If you're designing a battery-powered product, picking the right microcontroller is one of the most important decisions you'll make.

Get it wrong and you're looking at a new PCB layout, a firmware rewrite, recertification, and months of delays.

So I put together a video ranking the top seven microcontrollers for battery life in 2026.

Top 7 Microcontrollers for Battery Life in 2026 [VIDEO]

Or if you prefer you can read it here.

One thing most people get wrong is comparing chips purely by their current draw per MHz of clock speed.

That number is useful as a starting point, but a clock cycle isn't equal across all chips.

A 32-bit processor can accomplish far more work per cycle than a 16-bit processor running at the same speed, so a chip with a higher uA/MHz rating might actually be more efficient if it finishes the job faster and goes back to sleep sooner.

The list covers everything from proven options like the TI MSP430 family, which has been a leader in ultra-low-power design for decades, all the way up to the Ambiq Apollo5 with its subthreshold power technology that lets it run complex AI models on a coin cell battery.

In between you'll find some genuinely interesting approaches, like the NXP MCX L series with its dual-core architecture that keeps a low-power sensor core running at just 1.9 uA while the main processor sleeps, and the Silicon Labs xG27 with a built-in boost converter that runs directly from a single 0.8 V battery.

So if you're trying to squeeze maximum battery life out of your next product, this video walks through the real tradeoffs you need to consider, not just the specs on a datasheet.

Talk soon,
John