Which is the best digital piano for beginners? Most people don’t want to spend too much money at first, but is an extremely cheap beginner’s model suitable for learning the piano at all? For this electric piano review, we teamed up with piano teacher Yacine Khorchi of music2me.de to show you which electric pianos are the top choices, what to look out for when buying, and how to save some money.
If you want to buy a digital piano for beginners, you may not know much about the different options. Our review series is primarily aimed at those with little to no knowledge about piano technology.
The decisive factor for including pianos in this test was firstly a price limit of 1,000 Euros. In addition, we only looked at digital pianos for beginners that have certain features – hence, they are not only suitable for playing the piano but also for learning how to do so.
Find out what features to look for when buying an electric piano for beginners and how to save money with bundles: Our video guide shows it all – here we look at the top 10 electric pianos for beginners.
We had a lot of different models to choose from, from simple portable pianos to full-blown home pianos with all the bells and whistles. All instruments make great digital pianos for beginners, but they differ in features and design. The recommended entry-level digital pianos are all available for less than 1,000 Euros, some for less than 500 Euros.
Great Steinway grand piano sound and a wide range of features for a small budget. It’s worth buying the affordable bundle offer including a stand and 3-way pedal.
Pros and Cons
The GEWA PP-3 aims to be a sales hit, as it offers high sound quality in the entry-level segment.
The smallest model in the FP Series has inherited the high-quality keyboard of the larger models, making it the only electric piano under 500 Euros to offer a hammer-action keyboard with Ivory Touch and a let-off mechanism.
Pros and Cons
A great piano sound and a keyboard to "match" it make the Roland FP-10 an absolutely recommendable purchase.
The Thomann DP-28 Plus offers many great features for which you usually would have to pay considerably more.
Pros and Cons
Playing the piano can be this affordable without sacrificing modern equipment and good sounds. Usually, you would have to pay a lot more for a portable piano with this much equipment.
The successor of the successful Yamaha P-45 has everything it takes to become a new mega-seller: Great piano sound, excellent playing feel, modern features such as app compatibility, and USB audio/MIDI.
Pros and Cons
You can predict that the new P-145 has everything it takes to continue the P-45's eight-year wave of success. The improvement in piano sound and features is impressive.
A digital piano for ambitious beginners: The excellent keyboard and sound inspire beginners and advanced players alike.
Pros and Cons
Fine-tuning of the piano sound, sturdiness, chic case design, and last but not least the upgraded keyboard mechanics: all of this makes the smallest model of the Kawai ES series once again a solid entry-level electric 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 OFFERVery compact and lightweight, the CDP-S110 is a very affordable entry-level hammer action model – even with Ivory Feel key tops.
Pros and Cons
An important plus point is the high-quality hammer action keyboard, which is unparalleled in this price range in terms of playability and Ebony/Ivory feel. The rather economical control features are quite typical for this category of instruments.
CDP-S110 BK : 355,00 €
TO THE OFFERCDP-S110 WH : 369,00 €
TO THE OFFERCS-46 P Stand : 95,00 €
TO THE OFFERIf you are looking for the best home piano deal, the Thomann DP-32 in console design is an absolute recommendation.
Pros and Cons
If you want to start playing the piano at a low cost, you can't go wrong with the Thomann DP-32.
The small KDP-120 benefits from the piano sounds of the larger models SK-EX and EX. Equipped with USB-MIDI and Bluetooth, you can wirelessly connect it to the PianoRemote app, which Kawai offers free of charge for Android and iOS devices.
Small price, big sound. The playing and sound characteristics are just as convincing as the range of functions. A top electric piano for beginners and novices!
Yamaha’s smallest entry-level home piano, featuring the CFX piano sound from the Clavinova series and compatible with the Smart Pianist app. Also available in a modern slim design as the YDP-S35.
Pros and Cons
No compromises in terms of intonation and feel - in these crucial points, the current small Yamaha Arius YDP-145 is top of its class, and beginners as well as advanced players will enjoy this instrument for years to come.
YDP-145 B Arius : 899,00 €
TO THE OFFERYDP-145 R Arius : 899,00 €
TO THE OFFERYDP-145 WH Arius : 898,00 €
TO THE OFFERIf you can afford to spend a little more, the Thomann DP-140B U will not only provide you with high-quality sound. It will also uplift the look of your living room – in fact, you could almost mistake it for an upright piano.
Pros and Cons
With its upright design, the Thomann DP-140B U stands out amongst other digital pianos. Thanks to the well-dimensioned speaker system the instrument also convinces in terms of sound.
DP-140B U BK : 849,00 €
TO THE OFFERDP-140B U BK Set : 929,00 €
TO THE OFFERDP-140BP UW : 999,00 €
TO THE OFFER
Yacine Khorchi – a professional jazz pianist and piano teacher – runs the eLearning portal music2me.com. His students always ask him which model he recommends as the best digital piano for beginners. To properly answer this question, Yacine planned this test series and invited the PIANOO editorial team to take part as well.
You can find reviews of each piano as a video on the pianoo.de YouTube channel as well as in the form of a product review here on pianoo.com. The tested models are in the price categories “Digital Pianos for less than 500 Euros”, “Stage Pianos between 500 and 1000 Euros” and “Digital Pianos between 500 and 1000 Euros”. These buyers’ guides also contain details that are generally important when purchasing an entry-level digital piano.
It is curious how much the specs can vary from one instrument to another. Sometimes it’s just small details adding special features – but that makes all the difference. For example, combining a digital piano with a mobile device takes functionality and convenience to the next level.
Otherwise, the digital piano concepts correspond to very different user profiles. While a solid casing and built-in speaker system are extremely important for a home piano, a portable piano offers great flexibility. A stage piano comes equipped with robust casing, powerful sounds, and programming options.
