Top 5: KNX touch panels in comparison - 899 euros to 4499 euros

Top 5: KNX touch panels in comparison – 899 euros to 4499 euros

Every house can be easily operated via a KNX touch panel. The variety of touch panels on the market is growing: in addition to heating, ventilation, lighting and shading, rooms can be controlled with different types of music. We compare the top 5 KNX touch panels from Basalte, Elsner, Gira & Peaknx.

Curtain up for our comparison of the top 5 KNX touch panels and touchscreens! There are currently 66 noteworthy manufacturers worldwide that offer around 170 different KNX touch panels. offer. We have selected what we consider to be the best examples. Like most of our practical tests, this article is constantly updated, current status: November 2024.

First of all, we can state that KNX touch panels are becoming increasingly popular in new builds of upmarket detached houses and villas and are clearly replacing KNX push-buttons with displays – see also our article “The best KNX push-buttons: Top 30 comparison from low to high-end“.

They act as the control center for a room, entire floor, complete house or apartment. Just like KNX push-buttons, they are designed for fixed installation on the wall. The transition between a modern KNX push-button and a KNX touch panel is becoming increasingly fluid and the functions and features offered are becoming more and more similar.

The connection is made exclusively via cable. Most KNX touch panels today communicate via a network connection with an integrated power supply, i.e. via Power over Ethernet (POE). Very few representatives of this type are connected directly via the comparatively slow KNX bus. This requires a stable and powerful KNX power supply – see our Top 5 KNX power supply units 1280 mA in comparison (comparison test).

But we’ll come to that later. This means that the KNX touch panels are intended and designed for many years or even decades of continuous use, similar to the KNX push-buttons. “Continuous use” means silent and therefore fanless 24/7 operation for all models on the market.

The quality and workmanship of a touch panel plays a major role, as the small or large touch screen is used in the prestigious entrance area, living area or corridors of a house or a time-honored villa. At the same time, the touch panel should blend in visually and in terms of color with the room and the wall.

This is where the graphic design and user experience of the KNX visualization come into play. We will also come to this later. Because it is precisely on this point that many opinions differ.

Note: Like our other comparison tests, this article is updated regularly. This Top 5 of KNX Touch Panels is therefore a snapshot that may change in the coming weeks and months. This also applies to the prices.

Purchasing advice: KNX touch panels in this article

Basalte Lisa, 3.1 inch (IPS display, 960×590 pixels)
Basalte Ellie, 5.5 inch (OLED display, 1920×1080 pixels)
Gira G1, 6 inch (TFT display, 480×800 pixels)
Elsner Fabro KNX, 7 inch (TFT display, 800×480 pixels)
Peaknx Controlmicro, 8 inch (IPS display, 1920×1080 pixels)
Basalte Lena, 10.1 inch (OLED display, 1920×1080 pixels)
Gira Control 9 Client, 9 inch, from 2010 (TFT display, 800×480 pixels)

KNX touch panels: diagonals from 3.1 inches to 10.1 inches

The KNX touch panels are available in different sizes: Starting at 3.1 inches (7.9 cm) diagonal, which corresponds to the surface area of a normal KNX switch. In our test course, this is the small Basalte Lisa with its HD screen and a resolution of 960 x 590.

The next larger level of KNX touch panels comes in the form of the Basalte Ellie (5.5 inches), the Gira G1 (6 inches), the Elsner Fabro KNX (7 inches) and Peaknx Controlmicro (8 inches) with diagonals between 5.5 and 8.0 inches. Basalte Ellie and Gira G1 share the visualization display in portrait format, Elsner Fabro KNX in landscape format and Peaknx Controlmicro optionally in both portrait and landscape format.

All have a high-quality color display and are equipped with different sensors for building control. Only Elsner relies on a lower resolution of 800×480 pixels and a simpler TFT display for the Fabro KNX, which was specially designed for damp rooms and outdoor areas.

Among all candidates, Basalte Ellie and Basalte Lena rely on a very high-contrast and high-quality OLED display, while the other candidates are equipped with a normal TFT or IPS display.

