REVIEW – Best Beginner Digital Pianos & Electric Pianos – Report

UPDATED REVIEW – UPDATED December 1, 2019 – Best Beginner Digital Pianos (electric pianos) – GET YOUR INFO HERE – People from across the US and around the world ask me all the time what I think the best beginner piano keyboards are in a lower price range (under $1000). My answer is that they should first have 88-keys piano type fully weighted keys to truly be a “piano” keyboard and the sound and key action need to be at a reasonable quality level that helps the student play better instead of hurts them and cause bad playing habits. There are a lot of “cheap” keyboards and digital pianos in all kinds of brands out there (including the off-brands) but when you boil it all down, there are really 4 brands that I recommend right now that are acceptable in the lower price range and that is Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, & Korg. 

In the under $1000 price range for beginner digital pianos (aka: electric pianos), Casio offers 9 current models for beginners including the basic CDPs100 ($399), the Privia PX160 ($499US), PXS1000 ($599US), PXS3000 ($799 price), CGP700 ($799 internet price), PX770 ($699US – lower left pic), PX360 ($899 internet price), PX780 ($899US internet discount price), and the new PX870 ($999 internet discount price). Yamaha offers 5 models including the basic P45 ($449US), the P125 ($599US – left pic), DGX660 ($799US), YDP103 cabinet piano ($899US), and the newer YDPS34 ($999 price). I recommend all of the Casio’s and Yamaha’s mentioned here. Korg offers 4 current models under $1000 including the B2 ($499US), SP280 ($699US), LP180 ($699US), and LP380 ($999US). The Korg company primary makes pro keyboards and other digital music products and although those products are overall quite good (except for a few key actions I don’t like), these lower priced Korg digital pianos are, in my opinion, out in front of Yamaha and close behind or equal to Casio in terms of good key actions and piano sound in beginner digital pianos. Roland produces 3 beginner models in this price range which is called the RP102 ($999US internet price), FP30 portable $699US internet price), and FP10 (499 price). Kawai produces 2 models called the ES110 ($699US internet price – stand optional), and the newer KDP70 ($899 price) and they are good for piano playing realism.

Kawai ES110

All of these brands & models have the 88-key piano style weighted actions although the key action movement and touch weight will be different from one model to another. They all have built-in speakers although the power and quality vary, and the piano sound itself will be better from one model to another, but overall, all of these recommended pianos are acceptable depending on your musical goals and experience, and budget. Stands, benches, pedals, etc are usually optional for some of these models. There are also off-brand models out there in the lower price ranges as well, but I recommend against them because they are not up to student practice or playing standards for key action, piano sound, and pedaling or they are much too complex and not meant for students. Those brands would include Williams, Artesia, Suzuki, and others.

I have done reviews on my blog on many of these models mentioned here so you can look them up in the search area on my blog to learn more about them including Yamaha, Casio, Korg, Kawai, & Roland. When it comes to the all important piano key action, I believe Casio offers a more noticeably realistic piano playing experience than Yamaha, Korg, Roland, and Kurzweil in this lower price range, although Yamaha has some very good models with regard to key action starting at $1300. I do like the Kawai ES110 at $699US and the slightly higher priced KDP110 furniture cabinet piano ($1199US internet price). If you don’t mind getting towards the $2000 range then the Kawai CA48 natural wood key digital piano ($2099US internet discount price) is an exceptional buy in my opinion for people who don’t mind spending the extra money for an upgraded instrument in a furniture cabinet that they want to keep for many years. But ultimately, most of these models I mentioned here could work fine except some would offer better key actions, piano sound, and pedaling control along with more educational features. If you want good info on digital piano technology and how it works with music education, as well as wanting to be sure you’re getting the right digital piano, please contact me and I’ll be happy to answer your questions. Be sure you check out my reviews on these individual models in the “search models” area on this blog.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at… tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864