Is there a difference and are there instruments that are more suitable for adults or more suitable for children? Some people specifically search for a digital piano for children and then usually end up with a toy piano or, in the worst case, with dubious no-name offers. You are better off not spending money on these, even if the offer seems incredibly cheap.
Toy pianos, on the other hand, are – as the name suggests – musical toys and therefore of great educational value. A toy piano is also a wonderful way to have a keyboard instrument in the nursery. Toy pianos are available as mechanical instruments, as well as electronic “toy” e-pianos – but these are less suitable for learning to play the piano for the first time.
When it comes to learning how to play, there are no instruments that make playing with smaller hands any easier. However, there are electric pianos that are equipped with very easy-going keyboards. These are not only advantageous for children, but also for adults just starting to play the piano.
Pianos with semi-weighted keyboards do not have a weighted hammer action. They are therefore easier to play, but are not a long-term solution if you want to learn to play the piano properly. With semi-weighted keyboards, the focus is more on weight savings and mobility – read more about this in our article “Playing the Piano on the Go”.
How much digital piano do you need as a beginner and how much does it cost? As a piano teacher, Yacine Khorchi recommends focusing on the essential features. For someone learning how to play with a digital piano, he names a good hammer action keyboard with 88 keys and a beautiful piano sound as the main criteria. With these features in mind, we found what we were looking for in the lower price range of around 500 Euros. Further, we were even able to include digital piano models from various manufacturers in our test series.
In addition to the playing and sound characteristics, a digital piano should have useful learning and practice functions. “It should at least have a built-in metronome,” explains Yacine, “because practicing to the metronome is valuable. If you play the piano acoustically or use the built-in speakers, you can also place an external metronome on your piano. When practicing with headphones, however, it becomes complicated or, depending on the instrument’s equipment, impossible”.
Yacine emphasizes the importance of a recorder function for recording your exercises and etudes. “The best way to check your play is to record it. When listening to the recording, you can immediately feel which passages you should practice again. Technically, you can use an audio recorder for this purpose. But a recorder function built right into the digital piano is even better”.
These options are for anyone with a budget of less than 500 Euros for their first digital piano. Portable pianos are not only compact and handy, but also have everything you need to get started: a hammer action keyboard and a decent piano sound for expressive playing.
“A selection of certain sounds is a good thing, electric pianos, strings, etc. bring variety and additional playing fun.” Piano teacher Yacine Khorchi continues: “Such sounds, however, become secondary when it comes down to learning how to play the piano. The most important thing is a good acoustic piano sound that plays well in terms of dynamics.
Regarding the sound, the polyphony of a digital piano is important to give the piano enough power for playing with the sustain pedal”. It’s not just about learning piano etudes. Intuitively exploring the possibilities of the piano sound must also be enjoyable – even if some people would call that ‘just strumming around’.
If you usually play with headphones, you are all set to experience good sound quality. The piano sounds you get on the digital pianos we tested properly represent a stereo-sampled concert grand piano. However, the situation is different when playing via the built-in speakers. Particularly the smaller, more affordable entry-level models lose points here as efforts to save space compromise speaker quality. Hence, you shouldn’t expect any great miracles when it comes to the speaker sound.
Corresponding to the video test series “Digital Piano for Beginners” there are buyers’ guides and reviews on pianoo.com. We filmed these tests with Yacine Khorchi and posted them on our YouTube video channel. Next to looking at the main features of the instruments, Yacine gets to the bottom of the three most important test criteria: the feel of the piano, the sound, and the functions that are useful for learning the piano.
Yacine gives a detailed demonstration of each instrument so you can get a good impression of the sound characteristics. In the test videos, you’ll mostly hear the sound played through audio or headphone outputs.
“Sounds good – but which digital piano wins the test marathon?” While this is an understandable question, it is actually quite difficult to answer. After all, everyone has very individual ideas of what makes a piano the best digital piano for beginners. Preferences are unique and vary greatly: Do you need a stage piano because you would like to play in a band? Or do you intend to use it at home only?
And what’s the point of an instrument that is a winner in terms of functionality – i.e. simply on paper – but that you don’t really like the sound and feel of? The video test reports deal with the question of whether the instrument is actually suitable for learning the piano. To a greater or lesser extent, this applies to every test candidate.
We have three favorites from this test marathon: the GEWA PP-3, the Kawai ES-120, and the Yamaha P-145 – these had the perfect combination of keyboard, piano sound, speaker sound, and technical features.
With the GEWA PP-3, it is actually a newcomer among digital piano manufacturers that ranks first place. If you go for the bundle here, the price is almost unbeatable. The household names of the digital piano segment don’t fall short though – the Kawai ES-120 and the Yamaha P-145 show what to expect from a good entry-level electric piano. However, here you will have to dig deeper into your pocket – especially if going for the bundle. The Thomann DP-28 Plus, on the other hand, impressed us with its price/performance ratio.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the other test candidates are significantly inferior – some even score with great features. With the Roland FP-10 and the Casio CDP-S110, for example, it’s worth paying attention to the hammer-action keyboard. Here you can get the best keyboards for less than 500 Euros. The speakers are a significant weakness – hardly surprising given the compact size.
The Thomann SP-120 and the Korg Liano do not have hammer action and are therefore not included in the top 10. Both models have a semi-weighted keyboard, which we do not necessarily recommend when learning how to play the piano. However, their low weight makes them ideal for playing the piano on the go.
We were pleasantly surprised by the Thomann DP-140B U. Although you have to compromise on the sound selection, the piano sound is decent and the keyboard plays very well thanks to Ivory Touch, the let-off simulation, and the triple sensor. Given its upright design, the price tag is hard to believe. Our tip if you’re looking for a beginner’s digital piano that also looks great in your living room.
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