Benior - It's probably not too much hassle to clear data from the phone. I imagine at that price it's rooted or jailbroken or whatever they call it these days. Mine is tied to ATT, and I remember struggling for a few days to unlock my original Galaxy when I moved to England.

Quote Originally Posted by Kchrpm View Post
suggesting you buy unlocked and off-contract so you can save on your monthly bill:
I didn't know this was an option with ATT. This seems new. It'd save me $300/yr on the bill to go off contract. Phones cost quite a bit more though. Hmm. I'd come out just a bit ahead if I buy a top of the line new Galaxy every 2 years vs going on contract.

Why I didn't recommend anything from Samsung or LG: because, as you've seen, they have a tendency to go crazy adding their own services, apps and customizations that slow down the system as a whole.
My GS3 was fine until it updated to Android 4.3.

I'll take a look at the other phones you mentioned too. I have several things to balance -- physical size, battery life, camera quality, price -- and I doubt I'll find all the ideal things in one phone.