The best Digital Pianos – from Budget to Professional!
Choosing a Digital Piano made easy.
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Are you looking for a digital piano for beginners? Or are you a more advanced player who wants a digital piano as a silent alternative to your acoustic instrument? Modern digital pianos are available for all budgets and with a wide range of features. In our buyer’s guide to digital pianos, we check out several current models to showcase the wide variety of available options.
What to look for in a digital piano
Digital pianos have certainly come a long way! With features like meticulously sampled grand piano sounds, resonance modeling, sophisticated speaker systems, and hammer-action keyboards that closely mimic the feel of an acoustic piano, modern digital pianos sound and feel very similar to the real thing. Plus, they offer added benefits like the ability to play silently over headphones, additional sounds, or built-in recorders for MIDI and/or audio, so they’re usually more versatile than their acoustic counterparts.
One thing to note is that it’s always best to try a variety of models before you buy. Every pianist has their own preferences in terms of sound, playing feel, and features. Moreover, sound files and videos found in online reviews don’t always convey an accurate impression, as they’re often recorded through the instrument’s outputs rather than its speakers. This means that they can sound totally different from what you hear when you actually sit in front of it. If at all possible, try to play a couple of different instruments before you make a decision – especially with an investment as big as a digital piano.
That said, this list is comprised of five digital pianos in different price ranges that I know well and can highly recommend. Here’s our list of the best digital pianos – from budget to professional.
Thomann DP-28 Plus: Budget-friendly Digital Piano
If you’re looking for a compact digital piano for beginners that doesn’t break the bank, look no further than the Thomann DP-28 Plus. While it doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of more expensive instruments, it gets the basics right with 88 hammer-action keys, two powerful speakers, 25 sounds, and 192 voices of polyphony. You can even stack two sounds in layer mode or split the keyboard into two separate sections. In addition to a metronome, the DP-28 Plus even includes 50 rhythm patterns from a variety of styles.
While the DP-28 Plus is easy to carry at just 12.5 kg / 27.5 lbs, there’s also an optional stand that turns it into a home piano. With a full set of connectors including MIDI, USB, sustain pedal, line output, and an Aux input for a music player, the digital piano also offers beginners everything they need to record or play live. It even connects wirelessly via Bluetooth to iOS and Android devices, so you can access its features using the Pianotool app. The Thomann DP-28 Plus is available in black or white, and there are also various bundles including piano benches, headphones, and other accessories. Get it at Thomann*.
Casio PX-S1100 Privia: Digital Piano to Go
When we think of Casio, most of us picture watches, calculators, and cheesy keyboards. But as it turns out, Casio also makes very good digital pianos, and they’ve achieved a remarkable quality leap in recent years.
The Casio PX-S1100 is a sleek, incredibly compact digital piano that only weighs about 11 kg / 24 lbs. It can even run on batteries! Casio also offers an optional stand that transforms it into a home piano.
The full-size hammer-action keyboard mimics the feel of an acoustic grand with scaled key weighting and ebony and ivory-textured surfaces. Among the 18 sounds, the German Concert Grand is the main event. By emulating the damper and string resonances of an acoustic piano, as well as the mechanical noises of the keys and pedals, it offers an impressive degree of realism for this price range.
The PX-S1100 also offers advanced features like a MIDI recorder, audio recording to USB, and built-in DSP effects. It even comes with a Bluetooth adapter, so you can connect wirelessly to your tablet or phone and use the free Chordana Play app, as well as a wide variety of other music-related apps.
In addition to black, white, and red, the PX-S1100 is now also available in ‘Calm Blue’ and ‘Mellow Beige’. Bundles that come with accessories like a stand, piano bench, and headphones are also available. Find them all at Thomann*.
Yamaha YDP-145 Arius: Affordable Home Piano
Looking for a classier look? The Yamaha Arius series features affordable home pianos that more closely resemble real pianos than their portable counterparts. With many features descended from the manufacturer’s more expensive models, this digital piano is perfect for beginners who want an instrument that gives them the true piano experience right from the start.
Despite its affordable price, the YDP-145 Arius features a piano sound sampled from the manufacturer’s top-of-the-line CFX concert grand piano. It also emulates the complex resonances of the piano sound using Yamaha’s VRM Lite modeling technology. The GHS keyboard (Graded Hammer Standard) has slightly heavier-feeling keys in the bass register, just like a real grand piano.
When you connect the YDP-145 Arius to a smartphone or tablet, you can use the Yamaha Smart Pianist app to access advanced settings and features. The app is also excellent for practicing: It can display the sheet music for more than included 350 songs, and you can practice the left or right hand individually on the piano, while the other hand plays automatically.
