In the process of selecting the best digital piano, you will buy needs great amounts of care and precaution. Even if digital pianos are cheaper than the traditional ones, buying one is still an expense that may hurt your finances significantly. Because of that, it is a great idea to take your time on thinking which piano will be right for you.
In the sections that follow, there are some reviews about a few of the most prominent and even the unrecognized pianos available on the market. In the event that one of those pianos is the piano you would want to buy, carefully read the comparisons provided on this page. This is to prevent you from buying something you will regret.
Things to Consider before buying a Best Digital Piano
The aspects that you need to ponder depend on why you need to buy a piano. Are you aiming to learn how to play a piano? Or do you want to have a great sounding piano for gigs?
On the other hand, are you like some people who just want to take home a digital piano to make it as a household decoration? Alternatively, are you looking for one since you want to give it to someone special? You should know exactly know your reason for you to estimate the value you will spend when you decide which piano you will buy.
Once you know your reason, you can start looking for the piano that will satisfy your goal. You have many options on how you can look for one. A few of them are the internet and music stores.
During your search, you can check five traits you can base your decision on. It is important for you to check meticulously every piano you will encounter. Here are five traits you will need to base your decision on.
- Sound: In this aspect, it is up to you and your ability to know the difference between a good sounding piano and a great sounding piano. It is difficult to rate the sound quality of the pianos, especially if it is your first time to buy one. In this aspect, you might need to get assistance from experienced musicians when you start browsing for the piano you will buy.
- Look and Feel: If you already played a piano before, using a digital piano might bewilder you. However, modern digital piano manufacturers today have made it possible for users to experience the feel of a real piano. In addition, those pianos can emulate the dynamics of the tones, making it sound and feel like you are playing the real thing.
- Pricing: On this criterion, it all depends on the budget that you will set aside for the piano you would want to take home. However, never assume that a great digital piano is expensive. That is one fallacy you should not follow when looking for an excellent instrument.
- Additional Features: Asides from imitating a real piano, manufacturers add features that can enhance their consumer’s piano playing experience. Some of them include features that can teach a newbie piano player to master playing the instrument. On the other hand, some makers of digital pianos include sound enhancing features.
- Feedback: Looking for customer feedback is important when looking for any product you will buy. Even if a piano has a great sound, some of them might get broken after a few months of use. To avoid getting a low quality piano like that, you must know what users of the piano will say about it.
Best Digital Piano Reviews
Even though choosing a piano needs utmost care, deciding on which piano you will buy is very simple. All you need to do is to rank the pianos you want, and compute which one of them will give you the most out of your money. The basic guideline is to choose the cheapest model that can deliver high quality sound and feel.
Top 10 Digital Piano Review
To make life simpler for you, below are a mix of ten of the most known and underrated digital pianos on the market. They are rated based on the five traits mentioned above. You can use this review as a standard when looking for the piano you will get.
How the Ratings Were Assigned
Every piano is scored from 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. After their scores for every criterion was determined, all of those scores were added. Then, they were ranked according from the total amount of points they were able to obtain.
Review Disclaimers
However, do not assume that if a product receives a very low score in a certain criterion, it is already bad. Remember that this review will only compare the selected ten pianos. These pianos are some of the best synthesizers out there on the market.
As an additional note, the data from the feedback criterion were gathered from various sources. The scores generated for that aspect was based from the number of positive reviews against the number of negative reviews. Also, the number of buyers who got the piano being reviewed is also spliced to the feedback score calculation.
Yamaha YPG-235 76-Key Portable Grand Piano Premium Pack
If you are looking for a great sounding piano, look no more. Yamaha’s YPG-235 has realistic sounding tones that can compete with real stringed pianos. It has a portable ‘Grand’ button that when you push it, it will unleash its capability to sound like a high quality grand piano.
Moreover, with a price range that goes around $250 up to $700 (the price varies depending on the product retailer), most piano players find this as a great bargain. On another note, out of thousands of instruments being sold on Amazon, it was able to get a rank of 58.
Most customers that have this product are delighted to have this. However, some of them are a little disappointed since it only has 76 keys with graded soft touch. The keys offer very little resistance that gives difficulties to some experienced piano players.