The largest KNX touchscreen comes in the form of the Basalte Lena with a 10.1 inch (25.6 cm) diagonal and full HD resolution. Unlike the other smaller candidates, the touch panel is only mounted on the wall in landscape format.

Good equipment: video camera, loudspeakers and microphones

The integration of outdoor and door cameras is one of the most important functions of KNX touch panels. After all, in addition to door communication via video image, doors should also be opened remotely using the touch function so that there is no need to go to the front door, garage door or garden gate.

Most touch panels have their own integrated video camera and can display the video image from the opposite side (at the door).

Basalte also offers “in-home communication” – communication between several Touch Pandels within the home – where, for example, the children can be called to dinner or to bed.

The fact that the other complete functions of the KNX home control system can be operated should seem almost self-evident to everyone. This includes all functions such as lighting, shading, heating and cooling parameters as well as security and control of the alarm/intruder alarm control panel. Frequent functions can be triggered via extensively configurable scenes.

Basic functions of KNX touch panels

Visualization & control of room temperature, lighting, shading, ventilation
Multiroom audio – music albums, streaming and podcasts in specific rooms
Door opening and door communication
Arming the burglar alarm control panel
Presence simulation for vacations and absences
Timers for all processes in the house
Energy gain & energy consumption chart display
Weather information on site (weather station)
Call up scenes (light, blinds, music, switching functions, etc.)
Display of all statuses (light, shading, day/night, etc.)
Display of events (washing machine, stove, sauna, etc.)

Music control in the rooms: multi-room audio

In addition to the almost standard functions in a KNX smart home such as setting room temperatures, ventilation levels, shading of all windows and doors, some KNX touch panel candidates also offer comprehensive control of multi-room audio.

Basalte is at the forefront in this segment with its Basalte Home System. You could almost say that Basalte is playing first fiddle in the multi-room audio category, ahead of its competitors Gira, Peaknx and Elsner.

On all three Basalte touch panels, whether Basalte Lisa, Basalte Ellie or the large Basalte Lena, the desired rooms and the respective audio streams can be selected. The special feature is that the multi-client capability allows four different user groups to be created, each of which can listen to and access their own music/podcasts individually.

The music covers on the color displays, which enable smooth scrolling and individual settings, are also nice to look at.

Gira G1 and Peaknx Controlmicro also allow multi-room audio control, provided a Sonos amplifier is connected and linked to the system. Peaknx also relies on cooperation with Trivum for its own visualization Youvi on the Controlmicro 8 and offers multi-room audio control with this manufacturer. Graphically, however, this does not look nearly as stylish as the touch panels from Basalte.

Among all KNX touch panels, only Peaknx uses a Windows 10 system (embedded) in combination with an x86 Intel quad-core processor as hardware. Is this still up to date today, especially when it comes to the platform’s power consumption? All other candidates rely on energy-saving platforms.

Differences in the equipment of the KNX touch panels

KNX touch panel with graphical user interface (all have, as of 2024)
KNX touch panel with POE connection (very trendy, almost everyone has one)
KNX touch panel with KNX connection (some have, not absolutely necessary)
KNX touch panel with OLED display (some have, is fully in line with the 2024 trend)
KNX touch panel for use in damp rooms and outdoors (has one, special application)
KNX touch panel with loudspeaker, microphone and camera (some have, fully in line with the 2024 trend)

Integrated sensors: room humidity, room brightness, CO2 content

In addition to the functions already mentioned, the touch panels from Basalte have additional sensors for measuring room humidity and room brightness. The Peaknx Controlmicro 8 can measure the CO2 content in a room and incorporate this value into the home control system.

Important: Mounting frame for stable wall installation

All KNX touch panels are installed in a standard (Kaiser) 68 mm switch box (or in a concrete installation, a concrete installation box with a diameter of 60 mm) at a height of approx. 1.45 m on the wall (upper edge of FFB, finished floor).

This makes the test candidates ideal for the new construction of a smart detached house or a smart home villa. The scope of delivery often includes an additional metal frame, also known as a mounting frame, which secures the KNX touch panel firmly and flush to the wall and prevents it from twisting.

