I'd prefer something hacker-friendly, but I'm not Richard Stallman, so I do want something that is actually good.
My first and best guess for that would be are the nexus phones. Nexus 5. I would concider it as a low cost, high performance device, because you can only get it in 16gb, and a 32 gb version without expansion.
Otherwise you could take a look at china phones (get one with original android, and the google play store installed out of the box, not all of them have it, and getting it on there is not as easy as just installing an .apk file). They are really cheap. But beware of bloated devices, and the support from the communities (cyanogenmod, xda-developers, what ever....) is not that high, but it's worth mentioning it, because they are cheap.
No one. Get a used nokia. Save money for a computer (a real one)
umm... there is the developer edition of the moto X. or you could get a nexus 5 as stated above because I've only herd good things about that phone and it's not that expensive... I have also herd that the HTC M8 is amazing but I don't know how "hacker friendly" that is, I've had a HTC phone in the past and I had to jump though some hoops to root it. I personally own a Moto G and love it! the device is so comfortable in the hand. be beware that it only comes in 8/16GB variations and does not have the greatest specs but it is really cheep.but depending on what you have right now it might be a step down. and not quite sure how "hacker friendly" it is.
so I guess there is my list of phones that I would get because Samsung is overrated garbage!
If you want a truly high-end smartphone, I would recommend the Nexus 5. It has an IPS 1080p screen with a Snapdragon 800 powering it, you can't much better than this. Although there have been reports of the battery life being sub-par.
If you want a high-end phone with an amazing user experience, I would recommend the Moto X. It has a 720p screen and is powered by the Motorola X8(A heavily modified Snapdragon S4). The specs may not be the best, but it packs a ton of useful features that make up for it.
Samsung devices aren't evil. Just the company. Samsung devices are main stream, so they will get rooted, and custom firmwares, really fast.
There's nothing wrong with the devices in themselves. Not yet anyway. Even Wendell uses an s3. or S4. Can't remember.
As for other phones, a Nexus 5 is great. Moto X is only good if you get the developer version, which is always full price, no carrier will offer you a deal for it. (I believe.)
No experience with HTC phones, really.
Nexus branded phones.
Much, much, better bang for your buck.
Find a dealer willing to ship you an Oppo Find 7 (just 7, mind you. The 7a is a different spec list and is not as desirable) and switch the OS language to English. Root and install whatever you like. Unfortunately, the phone is extraordinarily popular right now, so it's sold out, well, everywhere willing to ship to the US. So you may have to wait a bit for the stock to catch up to the demand.
http://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/2f462b7b
Blackberry, seriously.
This new OnePlus One phone looks incredible.
http://oneplus.net/
I've also used the new HTC One M8 as well as own an Xperia Z1 and can say that they're great devices if you don't mind the price...
I second that, I just got my z10 and it's awesome
HTC smartphones are good, but maybe you should wait for the Ubuntu phone