This app was mentioned in 9 comments, with an average of 2.56 upvotes
Odd, I've never tried this one but Hike Messenger - It does appear to want every Permission available though :/
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/hike-messenger/9wzdncrfj1bq
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bsb.hike
Anything is worth a Try as You've gone through all the popular ones :c
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bsb.hike
This app has perfect SMS fallback and is used widely in India.
Hike. Just try it. I think you will love it. Here's the link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bsb.hike