In this post I want to make some recommendations and review for affordable RF wall touch panels you can integrate into your home automation system. These devices work on 433MHz have proven very reliable in my own set up and work well with the RF gateway.
My smart home runs on cheap RF devices that cost much less than their Wifi counterpart and do not clog up the Wifi network. This will allow you to afford more devices and place them in each room of your house.
These wall panels are battery operated and last literally years (I purchased mine 3+ years ago and have not had to replace the battery. I know this because it is permanently glued to the wall…)
Note that all links on this page are affiliate links and I earn a small percentage. The products themselves are not sponsored and I recommend them because I use them myself and they work as described in my reviews.
Best RF Wall Touch panels for home automation
Black RF Touch Panel – 3 Button
This panel comes with 1, 2 or 3 touch sensitive buttons that can be pressed in any combination, as the device emits different RF payloads for each button combination.
The draw back is that the buttons lack physical haptic feedback which makes them difficult to find in the dark. The buttons do light up in a dim blue colour for visual feedback.
This panel is available on AliExpress. I purchased mine from SAMT Shenzhen and I paid around AU$10 for it.
RF Wall Panel – 3 Buttons
I purchased this one as it features physical buttons. It works the same as the previous panel, offering up to 7 combinations of button presses.
There is a small yellow LED underneath the plastic which does light up when a button is pressed for visual feedback.
The other thing to note is that the push buttons themselves feel cheap because of the microscopic travel distance of 0.5mm. It does click and produce a ‘click’ sound but does not feel as satisfying as conventional light switches.
RF Wall Panel – 4 Button
This wall panel works like all the previous ones except it offers an additional button. This means there are 15 possible ways these buttons can be pressed. Good luck remembering all the combinations and what they do!
The button mechanism feels more solid and less cheap compared to the 3 button ones before.There is an LED as well for visual feedback of button presses.
RF Remote Control
This remote was originally part of a set of RF controlled plugs. Since the remote controls RF code are remapped to automations, I cannot use the plugs anymore because of interference.
Conclusion
If you are interested in RF hardware check out my other reviews and the RF gateway I implemented to use a Raspberry Pi as a RF receiver.
