Thanks to advances in digital instruments, it’s easier than ever to create beautiful piano music right in your home. However, choosing the best digital piano for your needs can be a challenge.
Picking a digital piano depends on your specific situation and preferences. A beginner may not want all the bells and whistles an advanced player may prefer. Meanwhile, some digital pianos offer more realistic key action and sound better suited to an experienced player.
In this article, we’ll give you a complete overview of our choices for digital pianos, organized by brand. We’ll look at our favorite offerings from each brand for budget, quality, features, and more.
Let’s take a look at what to consider before purchasing a new piano.
Keyboard Instruments: An Overview
Here’s a brief look at keyboard instruments:
The first piano came to be around 1700 in Florence, Italy. The instrument’s original name was pianoforte (Italian for soft/loud), owing to its ability to play at different volume levels.
Before pianos, one of the most popular keyboard instruments was the harpsichord. When you press a key on a harpsichord, a mechanism plucks the corresponding string, but no matter how hard or soft you press the key, the note is the same volume.
Unlike its predecessor, the piano uses a hammer to strike strings. So, the harder you press the piano key, the harder the hammer strikes and the louder the note.
With the continued advancement of technology in electric instruments, digital pianos can now replicate the sound of an acoustic piano more accurately than ever.
Types of Pianos
Before we get to our review of digital pianos, let’s explore the differences between a digital and acoustic piano. There are several broader categories of piano, and it’s important to know the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Digital vs. Acoustic Pianos
An acoustic piano produces sounds by using a felt hammer to strike strings. A digital piano, on the other hand, synthesizes tones by playing a recorded audio sample through speakers.
While the sound of an acoustic piano is rich and full, most digital pianos are easier to transport, which is why some people choose them. Digital pianos can also offer options to emulate several different keyboard instruments.
Why Choose a Digital Piano?
While some purists may be resistant to digital keyboards, it isn’t always practical to buy an acoustic piano. Beyond the cost of shipping and moving them, acoustic pianos require periodic tuning and maintenance.
Here are some reasons to consider a digital piano over an acoustic one:
Benefits of Digital Pianos Over Acoustic Pianos
- Portability: Digital pianos can potentially be more portable and compact than acoustic pianos, making them ideal for smaller living spaces and transport
- Different sound options: Digital pianos offer a wide range of instrument sounds beyond just piano, from classic grand pianos to pipe organs
- Connectivity: Many digital pianos come equipped with USB, MIDI, and audio outputs to connect with recording software, computers, and amplifiers, making them great for musicians who want to work in software to edit music or make their own songs
- Headphone compatibility: Digital pianos often have headphone jacks for private playing, practicing in shared spaces, or late-night sessions
- Low maintenance: Digital pianos don’t need nearly as much maintenance as acoustic pianos, which require professional tuning and voicing periodically
What To Look for in a Digital Piano
If you’ve decided to move forward with a digital piano, there are a few things you should look for:
Keyboard vs. Furniture Style
A “keyboard style” digital piano is just the keyboard, with no accompanying stand or accessories. Keyboard style is a good option for traveling musicians who perform in different locations.
On the other hand, “furniture style” refers to digital pianos affixed to a stand, usually made of wood. Furniture-style digital pianos are a visually appealing option that make a great fixture in a home. However, they aren’t as easy to transport so are better suited to in-home playing.
Key Action & Sound Quality
Try to test the keyboard out before purchasing it, and see how you like the feel and sound of it. Sound quality ultimately comes down to preference, but you should check for any distortion at higher volumes or range extremes.
A trained pianist will generally prefer keys weighted similarly to an acoustic piano. Meanwhile, a beginner may find semi-weighted keys easier to learn on.
Accessories & Add-Ons
Determine if the keyboard has all the features you want, like a built-in sustain pedal or headphone jack. Furniture-style digital pianos generally have built-in pedals, but you can purchase separate pedals to connect to a keyboard-style digital piano.
Keep in mind with keyboard-style pianos that you’ll likely need to buy a stand and pedal separately, so you should factor that into your budget.
Best Digital Piano Brands
Let’s take a look at some of the top contenders for digital pianos. The four biggest names in digital pianos are:
- Yamaha
- Casio
- Roland
- Kawai
Out of these, we’ve chosen our top picks overall, as well as the best digital pianos for beginners on a budget.
