Can Si24R1 RF Module be Used to Replace Nordic nRF24L01+ RF Module?

Over the past few years, nRF24L01+ RF chips have always play an important role in the field of 2.4G wireless data transmission, for its easy debugging and superior performance. However, in recent years, the appearance of Si24R1 RF Chip from CMS (Nanjing, China) give us a perfect alternative choice (to replace the nRF24L01+ RF chip in different applications), especially in the case of insufficient supply of Nordic's nRF24L01 chips.

So, can these two RF chips be directly replaced?

It is well known that Nordic nRF24L01+ is an international universal ISM band GFSK modulated RF chip operating at 2.4GHz. It has a maximum transmission power of 0dBm, and a receiving sensitivity of -85 dBm, supporting 6 data channels (shared FIFO). It uses SPI interface with MCU to complete data communication and communication control functions.

Accorind to our test, this Si24R1 RF chip is fully compatible with Nordic's nRF24L01+ chip in function, and supports all communication functions of nRF24L01+. Moreover, SI24R1 can communicate with products such as nRF24L01+, nRF2401A and can be directly replaced.

So, what's the difference between these 2 RF Chips?

Firstly, the advantage of the Si24R1 chip is that the sleep current in the SHDN state is smaller, as well as the current in the Standby-I state. At the same time, the Si24R1 chip supports a higher power output of 7dBm, while the Nordic nRF24L01+only output 0dBm (software is required to set the internal register configuration to work in 7dBm mode).

Secondly, the current of Si24R1 in the receiving state is about 0.5mA higher than that of Nordic, but it does not have much effect, because the chip spends most of its time in the SHDN and Standby-I states, so the total average current consumption of Si24R1 is lower than that of Nordic nRF24L01+.

In addition, in the transmission mode, the current of the RF chip Si24R1 is slightly larger, because the transmission power setting of Si24R1 is larger, although the parameter in the datesheet is the same as that of Nordic nRF24L01+, the actual test will be much more higher.

Finally, in terms of price, Si24R1 chips are much cheaper than Nordic's nRF24L01+ chips, so they are more suitable for wide applications. The following chart is for your reference only:

RF Chip	Interface	Max. TX Power	Sleep Current	RX sensitivity	TX Power Consumption
NRF24L01+	4 Line SPI	0dBm	1.5uA	-85dBm@2MHz	11.3mA
SI24R1	4 Line SPI	7dBm	1.0uA	-83dBm@2MHz	12.0mA

So, here comes the question: can Si24R1 RF Module be used to replace Nordic nRF24L01+ RF Module directly? Normally speaking, it is OK to do so, but please make sure the RF module size and pin definitions should be also the same. 

As a professional RF module supplier, DreamLNK has both 2.4G RF modules base on these 2 RF chips, they are mature products with the same size and pin definition, so we have both options for your choice. We can also provide the corresponding software demo for your transplanting and future reference.

Meanwhile, the biggest feature of our Si24R1 RF module (DL-Si24R1-A) is that: it is compatible with most of the Nordic nRF24L01+ RF module on the market, including our DL-24N shown above. This DL-Si24R1-A can be replaced directly to your PCBA. 

We also have many other 2.4G RF modules, LoRa modules, 433Mhz/868Mhz/915Mhz FSK transceiver modules. You may visit our website to know more. If you need any sample, please feel free to contact us (james@dreamlnk.com)!