Nordic Unveils nRF71 Ultra-Low-Power Wi-Fi Chips
The nRF71 Series combines Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Thread and Edge AI on one chip and is now sampling with selected customers.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Semiconductors
Nordic Semiconductor has announced the nRF71 Series of ultra-low-power systems-on-chip, which combine Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Thread and Edge AI on a single device. The series is now sampling with selected customers, with the first parts being the nRF7120 and nRF7120E.
Why it matters
The chips target battery-powered devices that need Wi-Fi connectivity without draining power, a long-standing constraint for connected products. Integrating an on-chip neural processing unit also allows machine learning to run at the edge rather than in the cloud.
The nRF7120 offers dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and the nRF7120E adds tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, with both parts including 4MB of on-chip non-volatile memory and 1MB of user-accessible RAM. The Axon NPU and the 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio from the nRF54 Series are manufacturer-reported figures, and no third-party validation is available yet.
The players
Nordic Semiconductor
Nordic Semiconductor is a Norwegian fabless chipmaker known for low-power wireless connectivity chips used in Bluetooth, Thread and cellular IoT devices.
The details
The nRF71 uses two independent radios: a Wi-Fi radio and a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio from the nRF54 Series, allowing simultaneous reception so a device can stay connected over Wi-Fi while listening for Bluetooth LE or Thread traffic. Nordic will demonstrate the series, including a Nordic-branded module, at electronica in Hall C6, booth 159.
Timeline
Nordic announced the nRF71 Series on November 3, 2026.
Nordic is showcasing the nRF71 Series at this year's electronica trade show.
The Tech Race
The nRF71 extends Nordic's earlier nRF70 Series Wi-Fi products, which Nordic says the new series improves on with up to 20 times lower standby power. It places Nordic among chipmakers racing to bring Wi-Fi and on-device AI into battery-powered devices.
Developers building battery-powered Wi-Fi products could gain longer device life and on-device machine learning without a separate processor. Adoption depends on sampling customers moving to production, and the timeline for broad availability has not been announced.
The takeaway
Lower standby power and on-chip AI could make Wi-Fi practical for devices that run on small batteries for long periods. Watch for independent testing once the chips reach wider release.
Further reading
For more on chip design and manufacturing, explore our Semiconductors coverage.
