Thanks for the input guys!
The contract would be through verizon and considering I've been on the plan for 5 years and never upgraded I would be getting the phone now (not waiting for expirations/new versions of phones).
The main reason for the upgrade is I'm moving to a place for the next few months and there's no internet (but still 4g service) so I would pretty much be using the phone for email/social media/internet surfing, nothing too high tech so just something simple, and I use a mac computer. But it would be my only connection to internet away from work. I also want it to be able to create a mobile hotspot (do all smartphones do that?)
I guess the whole battery life thing I will have to just get used to (my phone now will last for 3 days) and durability (my current phone is a tank), but that's what cases are for right?
Short Version:
Verizon (would be getting the phone right away)
Mac Laptop
use it for Internet/Social Media (simple stuff)