Pros and Cons
Joining the well-known ES-520 and ES-920 models, the Kawai ES-120 is the affordable entry point into the popular Kawai ES series. These portable pianos feature high-quality keyboards, impressive piano sounds, and modern additions such as Bluetooth audio/MIDI and app connectivity for convenient control. Let’s find out what the most compact model in the ES line has to offer.
Compared to its predecessor, the ES-110, the new Kawai ES-120 boasts a more stylish design. The lightweight plastic cabinet remains, but additional structural elements on the underside enhance overall stability.
While these structural improvements are subtle, the silver accent bar on the control panel stands out and highlights the controls. With the ES-120, Kawai has clearly focused on both sturdiness and refined details—improvements that are noticeable in both look and feel.
Kawai includes a simple footswitch as a sustain pedal, which is typical for this price range. However, this doesn’t provide an authentic piano feel. The previous model included a shortened sustain pedal, which was a reasonable compromise and didn’t require immediate upgrading. With the ES-120, however, an upgrade to a ‘real’ sustain pedal, such as Kawai’s half-pedal capable F-10H, is essential.
For home use, Kawai also offers an optional stand, along with a separate F351 pedal unit. Both are available in black (B) and white (W) to complement the two chassis finishes offered for the ES-120.
The acoustic piano sound of Kawai’s most compact model guarantees a joyful playing experience. The tone is expressive and resonates beautifully through the slightly textured keys, resulting in a pleasant tactile feel.
The speaker system delivers impressive volume for its size, although it doesn’t produce deep bass. More importantly, the piano sound remains clear even at higher volumes, making it well-suited for practice or jam sessions in the living room. During a small home concert, the speakers handle the sound without distortion or unwanted cabinet resonance.
However, the true depth of the sound comes through with headphones. Conveniently, the ES-120 features both a standard 6.3 mm and a mini 3.5 mm headphone jack. Additionally, you can customize the headphone output to match your headphone type—whether open, closed, or semi-open—for the best listening experience.
The control panel provides easy access to all essential functions, including sound selection, metronome, and recorder. For even more convenience, install Kawai’s free PianoRemote app on your Android or iOS device. A simple Bluetooth connection allows you to control all piano functions from your device—it couldn’t be easier!
Many Kawai digital pianos, including the ES-120, beautifully capture the sound of the Shigeru Kawai EX Concert Grand. The 192-voice Harmonic Imaging sound engine reproduces this piano sound with a brilliant and warm quality—even though it’s the most compact sound engine variant of all Kawai instruments. Thanks to 88-key sampling, the piano sound is perfectly balanced across the entire range, resulting in a highly responsive and satisfying playing experience.
This piano sound also includes a range of expressive simulation details, such as String Resonance, Damper Resonance, and Damper Noise. You can even adjust each of these individually if you wish to explore subtle tonal variations. Although the ES-120 offers fewer customization options than Kawai’s larger CA models, it still retains a hallmark feature of Kawai digital pianos: An exceptional sound realism that enhances the entire playing experience.
The Voicing Type function lets you adjust the character of the acoustic piano sound to your preference, with four options on the ES-120: Normal, Dynamic, Mellow, and Bright. This flexibility allows you to tailor the sound to suit various musical styles. Selecting the Mellow setting, for example, results in a more subdued tone, ideal for neo-classical pieces.
You could further complement this softer sound by choosing the “Heavy” touch curve. This voicing feature highlights the flexibility and expressiveness that define the piano sounds of Kawai’s digital pianos.
To adjust these and many other settings, we recommend using the PianoRemote app. In theory, you can do this directly on the instrument, but you’ll have to use the keyboard shortcuts described in the manual. This process can be quite tedious. On the other hand, the PianoRemote app on a tablet or smartphone makes these adjustments much more convenient and enjoyable. Although Kawai’s app may not have as many features as Yamaha’s Smart Pianist, it works well and allows you to easily adjust key functions. You can even save them as user sounds within the app.
Additional features like tuning, transposing, layering, effects, and the recorder or metronome functions are more accessible and intuitive through PianoRemote. Still, it’s convenient that the instrument’s control panel provides direct access to basic functions like the recorder and metronome.
The Kawai ES-120 comes with 25 onboard sounds. While familiar sounds like Diapason and Church Organ meet the standard expectations of a home piano, the acoustic and electric piano sounds here truly reach stage piano quality.
Classic electric pianos such as the “Fender Rhodes” (labeled as Tine Electric) and “Wurlitzer” (Reed Electric) deliver authentic staccato textures, ideal for ’80s-inspired playing, while modern electric piano, jazz organ, vibraphone, and pad sounds add versatility. Not only are these tones of the highest quality—especially impressive at this price point—but they also have the dynamic range to stand out in a band setting or enhance solo performances.
The ES-120 retains the RH-C keyboard from its predecessor but with significant improvements. The playing feel is already excellent, and Kawai has also reduced key noise in this updated model.
Achieving a truly silent Graded Hammer action in compact instruments is challenging, but Kawai has managed to effectively minimize noise in the ES-120. These improvements contribute to significantly improved response, allowing for more nuanced expression and a refined playing experience, supported by Kawai’s detailed sound engine.
While the previous ES-110 supported Bluetooth MIDI, the new ES-120 goes even further, allowing audio streaming directly through the piano’s speakers—no cables required. This is especially convenient for online piano lessons via smartphone or tablet, which previously called for a small mixer and cables. Now, you simply pair your devices via Bluetooth.
Integrating an audio source, such as a smartphone or tablet, has become standard and is highly practical in many scenarios. A dedicated button on the ES-120’s front panel makes pairing easy.
The lightweight design of the ES-120 makes it ideal for mobile use. For example, you can easily handle choir rehearsals as a répétiteur without the need for external amplification. This durable, portable piano is also perfect for quick setup when practicing at home. The ES-120’s straightforward operation lets you start playing immediately. Using the PianoRemote app makes it easy to explore the many nuanced sound features. While we recommend an iPad or Android tablet here, a smartphone will work in a pinch. The only downside is the ES-120’s small sustain pedal, which can feel limiting.
The Kawai ES-120 impresses with its fine-tuning capabilities for the piano sound, sturdy construction, elegant design, and enhanced keyboard mechanics. Together, these features make it an outstanding entry-level digital piano at an attractive price. With its exceptional sound quality and responsive keyboard, the Kawai ES-120 is also an excellent choice for professionals seeking a compact and lightweight second instrument.
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Pros and Cons
Jörg Sunderkötter
Fine-tuning capabilities for the piano sound, sturdy construction, elegant design, and enhanced keyboard mechanics—together, these features make the Kawai ES-120 an outstanding entry-level digital piano at an attractive price.
ES-120 B : 599,00 €
TO THE OFFERHML-2 B Stand : 135,00 €
TO THE OFFERF-351 B : 99,00 €
TO THE OFFER
ES-120 B : 599,00 €
TO THE OFFERHML-2 B Stand : 135,00 €
TO THE OFFERF-351 B : 99,00 €
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