Sony has announced an entry to mid-range, large-screen smartphone that offers many of the design motifs Xperia handsets are known for but won't break the bank.

The Sony Xperia L1 is a 5.5-inch handset with a HD (720p) display.

It comes in black, white or pink colour schemes, and sports a 1.45GHz quad-core 64-bit MediaTek processor and 2GB of RAM. There is 16GB of internal storage, but that can be expanded by up to a further 256GB through microSD card.

Some regions will get a dual SIM option (unlikely UK though), while it comes with Android N out of the box.

There's a 13-megapixel camera on the rear, 5-megapixel snapper on the front and it has Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC connectivity.

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The battery is 2,620mAh, while Qnovo Adaptive Charging claims to extend the lifespan of the cell, no matter how many times you charge it. The charge slot is via USB Type-C.

Dimensions are 151 x 74 x 8.7mm and it weighs 180g.

Sony has added its Xperia Actions engine to the phone, the software that's also available on the higher-end models, such as the Xperia XZ. It adapts the device to match your time and surrounds, such as dimming the display and setting the phone to "do not disturb" automatically as part of a "good night" mode.

It will be available from April. Prices will be set by networks, although we suspect it'll come free on various contracts.