid phones, I still have my droid 1. It's been reliable, durable, and even though the age as definitely shown, it's still capable of anything i really need.
but most of all, make sure to check consumers reports and other things.

Thanks for all the info, read it all and I'm confident HTC One will be the right one for me, I'll definitely check out the Nexus 4 but I'm big on battery life. I'll most likely be at a retail store this evening and can check them all out. You guys are awesome.

AFAIK Nexus 4 isn't at retail, but if you like the One I'd go with it if I were you

I haven't had any issues with my Nexus 4, but I believe custom roms alleviate them anyway.

note 2 for the win! :D

They only sell the Nexus 4 retail in T-Mobile stores. Otherwise, it's a super cheap $350 unlocked in the Play Store.

I have att with the galaxy s3. pretty sweet phone when you put cyanogenmod 10 on it. also, pick up an extended battery for it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_box_?k=zero+lemon+7000 this is the best extended battery for it imo, due to the intelligent design using the case for a backing, price, and 180 day warranty. I'm pretty sure you can get the s3 for super cheap now.

You can't really go wrong if you get the S4, Note 2, or One. Though, as previously mentioned, the S4 has dumb features that no one really cares about. S4 and Note 2 availability are somewhat limited, but finding the One shouldn't be a problem.

If you're gonna get it online, get it off Amazon or something. If you're gonna get it in a store, go to Radioshack or Best Buy. They have 99% of the phones cheaper than corporate stores.

Go with any of the phones suggested, or get a Nexus 4. If you're feeling adventurous (not really, but it does void your warranty), you should root it.