Asus Zenfone 5 A500KL

Under the hood sits a Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 setup and Adreno 305 graphics, paired with either 1 GB or 2 GB RAM depending on the variant. Storage runs from 8 GB up to 32 GB, and there's a microSD slot for another 64 GB if you need it. The 5-inch IPS screen keeps things compact, and at 145g with a 10.3mm profile, it's an easy phone to carry around.

Camera-wise, you get an 8 MP rear shooter with autofocus and LED flash, capable of 1080p video, plus a 2 MP front camera for basic selfies. Asus Zenfone 5 A500KL price in Malaysia starts from RM539. Battery capacity sits at 2110 mAh, non-removable, which was standard fare for a 2014 mid-range device.

It runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box, and connectivity includes LTE Cat4, dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS with GLONASS, and Bluetooth 4.0. Five colour options are available, from Charcoal Black to Twilight Purple, so there's some room to pick based on style rather than just specs.