Roland Digital Pianos: Premium Audio Samples
A latecomer to the piano industry, Roland made a name for itself in the 1970s when digital pianos were gaining popularity. This brand is known for its top-notch audio sampling, giving it some of the most realistic piano sounds you can get out of a digital piano.
Best Overall: Roland LX708
If you have the money to spend, Roland’s higher-end option in the LX series is a beautiful furniture-style option. Loaded with premium features like the eight-speaker system and opening cabinet lid, this keyboard has a rich sound and a gorgeous design. It even won the Japan Institute of Design and Promotion’s Good Design award.
Budget-Friendly Option: Roland GO:PIANO88
For its modest price point, the GO:PIANO88 offers 88 full-sized, semi-weighted keys. Though it doesn’t have the playing feel of an acoustic piano, this is a great beginner digital piano for learners.
Yamaha Digital Pianos: A Century of Experience
Yamaha is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable brand names in digital pianos. It offers consistent and reliable keyboards with excellent sound, and has been making instruments since 1900.
Best Overall: Yamaha CLP-725 Clavinova
This is about as close as you can get to an acoustic studio upright in a digital piano. Yamaha sampled the sounds for this keyboard from the Yamaha CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial, two of the best grand pianos in the world.
For all its features and luxury design, the CLP-725 is still in a comfortable price range for most serious pianists.
Budget-Friendly Option: Yamaha P-45
This is a console-style model for someone who wants the feel of genuine piano keys and a simple design. It comes with a wooden frame for home use, but would also make a good portable choice for a gigging pianist.
Casio Digital Pianos: Affordable & High-Tech
You may recognize Casio as the brand of the calculator you had to buy for high school algebra. However, the company has gained a reputation for its affordable digital pianos.
Because Casio started with electronics and then moved into the keyboard space, their instruments have some of the most advanced technology in their price range. Casio makes high-end digital pianos as well, but they’re the best brand for buyers on a tight budget.
Best Overall: Casio PX-770
Casio has pricier options with a bit more to offer, but the PX-770 provides a lifelike piano sound and high-tech features. Part of the Privia series, Casio’s top-of-the-line digital piano collection, it offers 18 piano tones and a two-track MIDI recorder.
Budget-Friendly Option: Casio CT-X700
Casio is an electronics company first, and even in their budget digital pianos, they don’t skimp on features. The CT-X700 has a backlit digital display, touch-sensitive keys, and hundreds of sound options.
You won’t see this model in an opera hall, but it’s a great portable keyboard or beginner option.
Kawai Digital Pianos: Luxury Digital Instruments
Kawai makes some of the finest acoustic pianos in the world. Their digital pianos are of equal quality, with beautiful wooden stands that make a lovely centerpiece for any home.
Because of their quality, Kawai keyboards also tend to have a steeper price than other brands.
Best Overall: Kawai CA901
Simply put, this is the Cadillac of digital pianos. Part of Kawai’s Concert Artist series, you may not even realize the CA901 is digital at first glance.
Firstly, the keys are hand-crafted to replicate the feel of a grand piano’s ebony and ivory keys. Next, the CA901 uses a TwinDrive soundboard speaker system to recreate the incredible sound of the SK-EX grand piano.
With the look of Kawai’s studio uprights and digital features like Bluetooth and touchscreen display, this is one of the best digital pianos money can buy.
(Slightly More) Budget-Friendly Option: Kawai KDP75
Kawai is a luxury brand, so even their cheaper options aren’t what you may call inexpensive. In the case of the KDP75, you still get what you pay for.
This entry-level Kawai offering is best for in-home playing rather than gigging performers. Its wooden cabinet design makes it impractical for portable use. That said, the KDP75 still provides all of Kawai’s signature luxury design elements.
Find the Best Digital Piano for Your Budget & Needs
The best digital piano depends on your unique situation and needs. Are you a beginner looking for something simple to practice on? Or, maybe you’ve been playing for years and want something elegant and high-quality for your home.
Whatever your needs, any pianist can find the right digital option for their home, studio, or performance space.
Consider how much you’re willing to spend and any features your digital piano has to have. Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons of each option, you’ll be ready to play in no time.
