I'm trying to get a budget phone because my old phone went faulty recently. I checked about the nokia asha 501 which is about rm200++ and there was a lot of positive feedback about it.The cons of this phone however was that it doesn't have any 3G. But then I noticed that my brother's phone which is a lenovo a316i was about rm180++ and has 3G.

I'm a bit confused as why is the lenovo A316i cheaper than nokia asha 501?

Depends on what you need. Asha 501 is not a smartphone. It has limited functionality. A316i is a very low end Android phone. You might end up getting frustrated.

I kinda okey with the nokia asha but is it more expensive due to its brand?