There are specific and general rules in life. One of them is this: you pay peanuts, and you get monkeys. Once in awhile, there will be exceptions to the rule, where one gets far more value than expected at a particular price point, regardless of the industry. The smartphone landscape is no different either, and at this point in time, high end Android-powered smartphones tend to run on the latest version of Android. Even so, not all flagship smartphone models, especially those that were released last year, have picked up Android 7.0 Nougat, so don’t have too much hopes when it comes to entry level or mid-range handsets. Sony decides to buck the trend with the Sony Xperia L1, where this particular smartphone might be an entry level device, but it still arrives packed with Android 7.0 Nougat in tow -- now how about that for a pleasant spring surprise?

The Sony Xperia L1 is one of the most affordable Android-powered smartphones from Sony to date, and with that competitive price, many eyebrows would be raised to see it feature the latest version of Android. Yes, we do know that Android 7.1.2 Nougat is already in beta and speculated to be released on April 3, but this does not detract from the “achievement” by Sony to include Android 7.0 Nougat in the affordable Xperia L1.

Sony Xperia L1 release date
The price of the Sony Xperia L1 is set to be very competitive, and while it has been announced in India, it will make its way over to the US some time later this year. We believe that the Sony Xperia L1 will hit the market on May 7, 2017, at an event somewhere. The reason behind this speculation? The date itself is shown on the press image of the Sony Xperia L1 that you can see here. More often than not, smartphones that are set to be released will see said release date appear on the press image of said device, so that is what we are going to hold out for this time around.

Sony Xperia L1 specs
Just what kind of hardware will the affordable Sony Xperia L1 come with? On the outside, your eyes would not find too much issue with the 5.5-inch 1280 × 720 LCD display that carries a narrow bezel design, making it feel as though some design characteristics of Sony’s TVs are filtering down to the smartphone range. Apart from that, a 1.45 GHz MediaTek MT6737T processor runs proceedings from underneath the hood, accompanied by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. The internal memory might not be enough for most people today with the vast amount of data that we carry around, which is why there is a microSD memory card slot for expansion purposes.

You ought to be able to snap more than decent photos with the 13MP primary camera at the back, while all of your selfie needs ought to be fulfilled easily via the 5MP front-facing camera. With Android 7.0 Nougat running right out of the box, it would be interesting to see just how fast it makes the jump to Android 7.1.1 Nougat or Android 7.1.2 Nougat in due time. Hopefully all of the recent security updates would be part of the mix as well.

Other connectivity options on the Sony Xperia L1 include dual SIM capability, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, and USB Type-C. All of it runs off the 2,800 mAh battery. Any takers?