For me, it was easy because I got the HTC One early May. At the time, AT&T had a promotion for trade-in upgrade where they'd give you $100 cash back towards the purchase of your new phone. At the same time, HTC had the same deal where if you purchased the new HTC One and turned in any old paper weight, they'd pony up $100 as well. So I essentially got my HTC One for free, which was obviously a no brainer.
So far, I'm extremely happy with the decision I've made so far. One month into my ownership of the phone and I'm still in the honeymoon phase. The phone is gorgeous, the features are all very practical and real-world applicable (as opposed to the gimmicky tricks featured on the S4), and the speakers/sound is fantastic. I use this phone in ways that I imagine most other casual android users would use them: internet browsing, youtubing, music/radio-listening, GPS/Navigation/Maps, phone, text-chatting, social media, and pictures. And in those day to day functions, it has worked almost flawlessly. 4G LTE speeds are impeccable and battery life is very solid. I don't see battery being a problem at all considering most people will keep their smart phones only a maximum of 2 years at the most these days with contracts setup the way they are. And by that time, you'd be switching to a new phone anyways so why worry about being able to replace a battery? It's not something that's going to be top-of-mind most of the time anyways.