ZTE Nubia Z9

ZTE Nubia Z9 price in Malaysia starts from RM599, putting it in budget territory for a phone that still packs a Snapdragon 810 chipset. That's an octa-core setup pairing four Cortex-A53 cores with four Cortex-A57 cores, backed by Adreno 430 graphics. The Exclusive and Elite editions get 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, while the Classic edition drops to 3GB and 32GB. Its 5.2-inch IPS LCD panel runs at full HD with 424 ppi, and ZTE pushed the screen-to-body ratio to around 74%, which was tight for 2015 hardware.

The rear camera is a 16MP unit with optical image stabilization and autofocus, useful for a phone this old since OIS wasn't standard at this price tier back then. Front camera sits at 8MP for video calls and selfies. Battery capacity is 2900mAh, non-removable, which was average for its time given the 8.9mm body.

It ships with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, dual SIM support, NFC, infrared, and Dolby audio through the headphone jack. Storage can't be expanded via microSD, so buyers who need more than 64GB are stuck with what the edition offers out of the box.