Sony Xperia M4 Aqua

Sony's mid-ranger runs on a Snapdragon 615 chipset, an octa-core setup pairing four 1.5GHz cores with four 1.0GHz cores, backed by an Adreno 405 GPU. That's paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage, expandable via microSD up to 32GB. The 5-inch IPS LCD screen sits in a body that's just 7.3mm thick and weighs 136g, so it's easy to hold for long stretches.

On the camera side you get a 13MP rear shooter with autofocus and LED flash, plus a 5MP front camera for video calls, both capable of HDR and panorama shots. Sony Xperia M4 Aqua price in Malaysia starts from RM869. The 2400mAh battery isn't huge on paper, but it's matched to a modest chipset and Android 5.0 Lollipop software, which should help it stretch through a working day.

Connectivity covers LTE Cat4, dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC and GPS with GLONASS, so it's reasonably equipped for a phone in this price bracket. It comes in Black, White, Coral and Silver.