Casio PX-330 88 Key Digital Stage Piano with Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action
For veteran piano players, this product is an excellent pick. It has an excellent sound production capability that can be even improved by its reverb, chorus, and brilliance features. In addition, its pedals with the half-damper function can help make the sound more beautiful.
On the other hand, its 88 keys tri-sensor scaled hammer action feels like a real piano. The resistance of the keys is perfectly emulated. And you can easily get used to its weight action.
You will appreciate this instrument if you will use it for gigs and during travel. The piano is lightweight since it weighs 26 pounds. In addition, it is very skinny, which makes it easy to carry around. It is definitely a must buy for experienced and veteran musicians.
Casio AP220 Celviano Digital Piano with Bench
Just like the PX-330, the AP220 have a great feel. Well, they share the same engineering and the same number of keys. The keys of this piano respond nicely to the speed and pressure of its player.
Many customers are happy with its abundant features (and with the bench that comes with it). It is also an excellent teaching piano. It has a Duet Mode that splits the keys into two parts; the left part of the keys is for the teacher, and the right part of the keys is for the student.
In addition, it has two headphone ports specially made for both the piano teacher and student. Because of that function, it has been hailed as one of the most bought digital pianos in Amazon.
However, on the sound department, it does not compete very well with the other pianos listed here. Careful listeners may find its sound a little unsatisfying when it is compared against a Yamaha YPG-235. Nevertheless, people who bought this are satisfied with the quality of the sound it produces.
Casio Privia PX-130 88-Key Digital Stage Piano
The Privia PX-130 is another one of Casio’s line of best digital piano units that has 88 tri-sensor keys with weighted scale hammer action. Just like the previous Casio piano products mentioned before, it shares most of their features including the Duet Mode.
Compare to the AP220, it has a better piano like sound. Many customers are convinced that it feels and sounds like a real piano. Asides from that, the other voices this piano is also excellent.
This piano does not have any distinct features to boast against the other pianos listed here. However, it can be considered as a standard for digital pianos. Because of that, it has also become one of the most sold pianos on the market.
This piano is ideal for school, church, and home use. And with its 8 watt speakers, it is enough to fill a big room with its sound. Moreover, the price range of this piano is around $500 up to $700, which is not very bad for an average digital piano.
Yamaha DGX-530 Keyboard, 88 Full-Sized Lightly Weighted Piano Style Keys
Yamaha is surely a leader when it comes to the quality of the sound of its manufactured synthesizers. The Yamaha DGX-530 is one of the most well received pianos by the consumers. Its fame is mostly attributed from the sound it creates.
Its biggest advantage against other digital pianos is its stereo speakers, which is hugely responsible for its great sound. Its speaker system is a two way that has separate tweeters and woofers. Because of that system, the sound it delivers is lifelike and clear.
In addition, it has bass boost ports that further enhance the lower notes. Those ports make it possible for the piano to produce a deeper low-end impact. Moreover, this unit has true stereo sound that contributes to its sound’s realism and spatial depth.
On the other hand, this product comes with Yamaha’s Education Suite. It has 30 built songs that player can examine and listen to. Also, when you buy this piano, you will get a CD-ROM that contains 70 more songs.
Yamaha DGX640W Digital Piano (Walnut)
The Yamaha DGX640W is one of Yamaha’s top of the line digital pianos. It has 88 keys that are made in accordance with Yamaha’s graded hammer standard. Its feel is okay, but Casio’s weighted scaled hammer action is better.
In terms of sound, the DGX640W is also one of the best there is. This is because it also has DSP (Digital Signal Processor) effects that you can use to add more color to the music it generates. And it has Yamaha’s ‘Live!, Cool!, and Sweet!’ voices that adds a lot of realism and dynamism to its sound arsenal.
The only huge drawback about this unit is its price. With a whooping standard price of $1,300, people are highly discouraged to buy this excellent product. They must either look for discounts online, or just wait for Black Friday to come before they can get it at a cheaper price.
In addition, it is not that portable. That is why it is ideal for music rooms and drinking lounges. But overall, it is one of the most underrated pianos on the market because of its price and immobility.
