Help me pick a phone (and be rewarded)

Get yourself the xperia z1 or z2 these are the best phones sony has ATM.

I'd recommend not buying Sony. I had one who broke after a year. I had to plug the headphone in to take my calls since the thing where the sound of people talking to you is suppose to come out broke(forgot the english and the french word for that thing, so i can't use google translate sry :S) I had it fixed and it broke again after a few month. Since I don't like looking like a douche picking up calls with the headphones on I replaced the phone.
I've been using HTC ever since, before i used to buy Nokia (not smartphones tho), but i don't really like that windows thing so..... HTCs are android, had mine for 3 years never had a problem with it, and it's still working fine.
My gf and many friends use Samsung they seem nice enough, and she never had any problems with it as well for 2 years...
Now you can look up these brands, as i don't know the phones market names. :P

I don't know anything about Sony phones, so I'll recommend Samsung Galaxy line instead. I've got an old Galaxy S, it still works fine and is pretty reliable, especially when it comes to things you mentioned as important.

Currently using Sony Xperia Z & loving it.

check here for some good pricing

I use galaxy s2 lite and its pretty good for me.I dont a more expencive phone than that.

Le new Moto E ($129)

Moto x

Huawei Ascend G740 (My friend has it and it is pretty nice ;) )

Welp i can say that Nexus 5 is good. One of best phones you can get.

Motorola Moto G

nokia 520

get a wiko darknight. you can use two sim cards at the same time, which allows you to use your regulary sim card and an extra sim card from a cheap provider for a cheap mobile internet contract

I've been using a Sony Xperia M for a bit more than half a year now and I can only recommend it. It's within your price range as well. It's medium in size, fits easily in pockets without sacrificing a big enough screen. You got the ability to turn off annoying stuff too. About messaging, it has some sort of swipe-keyboard that comes with shipment which is a wonderful alternative to regular typing once you get used to it. Wi-fi certainly better than most of my colleagues' phones and browsing depends on the browser you use of course but I've had no problems with Firefox so far.

I recommend going into a phone store before you buy a phone and get some hands-on experience though.

I think that your best option it's the Moto G (I'll probably buy it when I know someone that will go to US)

Consider HTC, but don't know if there's any model around that price. I would avoid Samsung, their durability it's one of the worst I've seen in smartphones lately.

Nexus 5

Given your budget the Sony phone I would go for is the Xperia C, because I like a large screen. The Xperia SP is not much smaller and has a higher resolution, and probably better hardware, but it may be more than you want to spend.

If I could have any phone on the market regardless of cost I would probably go for the Xperia Z Ultra.

The sony xperia series is really nice...

Nokia Lumia 620

Nokia Lumia 620

Don't buy Sony phones, you drop it once or twice, it breaks and you won't get replacement. For $300 you can get OnePlus One, the best smartphone which is better than the other $700 ones.

Xperia M2

Go for the Moto G.
7 days of battery? Challenge accepted.

The zte v970 is good but Its not sony

Moto E All the way

Moto G. I have it and it's amazing the difference with other phones of the same price segment. With the revised unit (4G and micro sd card reader) it's a no brainer.