fonix232

1. You can reduce CPU freq, disable unused features and even disable a whole ass core
2. There’s this thing called sleep mode on ESP32 MCUs, you should probably use it 😉

+1 on the ESP32.

Very good support (incl Arduino framework which means tons of libraries for sensors), cheap, tons of variants of chips and dev boards for all sorts of purposes, plus if you buy a ready made module or dev board, you don’t need wireless certification (as those come with it).

Tons of pins, tons of processing power, built in wireless support for WiFi, Bluetooth, Thread/Matter (depending on model).

And you can utilise ESPHome if you want to go for a practically codeless deployment.