LoRa chips and modules compared (2026): SX126x, SX127x, SX128x, LR11xx, LLCC68, STM32WL and boards to buy

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ZerOne
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A practical comparison of the main LoRa-capable chips and the modules and boards built on them, with pros and cons. Figures come from the Semtech and ST product pages and from vendor pages, as at October 2026. I have not benchmarked any of these radios, so treat range as a function of antenna, terrain and settings, not as the vendor's headline kilometres. I have not quoted prices; check current listings.

The chips
  • SX1261 / SX1262 / SX1268 (SX126x): sub-GHz LoRa, LR-FHSS and (G)FSK. SX1261 transmits up to +15 dBm, SX1262 and SX1268 up to +22 dBm. SX1268 is the China-band part (410 to 810 MHz). Semtech quotes sensitivity down to -148 dBm, a 170 dB maximum link budget (SX1262/68), and an active receive current of about 4.2 to 4.6 mA (the page gives both figures). Pros: low receive current and high power; it is the radio on the Heltec V3/V4 and RAK4631 below. Cons: LoRa tops out at 62.5 kbps, and you must pick the right band variant.
  • SX1276 / 77 / 78 / 79 (SX127x): the older family. LoRa plus FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK and OOK, bit rates up to 300 kbps, +20 dBm or +14 dBm PA, receive current 9.9 mA. SX1276 covers 137 to 1020 MHz; SX1278 covers 137 to 525 MHz (so 433 MHz, not 915 MHz). Pros: OOK mode, long-established library support (see the open source thread). Cons: roughly double the receive current of the SX126x. I could not find Semtech pages for the SX1277/79 individually.
  • LLCC68: Semtech's "LoRa Smart Home" part, pin-to-pin compatible with the SX1262, +22 dBm. 151 dB maximum link budget and sensitivity down to -129 dBm. LoRaWAN data rates listed are SF7 to SF9 at 125 kHz, SF7 to SF10 at 250 kHz and SF7 to SF11 at 500 kHz. Pros: same pinout and receive current as the SX1262. Cons: no SF12 at 125 kHz, so less range at the slowest settings, and check your firmware lists it.
  • SX1280 / SX1281: 2.4 GHz. LoRa, FLRC and (G)FSK, sensitivity down to -132 dBm, +12.5 dBm PA, BLE PHY compatibility. The SX1280 adds a ranging (time-of-flight) engine; the SX1281 does not. Pros: worldwide band. Cons: same band as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee, and Semtech's -132 dBm is well short of the sub-GHz parts' -148 dBm.
  • LR1110 / LR1120 / LR1121 (LoRa Edge): LR1110 does sub-GHz LoRa/(G)FSK/LR-FHSS plus low-power GNSS (GPS/BeiDou) scanning and passive Wi-Fi scanning for geolocation, with a hardware crypto engine. The LR1120 adds 2.4 GHz and S-band. The LR1121 adds 2.4 GHz plus S-band and L-band, and its feature list does not include the GNSS/Wi-Fi scanner. Pros: one chip for sub-GHz, 2.4 GHz and satellite-band LoRa, and low-power asset tracking. Cons: Semtech's geolocation relies on a cloud solver, and you should check your firmware supports the chip.
  • STM32WL (SoC): ST puts an MCU and radio in one chip. STM32WL5x/Ex has a LoRa-enabled radio (Cortex-M4, dual-core with M0+ on WL5x), stop modes down to 1.07 uA, radio down to 4.82 mA RX and 15 mA TX at 10 dBm (radio only). STM32WL3x is a different line: FSK/OOK-family modulations for Sigfox, W-MBUS, mioty and Wi-SUN, no LoRa. Pros: fewer parts, low power, pre-certified STM32WLxM modules exist. Cons: you program an ST MCU instead of the usual ESP32/nRF with your own toolchain.
Modules and boards
  • HopeRF RFM95W: LoRa module for 868/915 MHz with +20 dBm and (G)FSK per HopeRF (an SX1276-family design). Pros: widely documented. Cons: bare module, so you supply the MCU, antenna and wiring.
  • EByte E22-900M22S: SX1262, 850 to 930 MHz, 22 dBm, TCXO per its listing, CE/FCC/RoHS per EByte. The E220-900T22D is an LLCC68 UART module (850.125 to 930.125 MHz, 22 dBm), so it is a serial-in-serial-out radio with no SPI work. Pros: easy to wire up. Cons: the 5 to 7 km claims are the vendor's figures.
  • Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3: ESP32-S3 plus SX1262, Wi-Fi, BLE, OLED, 21 +/-1 dBm, -134 dBm at SF12/125 kHz, bands 470 to 510 and 863 to 928 MHz. The V4 keeps the pinout, adds a GNSS and solar connector, quotes under 20 uA low-power consumption, and comes in a 28 dBm high-power (863 to 928 MHz) or 22 dBm low-power (433 to 510 MHz) version. Heltec lists both as Meshtastic and LoRaWAN compatible, and the V4 as MeshCore compatible. Pros: all-in-one. Cons: 28 dBm is a lot, so check your local power limit including antenna gain.
  • RAK4631 (WisBlock): nRF52840 plus SX1262 in a modular system, Arduino and PlatformIO support, with LoRaWAN and LoRa point-to-point. The RAK4631-R runs the RUI3 firmware instead. RAK3172: STM32WLE5 module driven by AT commands over UART, in standard, -T (TCXO) and -F (extra 512 kB flash) variants. Pros: BLE on the nRF52840, and both are low-power designs.
  • Murata Type ABZ (CMWX1ZZABZ): SX1276 plus STM32L, 860 to 930 MHz, up to +18.5 dBm, UART interface, certified for major regions per Murata. Pros: pre-certified. Cons: 128 mA transmit current at the 20 dBm setting.
  • LilyGO T-Beam: ESP32 with an SX1276/SX1278 radio and a NEO-6M GPS, in 433/868/915/923 MHz versions. Pros: GPS and battery holder for trackers. Cons: when I looked, every variant on LilyGO's page showed sold out or unavailable, so availability varies. Seeed also sells a XIAO ESP32S3 plus Wio-SX1262 kit for Meshtastic.
Quick picks
  • General node or gateway: an SX1262 board in your band. Battery LoRaWAN sensor: RAK3172 (STM32WL). Serial bridge with no radio code: E220/E22 UART modules. GNSS/Wi-Fi tracking: LR1110 hardware. OOK or legacy FSK protocols: SX127x.
Links
Question for the group: which LoRa board or module are you running, and has anyone compared an SX1262 board against an older SX1276 one on the same hill?
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