Due to its size, the Basalte Lena is attached to the wall with an even more stable metal bracket to prevent it from twisting; this bracket is also included in the scope of delivery.

The forefather of all KNX touch panels: Gira Control 9 Client from 2010

Here is a brief look back at the very first KNX touch panels on the market 13 years ago: The Gira Client Control 9 , which was available from 2010 as a client for the Gira Homeserver 3, can be seen as the forefather of all KNX touch panels and KNX touchscreens. The Gira Homeserver 3 has been available since 2007.

As the name almost suggests, the Gira Control 9 Client has a 9-inch diagonal touchscreen. The larger Gira Control 19 Client – with a 19-inch diagonal – appeared at the same time in the same year. Both touch panels had Windows XP (embedded) as the operating system and an x86 Intel Atom as the processor – which is now completely outdated and considered “old school”.

Later, the Gira Control 9 Client 2 was introduced. What can we say from experience: some Gira Control Clients are still in continuous operation in many a villa and upmarket detached house. Others have been replaced by more up-to-date touch panels that are less susceptible to faults.

KNX Touch Panel price range: 899 Euro to 4499 Euro

And what does all this panel fun cost, some people will be asking themselves by now at the latest? It starts at just under 1,000 euros: the Gira G1 and the Elsner Fabro KNX cost about the same at just under 970 euros, but differ all the more in their target, equipment and area of application.

Basalte Lisa, Basalte Ellie and Peaknx Controlmicro 8 are priced between EUR 1,450 and EUR 1,700. At 4,165 euros, the Basalte Lena marks the top class and can offer a lot more than its comparatively cheaper competitors. Details can be found in the individual test.

Basalte Lisa: Smallest touch panel in KNX push-button size

Of all the KNX touch panels presented here, the Basalte Lisa with its 3.1 inch screen diagonal is the smallest candidate. It was launched at the end of 2021 and fits into a simple (Kaiser) switch box.

In terms of design and appearance, it fits seamlessly into the world of Basalte Sentido, Deseo and socket frames. The small Basalte Lisa is aimed at a discerning clientele for whom good technical quality and workmanship are very important in addition to high-quality design.

In terms of price, the small touch panel is positioned in the upper mid-range: it starts at just under 1,500 euros and the price range extends up to 1,850 euros – then in the upscale “Fer Forge” material version. Technically, all 12 versions of the Basalte Lisa are the same, so why not go for the cheapest version and enjoy yourself?

Quality and workmanship: Simply top!

Of all the KNX touch panels presented here, the Basalte Lisa with its 3.1 inch screen diagonal is the smallest candidate. In terms of design and appearance, it fits seamlessly into the world of Basalte Sentido, Fibonacci and socket frames. The small Basalte Lisa is aimed at a discerning clientele for whom high-quality design and good technical quality are very important.

Peaknx Controlmicro 8 inch: Touch panel for Gira Homeserver

The German company Peaknx has set its focus on touch panels in various sizes, which they mainly offer for the smart home sector. The touch panels start at 8 inches with the Controlmicro and end at 18.5 inches with the Controlpro. The main business in recent years has been to offer a replacement for the Gira Control 9 and Gira Control 19 panels, which are gradually being phased out.

Where are the Gira Touch Panels Control 9/19 used? In existing Smart Home houses and Smart Home villas (blog post)that are between 10 and 20 years old and are equipped with a classic Gira Homeserver 2/3/4.

As with all other touch panels from Peaknx, the Controlmicro is equipped with a Windows Embedded system and Intel hardware. This makes it the only test candidate that runs Windows. In terms of price, the touch panel is in the upper mid-range for 1700 euros.

Why has Peaknx focused on the Windows platform? So that compatibility with the Gira Homeserver and its widely used Quadclient – which runs exclusively on Windows – is absolutely guaranteed.

This means that replacing the touch panel is not a big deal in theory, but in practice there are sometimes major hurdles when updating the Gira Homeserver firmware and the various Gira Expert software versions. We can tell you a thing or two about it! If you want to overcome all the hurdles in the difficult setup and programming of the Gira Homeserver 4, take a look at our Gira Homeserver video course with click instructions.

