Help me pick a midrange Android phone?

[daddydave]

Updated phone requirements in original post.

[daddydave]

My plan is to buy a T-Mobile version of Galaxy S II very soon, used ones seem to be going for about $250 (or closer to 200 if I am patient) and that is about as much bang for buck I can expect right now. Not in the original 150-200 range and not born with ICS,  but meets the other (revised) requirements  and still should be useful for a while.

T-Mobile is supposed to roll out LTE on their AWS (1700/2100)  bands next year, but supposedly it will coexist with their HSPA+ 42 network. (Source: CNET -- see the blockquote there) So I have some hope it will not become a mini tablet when T-Mobile LTE rolls out. Although HSPA+/UMTS will be on the 1900 Mhz band at that point (Source: Fierce Broadband Wireless).

I looked at the Galaxy S Blaze too, and I was going to go with that one since T-Mobile was running a promotion of $299 including $50 refill card, but when I posted this I wanted to post a comparision with the the Galaxy S II (here's one via PhoneArena) , and I saw that the S II specs were not only better, the used ones end up being cheaper because there are so many of them (it's a better known model so I am guessing they produced a lot of these and maybe a lot of people are trading up to the III).

[daddydave]

After a certain point, I had a different thought every day, which would make this thread look like a twitter feed, and I decided not to post to this thread until I made a decision. So for the sake of closure, I will tell you that a couple weeks ago, I saw a mint Galaxy S Blaze for $208, at least $42 cheaper than I could find previously for a non-mint one with an unscratched display, and jumped on it. It doesn't meet all of my original requirements, but it meets a lot of them. I couldn't really find a S II in decent shape for much less than $300$250. I had no resistance to putting ICS on it via Samsung Kies program, and there were no issues. I am not using it as a phone yet, I am waiting until I can get it in a decent protective case, but I am installing apps like crazy as well as an offline version of Wikipedia (via Aard Dictionary).

I plan on using it on T-Mobile for at least a couple months (it can take advantage of HSPA+ 42, which in my hometown is faster than Verizon LTE) and probably longer. After two months, my understanding is that T-Mobile will unlock it for me, and then I will still probably stay with T-Mobile, but it will be international 2G and 3G (2100Mhz) ready if I need it (not that there is any urgency to that). There are a few T-Mobile MVNOs emerging that look interesting, including a prepaid data one. I'll probably go with $30 unlimited data + 100 minutes talk plan + Google Voice or something similar. That's all I really need.

Battery life is so-so, but at least it is removable. If I go somewhere, I may get a charging case for it. The Super AMOLED display is very clear, but visibility in direct sunlight is nothing special, about the same as my iPod Touch. What I was looking for as far as visibility in direct sunlight may not be possible, at least not in my price range. But I think everything else meets my revised specs in the original post.