Casio AP420 Celviano Digital Piano with Bench
Similar to Yamaha’s DGX640W, the Casio AP420 Celviano is one of the underrated pianos on this list. And it shares the same fate of having a hefty amount for a price tag. This model roughly costs around $950 up to $1,500.
Even though it has mediocre sound quality, its keys make up for that lacking. Again, just like any Casio piano, it also has the Tri-Sensor hammer action. Though, the only difference is that it has an ivory matte surface that makes it classy compared to the other pianos on this list.
Most of the consumers that bought this product are happy with its high quality construction, which is rare with the Casio brand. A few customers bought this for the reason they just want an excellent replica of a piano. And it is a good thing that AP420 did not fail them.
It looks like a real piano, sounds like a real piano, and it feels like a real piano. In addition to that, it has two pieces of 20-watt speakers. And because of that, it is capable of giving a ‘boom’ whenever a player uses it.
Yamaha NP30 76-Key Portable Grand Piano
In the event that you want a starter digital piano, the NP30 is ideal for you. Its biggest edge against all the pianos that were reviewed on this list is its price. With a small amount of $300 or $400, you can instantly buy one. However, do not expect too much about its quality. As you can see, its price is really scary. Nevertheless, it can produce average quality sound enough to make a beginner happy.
In addition, this is ideal for students. It does not cost much, and it is the one of the lightest model of digital pianos out on the market. It only weighs around 12 pounds. Moreover, it is virtually portable. The manufacturer of this product, which is Yamaha, has made this piano operational even with batteries.
On the other hand, even with its simplicity, it has a decent amount of features that can make your piano playing worthwhile. Though, if you want to make it to become a more decent piano, you might need to buy some accessories for it.
Yamaha P95B Digital Piano, Black
For something that has a base price of $900 on Amazon, this product is overpriced. It only gives out standard quality voices and a standard feel for its players. Although it has a nice design and is simple, it is not worth your money. It lacks most of the common features that the other new pianos manufactured by Yamaha have. And two of the best features that it does not have are the USB to device and USB to PC functionalities. It is too bad that the only connection port that it has is its MIDI I/O port.
On a different note, people who bought this product are confused on whether the pedal that comes with is good. Some say it provides a nice sustain, while others are unsatisfied with it. Nevertheless, even with its major disadvantages, many people are still buying it. But the only time it will be recommendable to get this is when you have some money to burn. Otherwise, it is an unwise choice to buy one.
Yamaha P-85 Contemporary Digital Piano
Unfortunately, this instrument does not fare well with the crowd. Well, the low customer feedback score above is due to its low popularity. As of now, it has a ranking of 10,414 on Amazon’s list of musical instruments.
Even if it is made by Yamaha, its sound quality is not that great. That is why it is somewhat weird people are still selling this model for a base price of $900. Though, if you are resourceful enough, you will be able to find some merchants who only sells it for $500 or less.
But nobody can blame this product for having such low scores since it is already an old model. It does not have the chance to stand out to the newer models included on this review list. However, the good thing about this product is its reliability.
As of now, no complaints about it being shabby exist on the net. Nevertheless, it is not a good idea to choose this over to the other new pianos you will find in the market. Unless you are into collecting old Yamaha models, it is not advisable to buy this.
In a Nutshell…
You should now have an idea on which digital piano you would want to buy. After reading those reviews, you can now analyze if the piano that you want to buy is worth it.
As a word of advice, even if you have read most of the pros and cons listed above for every piano, you should still research more about them. It is important since some of the aspects that you must consider are subjective. This is especially true when it comes to sound quality.
And since the only brands listed here are from Casio and Yamaha, many people may argue about the accuracy of this review. Some musicians believe that other brands of digital pianos are better than the two brands mentioned, take Korg as an example. While others may even say that soft touch action keys are better than keys with graded hammer action.
Ergo, it boils down to one’s perception and subjectivity. However, when choosing the best digital piano unit that you want, do not become bias. Always make sure that you become critical whenever you scrutinize the models that you will check. But to make sure that you will not make the wrong choice, follow the steps mentioned on the top on how to choose the right digital piano.