But back to the stylish Controlmicro, whose display is much better than that of the Gira G1.

Gira G1: Ideal for Gira X1 Server and Gira Homeserver 4

If this comparison were based on age, then the Gira G1 would be by far the oldest candidate on the market. Gira introduced the small 6-inch touch panel at almost the same time as the matching server, the Gira X1. The G1 is available in both black and white versions for just under 1,000 euros. It can be connected either via Wi-Fi (retrofitting in existing buildings) or via a POE network, with the latter being absolutely essential in new builds.

In comparison with the other candidates, the display quality ranks behind that of the Peaknx Controlmicro, the Basalte Lisa and the Basalte Lena. However, it is significantly better than that of the Elsner Fabro KNX at the same price. The fact that Elsner takes a completely different approach to the touch panel can be read below in the individual review of the Fabro KNX.

The Gira G1 can work together with both a Gira X1 server and a Gira Homeserver 4 and serve as a touch panel. Both variants are possible. In the case of the Gira X1 visualization, which is much easier to configure, all settings are made in the Gira GPA (Gira Project Assistant) for configuration and setup.

This is comparatively faster than with the powerful but also significantly more powerful Gira Homeserver 4. If you really want to get there quickly, take a look at our video courses including click instructions for the Gira Homeserver or the Gira X1 Server .

Elsner Fabro KNX: KNX touch panel for -20°C cold and 55°C heat

The Elsner Fabro KNX clearly plays a special role in this comparison test. First of all, it is the only KNX touch panel that can be installed outdoors. This can be a concrete wall or surface mounting. The robust aluminum housing, which weighs just under 1 kg, can be securely attached to a cavity wall box or concrete installation box using a stainless steel plate supplied.

Thanks to its IP66 protection rating, the touch panel is completely sealed against dust and water jets and can be installed completely outdoors. The highlight: the Elsner Fabro KNX can withstand temperatures from -20 °C to 55 °C. None of the other candidates in our test environment can do this.

Power can be supplied via a normal KNX terminal/cable with an additional 30 V auxiliary voltage (yellow and white wire), which saves laying an additional cable.

The Elsner Fabro KNX compensates for temperature fluctuations via a climate membrane located on the housing, which must not be covered or sealed.

Critics might now say: Who would install a KNX touch panel outdoors? Especially when it comes to security. We would argue the same, but in the case of the Elsner Fabro KNX it’s a little different.

Let’s move on to the installation and setup of the Fabro KNX. Unlike all other test candidates, which are connected exclusively via a (POE) network, the Elsner Touch Panel is connected directly to the KNX bus.

Conclusion

First of all: There is no such thing as “the” best KNX touch panel – according to the motto “one size fits all”. Rather, the intended use and therefore the installation location are decisive. For indoor use, we recommend a high-quality touch panel for continuous operation that can display and control all the functions of a house.

The Basalte Ell ie with its 5.5-inch OLED display with full HD resolution and the different color and metal variants is a very good choice. In general, the Basalte Ellie allows the highest level of integration compared to the other KNX panels: in addition to HD door intercom, internal intercom capability with other panels within the home, complete KNX home control and native multi-room audio integration, no other candidate offers this level of flexibility.

Of course, it should not be forgotten that a Basalte Home system including KNX server must also be present with the Basalte Ellie. The Basalte Ellie only works together with Basalte Home.

When it comes to interaction with an almost classic Gira home server, which can be found in many local villas in Germany, the Peaknx Controlmicro 8 is a good choice. Despite its significantly lower price, the Gira G1 Touch Panel can no longer keep up with Peaknx in terms of resolution and image quality.

We find the Elsner Fabro KNX touch panel exceptionally good for outdoor use. It is protected against cold, heat and dust as well as water jets. This means that it is not positioned in the typical “smart home/villa segment” but rather in the commercial sector.

If you are interested in very affordable and multifunctional KNX touch panels, we recommend our upcoming comparison test. We will publish it here shortly.

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