As soon as you say "I really don't care for camera quality", the immediate answer is the Moto X 2014. It's all around a great phone with very premium built, I like it a bit more than the M8 design honestly, mainly the front is much cleaner. The X camera is going to do a good job in day light but in low light it gets pretty grainy. For the battery life, it's not a very big battery, but I have no problem getting 4hours of screen on time with medium use, it have a pretty good standby time as well. The M8 have a few things going for it as well. I likely out do the Moto X in term of battery. The camera is lower megapixel, but is better for low light. It have microSD slot which can be a big deal for some people. It have an IR blaster you can use as remote controller. It also have FM radio and MHL support (to connect to TV) which the Moto X does not. Between the X and M8, I wouldn't worry about the speakers, while the X only have one front speaker, it's pretty loud and clear. In term of long term support and updates, the X is going to be the best choice, Motorola update faster than any other manufacturers right now and they'll likely to get the latest version of Android first (after the Nexus phones). Overall I choose the X because of their Moto softwares which are extremely useful features that aren't just gimmicks, its the thing that make it stand out compared to the rest. I wouldn't get a Nexus 5 right now because there are better phones out there, it is still one of the fastest phone, not because it have the fastest CPU anymore, but because of the stock Android it's running. It however, will get Android L, the next version of Android, which is rumor to improve the battery on it by a little. Nexus phones is what you should get if you want the cleanest and simplest Android experience with first priority in getting latest Android versions, but you may also need to do more hand on work to customize the phone to the way you like. In the past, Nexus phones tend to always be a compromise in hardware, usually lacking in some area like battery life, camera or storage space (usually all three at the sametime). However, there is Nexus 6 coming, but it is rumor to be a 5.9" phone, from the rumored specifications, it seems the hardware on this one will rival with the flagships this time, the specs seems even better than the Moto X.