If you're looking into getting a new phone, you have 2 options as far as I'm concerned.

    As you can see from the title, I only have two things in mind. I'm gonna start by saying the reason I am recommending these two is mainly because of price. These two phones show you that there is absolutely no reason to be spending $700 off contract, or even $200 on contract. I mean those big phones still offer a lot of differentiating factors to make them worth while, but nothing that you absolutely need. They will complete all the basic tasks great, and still act as a phone, which is the point of these damn things in the first place.

     First, the Nexus 5. If I didn't make it clear enough in the write up about it, this is a must have phone. Sure the battery life is so-so, and the camera may not be as excellent to all out there. You get a super fast processor, beautiful screen, and a thin body with good build quality. So when you sit back and look at the off contract price of $350 you just have to stop for a second and think about whether or not that $150 you'd save to get the S4 on-contract is worth the 2 year commitment. I don't think it is, but I'm partial to non-contract everything. 

     

     Next up is the Moto X. Now this phone doesn't offer quite the same appeal as the Nexus 5. What I mean by that is that it doesn't offer the monster specs. It has a 4.7" 720p display, dual-core processor, and 2 gigs ram. That doesn't mean it can't perform, almost every review out there says this is a very good phone as far a user experience goes. Tomorrow Motorola is doing a deal where you can snag this thing for $350 off contract. That's right, this will be the same price as the Nexus 5, and to be honest I would have probably gone with it if I had the option to switch them out. This deal is for all versions of the phone, for every carrier. Also you can get the motomaker one if you want, which of course, who wouldn't. That is, after all, one of the biggest upsides to this phone. The massive amounts of customization with the back and front colors, accent colors, engraving, and more. Plus if you want to save even more coin, every carrier has this for $99 or less with a two year contract. There are plenty of other options out there for phones, and they each offer something excellent to them. These two are just at the top of my personal wish list. One down, one to go.