The digital piano is available in black, white, and rosewood finishes. You can also get it bundled with a pair of headphones and a piano bench. Find all offers at Thomann*.
Casio PX-S7000 Privia: Award-Winning Design meets Modern Features
If you’re looking for a digital piano that also makes a bold design statement in your home, look no further than the Casio PX-S7000. Available in three colors, this award-winning piano is a real eye-catcher if I’ve ever seen one. That said, it’s also got a lot going for it in terms of sound and features.
Casio’s top-of-the-line Privia model features the manufacturer’s state-of-the-art ‘Multi-Dimensional Morphing AiR Sound Source’ with high-quality samples of three legendary concert grand pianos: Hamburg, New York, and Berlin. All three are reproduced in every detail, right down to the complex body and string resonances. With a total of 400 tones, the PX-S7000 covers a wide spectrum.
The ‘Smart Hybrid Hammer Action’ keybed features white keys with spruce sides and a textured, ivory-like coating, while the black keys have a matte, ebony-like finish. Digital scaling technology replicates the hammer behavior of each of the 88 keys. The hammer response and key-off behavior are adjustable, adding to the realism and expression of the PX-S7000.
Equipped with a sophisticated speaker system, the PX-S7000 produces a much fuller sound than one would expect from such a compact instrument. The system consists of four independently controlled broadband speakers, two of which are equipped with special diffusers for a spatial sound. In addition, there is a Piano Position function for adjusting the sound to the location of the piano: against a wall, in the center of the room, or on a table.
The Casio PX-S7000 Privia is available at Thomann* in black, white, and ‘Harmonious Mustard’ (ever seen a mustard-colored piano?!).
Kawai CX 102 and CX 202: Home Pianos with excellent Value for Money
If you’re looking for a classy digital piano that blends in perfectly with your interior design, just like an acoustic piano, the Kawai CX 102 is a great choice that offers excellent value for money. At an affordable price, this elegant home piano offers many of the features found in the manufacturer’s much more expensive professional models.
The CX 102 features the ‘Responsive Hammer Lite’ keyboard mechanism with weighted keys and two sensors per key for a precise, authentic touch. Unlike many other digital pianos, the CX 102 determines the velocity by measuring the speed of the hammers, not the keys. This ensures an even more realistic touch response. The feel of the three pedals is also modeled after a concert grand piano.
The three included grand piano sounds were sampled from the renowned Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. In addition, there are 14 other sounds covering electric pianos, organs, strings, and more. A powerful 22 W speaker system ensures a rich sound. Thanks to a Bluetooth interface, the CX 102 connects wirelessly to your smartphone or tablet, so you can use it with a wide variety of compatible apps.
For only about $300 more, the CX 202 gets you an even higher-quality keyboard mechanism with three sensors per key, as well as a more powerful 40 W speaker system and Bluetooth audio. Apart from that, the two digital pianos are essentially identical.
Both pianos are available in black or white, with the CX 202 adding a rosewood option. All finishes are available at Thomann*.
* This post about digital pianos contains affiliate links and/or widgets. When you buy a product via our affiliate partner, we receive a small commission that helps support what we do. Don’t worry, you pay the same price. Thanks for your support!
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8 responses to “The best Digital Pianos – from Budget to Professional!”
So i wonder – why are all your recommendations coming from respective are available at Thomann? Anything better on the market thats maybe not from them?
As stated in the article above, we include links from our affiliate partner, Thomann. It’s what helps to pay for our website and allow us to bring article like this to you!
The majority of the selections above, however, come from Yamaha, Kawai and Casio, which aren’t Thomann exclusives.
Lasse, I feel, made a great selection of pianos here based primarily on personal experience.
We are searching for a Performers keyboard for use in church, so an excellent Church/Cathedral Organ Sound is Vital! What is your opinion of KORG SP-380 ? The new instrument must travel between church venues. Thanks for your advice.
I like the organs on the Yamaha P125 the best myself.
Excellent advice and information on some of the best digital pianos for all budgets. The videos of the various makes and models were extremely good to view too.
I have had a Technics for years. An excellent piano, good in all areas, especially the 3 organ stops. Outstanding piano sound. Do they still produce digital pianos ?
I’ve been playing a Kurzweil SP 88, fully weighted keyboard. Depending on the speakers/amplifiers you plug into will obviously have a bearing on the sound quality, however, with a decent headphones, the sound is amazing as it is amplified.
excellent for recording at home. (haven’t tried studio time yet)
It is a bit weighty but that’s just the quality of the instrument.
midi compatible and a good assortment of sounds.
Might not be the easiest to carry but, amazing playability.
Roland has made digital pianos across the spectrum of price ranges for many years now. But no mention of any here?
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