Basalte Adelante door intercom: Luxury in the test lab

The introduction of the Basalte Adelante door intercom (door communication) has a history of almost 18 months. The first samples of the stylish door communication system were on display in a small circle as early as summer 2022. None other than Basalte founder and CEO Klaas Arnaut personally took the development under his wing.

Update as of 18.12.2023:
It was actually planned for the end of 2022, but then there were repeated extensions to Basalte’s internal test phases and optimizations. Production of the Adelante has been underway in Belgium since the beginning of December 2023 and the first deliveries have been scheduled for January 2024.

After all, the door intercom system must be able to withstand extreme environmental and weather conditions such as 80°C in direct sunlight and freezing temperatures of -25°C along with high humidity. And for years without any major changes to the metal surface.

After all, Basalte Adelante is set to be an absolute hit in the luxury door intercom segment. The luxury segment has so far been firmly in the hands of the inventor of the door intercom system – the Baden-based company Siedle.

The target group is therefore clear: upmarket detached houses with high design standards and, above all, smart home luxury villas – see also What is a smart home luxury villa? (blog post) – are to be equipped with the Basalte Adelante.

The market for door intercom systems is a so-called “blue ocean” for Basalte: the established providers around Siedle, Gira and Schüco have been able to almost completely rest on their laurels in recent years, offering more or less integrated functions. Nobody really had the market for smart home villas on their radar. The technical integration into a smart home was and is anything but simple and optimal.

The prices for a normally equipped door intercom system including KNX Smart Home connection were easily around >4,000 euros, and it was not uncommon for some building owners to invest >6,000 euros. Just for the hardware.

Frank Völkel

As a result, the video quality was not so convincing, especially with Siedle Steel and Gira System 106, and the integration into the KNX/IP system sometimes resembled a long hurdle race. We, including some colleagues in our environment, can tell you a thing or two about this.

The Basalte Adelante is set to improve all this and Basalte wants to go one better than the established market players in terms of the “optical” quality on offer. At first glance, it looks like this: It is available in 6 different color and material combinations, fewer than the 12 different variants as is usual with KNX push-buttons and Basalte touch panels.

Metal is the material of choice for the Adelante anyway, which clearly sets it apart from the bodies of its competitors.

Basic functions of the Basalte Adelante

Outdoor gate and door intercom system for upmarket detached houses and luxury villas
Integrated HD video intercom with touch display/touch panel
Modular design for individual adaptations (0.5 m to 3.8 m high)
Integrated illuminated house number, dimmable and switchable
Integrated fingerprint sensor from Ekey (optional)
KNX or network (POE) connection in conjunction with Basalte Home
Integrated LED lighting at the top and bottom, modular arrangement
Bell function, bell button for multi-room output
Five different material and color combinations

What can Basalte Adelante do as a door intercom?

Basalte Home as a prerequisite

It is very important that we make this clear right at the start of our test: The Basalte door intercom is only compatible with Basalte Home and components from Basalte.

The Basalte Adelante combines as many functions as any intercom system currently available on the market:

1. the actual intercom system has an integrated high-resolution touch panel with several microphones and a code keypad. At the same time, the video image from a Basalte Ellie or Lena display can be shown indoors if required.

2 The stylistically integrated and illuminated house number is another highlight. This has never been seen before.

3 The integrated fingerprint sensor is used for automatic gate and door opening. It actuates the motorized lock if the characteristics match.

4 Thanks to the modular design, lights can be integrated both above and below. This means that not only the door intercom system is automatically illuminated, but also the entire entrance area of a house. It certainly looks elegant, as our pictures of the different modular variants show.

Modular design: cameras, RFID/NFC reader, house number, lights and fingerprint

In contrast to all previously available door intercom systems, the Basalte Adelante can be configured very flexibly and modularly and adapted to the respective personal situation: As a free-standing pillar outdoors, in the garden or on a private driveway. Or directly on the façade of a house right next to the front door in the entrance area. Here we present the individual modules for individual configuration.

Module 1: Basic door intercom module with touch panel, Facetime camera, loudspeaker, bell button

This is the basic door intercom module of the Basalte Adelante: touch panel with high-resolution OLED display to show the face of the person standing in front of the entrance. Alternatively, the person standing inside can also display their face – or not.

According to our initial tests, the video quality differs significantly from the candidates previously available on the market.

The touch panel can also be used to enter an access code – at a party, for example – and open the door or gate.

Below the touch panel is a loudspeaker with a configurable doorbell button (gold, silver, black). Of course, the ringtone can also be played back via the Multiroom audio system inside the house.

Module 2: House number with RFID/NFC reader unit

The module with the illuminated house number: It also optionally contains the reader (reader unit) for RFID and NFC chips. The electronic unit for this is concealed and installed behind the house number and is protected.

