Nordic nRF54L15 Tag – A Coin-Cell Prototyping Board for Bluetooth IoT

Nordic Semiconductor has launched the nRF54L15 Tag, a tiny, coin-cell-powered prototyping platform for ultra-low-power wireless IoT devices. Built around the company’s nRF54L15 wireless SoC, this 33 mm-diameter tag features a 2.4 GHz radio with dual on-board antennas to improve distance-measurement reliability using Bluetooth Channel Sounding. This feature makes this device suitable for working with asset trackers compatible with the Apple Find My and Google Find Hub ecosystems.

The tag remains in deep sleep until a dedicated low-power accelerometer wakes it when it detects movement, significantly extending the life of the CR2032 coin-cell battery. For more advanced applications, the built-in 6-axis IMU and environmental sensors enable gesture recognition, motion anomaly detection, and Edge AI data collection.

Nordic nRF54L15 Tag shown from the front and rear views

Nordic nRF54L15 Tag Specifications

• Wireless MCU: Nordic Semi nRF54L15 wireless SoC
  • CPU: Arm Cortex-M33 @ up to 128 MHz
  • Coprocessor: RISC-V coprocessor for “software-defined peripheral” operations
• Memory and Storage: 256 KB SRAM and 1.5MB Non-volatile Memory (NVM). Includes an unpopulated footprint for external memory.
• Wireless Connectivity:
  • Bluetooth LE 6.0 (including Channel Sounding)
  • Thread, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4-2020), and Matter
  • Amazon Sidewalk and Aliro access control standards
  • Proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols (with a new 4 Mbps mode) and NFC support
• Sensors:
  • High-accuracy 6-axis IMU for edge AI and sensor fusion
  • Low-power accelerometer dedicated to motion-triggered wake-up
  • Environmental sensor (temperature, humidity, air pressure, and gas/CO₂)
•  I/O: 12x GPIO footprints for extra sensors or buttons, onboard RGB LED, and footprints for a buzzer, extra LED, and reset button.
• Dimensions: 33 mm diameter
• Power Supply: CR2032 coin-cell battery

nRF54L15 Tag with its dual 2.4 GHz antennas, motion and environmental sensors, RGB LED, programmable buttons, and expansion footprints

On the software side, the nRF54L15 Tag is supported by the nRF Connect SDK, with ready-made examples for Apple Find My, Google Find Hub, Matter, and Thread. It also supports nRF Edge AI for applications such as vibration monitoring and machine learning. For custom firmware, you can program the board through the DEBUG OUT port using an nRF54, nRF53, or nRF91 development kit, or a SEGGER J-Link, with OTA updates supported as well. Nordic also provides open-source hardware files, including the schematics, BOM, and Gerber files.

nRF54L15 Tag mounted on the nRF54L15 development kit for prototyping and testing.

Out of the box, the tag comes with preloaded firmware that allows it to operate as a Bluetooth device immediately. Developers can connect to it via a smartphone app to monitor sensor data, track button presses, and control the RGB LED in real-time without writing a single line of code.

The nRF54L15 Tag is currently available for about $30. You can order it through major global electronics distributors such as Farnell, Rutronik, DigiKey, Mouser, and Braemac. For more details, including hardware files and precompiled firmware downloads, developers can visit Nordic Semiconductor’s official product page and press release.

Images used courtesy of NordicSemi