The nRF54L15 Discovery is a compact wireless devboard with an onboard nRF52820 CMSIS-DAP debugger/programmer for Bluetooth LE, Thread, Zigbee, Matter, NFC, and other 2.4 GHz IoT applications. Its snap-apart design allows the target and interface MCUs to be used as two standalone boards.
In the past, we have written about various development boards based on the Nordic nRF54L series, including the Seeed Studio XIAO nRF54L15, XIAO nRF54LM20A (Sense), and the nRF54L15 Connect Kit. The nRF54L15 Discovery board further integrates a snappable nRF52820 CMSIS-DAP debugger/programmer section. It also includes an nPM1300 PMIC with 32–800 mA LiPo battery charging and USB-C PD support, along with a TPS63900 buck-boost converter configurable for 1.8V or 3.3V I/O operation.
nRF54L15 Discovery specifications:
- Wireless MCU – Nordic Semi nRF54L15 wireless SoC
- CPU
- Arm Cortex-M33 @ up to 128 MHz
- RISC-V coprocessor for “software-defined peripheral”
- Memory – 256 KB SRAM
- Storage – 1.5MB Non-volatile Memory (NVM)
- Wireless
- Bluetooth LE 6.0 (includes Channel Sounding)
- Thread, Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4-2020)
- Matter
- Amazon Sidewalk
- Proprietary 2.4 GHz protocols with a new 4 Mbps mode
- NFC support
- CPU
- Debugger SoC – Nordic Semi nRF52820
- CPU – Arm Cortex-M4 @ 64 MHz
- Memory – 32 KB RAM
- Storage – 256 KB Flash
- Wireless – Bluetooth 5.2 LE and 802.15.4 radios (Inactive in default CMSIS-DAP debugger mode, but fully functional if snapped off and used as a standalone devboard)
- USB – 2x USB Type-C ports (1x Mainboard; 1x Debugger)
- Expansion via dual-row 20+10 headers (60 pins in total) with castellated edges
- Up to 48x GPIOs (29x for nRF54L15, 15x for nRF52820, 2x for nPM1300)
- 5x SPI/UART/I2C, 3x PWM, 2x QDEC, I2S, PDM, 14-bit ADC
- Misc
- User LEDs and buttons
- U.FL connector for 2.4 GHz antenna
- U.FL connector for NFC antenna
- Power supply
- 5V in via USB Type-C port
- Nordic nPM1300 USB-C compliant PMIC with 32–800 mA LiPo charging, power path, 200 mA buck-boost converter, and configurable 1.0V–3.3V output
- The nPM1300 PMIC features a 50 mA switchable LDO for LEDs and supports USB-C PD with 100 mA, 500 mA, and 1500 mA current limits
- TPS63900 ultra-low quiescent current buck-boost converter with selectable 1.8V/3.3V I/O supply
- Dimensions – 91 x 21 mm
The nRF54L15 Discovery board supports Zephyr RTOS, the nRF Connect SDK, and (Micro)Python. It ships with the nRF52820 pre-flashed with CMSIS-DAP firmware, enabling onboard debugging and programming without external hardware, and can be programmed out of the box using the west flash -r pyocd command. More information is available on the relevant GitHub repository.
The Icy Electronics nRF54L15 Discovery devboard with CMSIS-DAP debugger is available for $27.19 on Tindie or Lectronz, with minor volume discounts starting at five units. Shipping out of France starts at $3.20 for untracked global delivery.
Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
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