Contactless door opening via smartphone, e.g. with Apple iPhone: Runs via NFC communication, can be set up quickly. Both Apple iOS and Google Android are supported.

Door opening via RFID token: Works in the same way with the appropriately trained token in your pocket. We would recommend this or see above.

Module 3: Wide-angle camera for environment detection with night mode

And this is what the video camera module looks like: Like all other modules, it can be flexibly arranged in height. The camera has a resolution of 1732 x 1155 pixels (2 megapixels). This means that the playback image on one or more indoor touch panels – such as Basalte Ellie, Lena or Lisa – looks worlds better than the competition on the market to date. Great!

The camera also has a night mode, which switches automatically, and the image quality is shown in the pictures below.

Module 4: Fingerprint for door opening

Even if we are no longer big fans of fingerprint access for high-end houses and villas – this is what the fingerprint module for the Basalte Adelante looks like:

This is based on technology from Ekey in Austria and is connected via a network interface. We will also be showing this shortly.

Module 5: Lighting with simple and up/down luminaire

You can see them quite well in the various pictures here: The modularly placeable lights for the Basalte Adelante.

There are two types: Luminaires that only shine downwards and luminaires that shine both downwards and upwards. Both make sense when it comes to stylishly illuminating the entrance area of a high-quality house or modern villa.

Intermediate sections in five different metal variants

Depending on the desired height, “compensation modules” can be placed between the individual technical modules. These compensation modules can be configured in five different color/material variants: 1. aluminum black 2. aluminum silver/neutral 3. aluminum white/satin white RAL 9016 4. aluminum bronze 5. aluminum/brass gold

Module 6: High-quality loudspeaker module for loud/extreme environments

This loudspeaker module will not be available until later in 2024: It will ensure that voice communication of the highest quality is possible under the most difficult conditions.

Do you need this for your individual private home? Clear answer: No!

Adelante playback on indoor touch panels: top video quality

Our initial tests and images show it quite clearly: no other door intercom system has ever shown such high video quality. The images below show the playback on two different Basalte Lena Touch Panels. Once in a preliminary version and then in the final software version, as it will be delivered from January 2024.

When will Basalte Adelante be available? Update 4/2024

The Basalte Adelante door intercom system will be available to order from December 1, 2023. If you can’t wait, put your name on our reservation list and pre-order your Adelante. The official launch is scheduled for December 1, 2023 and the first deliveries are planned for January 2024.

A mandatory requirement for the use of a Basalte Adelante is a building with a KNX system and control including visualization with a Basalte Core Server. If you do not yet have a Basalte Core Server and want to go in the direction of Basalte Home KNX visualization anyway, you can do so right away with the extension to the Basalte Adelante door intercom system.

How does the outdoor installation of the Adelante work?

The Basalte Adelante is installed as a door intercom either in a wall directly next to the house entrance or on a pillar. The latter makes sense if it is a free-standing pillar that is specially erected for the door intercom system and its equipment.

Installation: Which flush-mounted boxes and cables does the Adelante need?

So that the correct cables are also laid to the outside of the door intercom system: A POE-capable network cable and another J-Y(ST)Y cable (for 12/24 volts) to supply power to the lighting are important. This is sufficient for the electrical connection of the Adelante.

If the Basalte Adelante is to be integrated flush into a wall, a recess approx. 8 cm wide and the individual configuration high (1.41 m high in our example configuration) should be provided on the outer wall. This then accommodates the technology and connections of the Basalte Adelante.

In which versions is Basalte Adelante available?

As with the KNX push-buttons from Basalte – see our article: The top 30 KNX push-buttons – affordable to high-end – the Adelante door intercom system is available in 6 different material and color combinations.

How is Basalte Adelante technically integrated into the smart home?

Basalte Adelante is equipped with a POE(Power over Ethernet) network interface. This is used for integration into the Basalte Home System and simultaneously into the KNX system. The video image from the Adelante can be displayed simultaneously on several touch panels in the interior of a house. This is a high-resolution HD camera with good night vision properties and an image quality that has never been seen before.

In the corridors or certain rooms, for example, the touch panels can be used to decide whether a resident should let the person standing outside the door in using the electric door opener or go to the door themselves.

The Basalte Adelante adds a special door intercom system to an existing Basalte Core Server configuration. It can only be set up with the Basalte Studio software and is not freely available.

What does the Basalte Adelante cost?

The exact prices for the Basalte Adelante are now fixed. Based on the modular structure and an individual composition within our conception & KNX electrical planning the price range for the door intercom system is between four and five figures, depending on the selected height and the technical expansion stage.

Frank Völkel & Smartest Home Team

Since 2007, we have been testing KNX components for functionality and practical suitability in order to use only the best products in our customers' homes and villas