My 4-year-old Samsung Galaxy Trend suddenly stopped working (battery swells a lot).
Requesting for urgent recommendations for a budget of RM600!
(Note: I may be able to stretch the budget to RM900 if the recommended phone is really good)


BRAND
Anything except Lenovo and Apple.

BUDGET
As mentioned above, preferably below RM600, but I may be able to stretch the budget to RM900 if necessary.

SPEC(IFICATION)S
1. Minimum 1.5GB RAM, preferably 2GB RAM or above. (I don't want to have my phone lagging - is processor speed more important?)
2. Minimum 5 MP rear camera. Front camera can screw off, I don't care if the front camera even exists.
3. No screen size preference.
4. 1 SIM slot is enough, I don't care if it has more SIM slots.

WHAT DO I NEED
1. Sturdy phone. My previous phone survived falling on the floor, stairs and road, as well as being stepped on. My friends who bought newer phones cracked the screens when they dropped their phones from a height of 5 cm from their hands onto the table.
2. Long battery life. While I seldom use my phone in a regular day, I don't have a powerbank, and I don't have many opportunities to charge my phone. It seems like there are more phones with built-in batteries than there used to be. Are there any disadvantages to built in batteries? I'm a little worried because newer phones tend to explode left and right nowadays.

Tiaso and briantwj, thanks for the great reviews / suggestions. You people are awesome.


Eh, are you sure you are not referring to RedMi Note 4X instead?

I am actually considering Redmi 4X, Redmi Note 4 and Redmi Note 4X (why are the names of these phones so similar ). After reading your recommendations, Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 seem pretty good as well! I checked with the dealer near me, and they have given me the following offers, which seem pretty different from the prices you have listed:

1. Nokia 3 - RM595 (2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 2630 mAh, Android 7.0, MediaTek MT6737)
2. Nokia 5 - RM725 (2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 3000mAh, Android Nougat / 7.0, Snapdragon 420)
3. RedMi 4X - RM450 (16GB global ROM, 4100 mAh, 1.4 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 435)
4. RedMi Note 4 - RM630 (3GB RAM, 32 GB global ROM, 4100 mAH, MIUI8 or Android 6.0 or MIUI8, 10-core MediaTek Helio X20)
5. RedMi Note 4 - RM710 (3GB RAM, 64 GB global ROM, 4100 mAH, Android 6.0 or MIUI8, 10-core MediaTek Helio X20)
6. RedMi Note 4X - RM620 (3GB RAM, 32GB global ROM, 4100 mAh, MIUI8, Snapdragon 625)

On a first glance, Nokia seems to cost more for lower specs. With only 2GB RAM and Snapdragon 420, it compares unfavourably to the RedMi phones. I was wondering how much difference would there be between these processors for general everyday use. However, having used several indestructible-without-water Nokia phones for many years in the past, I hope the Nokia smartphones are as sturdy as their predecessors.

I forgot how much RAM does RedMi 4X has - the dealer told me so many details (most of which I barely understand well) that I may have missed writing down in a hurry.

I'm somewhat surprised to see that the RedMi Note 4 he offered me has MediaTek Helio processors instead of Snapdragon processors like the other two RedMi phones. How do MediaTek processors compare to the Snapdragon processors?

Most importantly, given the options above, what would you recommend me to choose?