At present, the digital or electronic piano has become more and more popular in the music world. Many musicians and composers favor this instrument, especially young people. Admittedly, the digital piano plays an indispensable role in music and conveying the message of various songs.
However, do you know what criteria can indicate a good digital piano? How to purchase the best digital piano under 500? There are burning questions to many people when they seem to be stuck into numerous choices on the musical instrument market.
Therefore, in this article, I will show you why we need a digital piano, what a good digital piano is and how to buy the best digital piano with just under 500.
Top 5 Best Digital Pianos Under 500
To help you have a better choice of a good digital piano with an affordable price, I highly recommend you these best digital pianos for under or around $500. Let’s see what’s their pros and cons.
1. Yamaha P45 Weighted Action Digital Piano
This is a digital piano that is more favored by many pianists and audiences.
Yamaha P45 is a new brand appearing on the musical instrument market. At first glance, many people may find it difficult to distinguish Yamaha P45 and P35.
Though being produced by the same manufacturer, Yamaha P45 has higher ability to connect and interact with other devices like USB, recorder, computer, and mobile phone.
Besides, the number of polyphony of Yamaha 45 is twice as many as of P35. This helps to produce more different tones of voice.
Nonetheless, P45 also has two main weaknesses. It does not have the recorder. It cannot record any your music. Besides, Yamaha P45 has low polyphony
Therefore, this digital piano seems to have fewer tones. Remember these downsides of Yamaha P45 before buying it.
- Full 88 standard weighted keys
- Lightweight and portable
- Modern and attractive characteristics
- Ability to combine two different voices together
- Decent connectivity to other musical instruments and personal devices
- Natural sound quality
- Without recorder
- Low polyphony
*There is version of Yamaha P45 with similar specs with a better price named P71
Read more: Best Yamaha Keyboards
2. Casio CDP-240 88-Key Digital Piano
Casio CDP-240 is an 88-Key Digital Piano which brings the feeling of playing an acoustic piano.
It only weighs roughly 24 lbs with three different weight selections which help you adjust the feeling when pushing the keys down.
Additionally, these keys are carefully checked to bring fantastic sound and resonance to pianists.
It also has a bank of 152 built-in songs, 200 auto-accompaniment rhythms, and 700 tones like piano, organ, guitar, bass to keep you interested in playing.
And for beginners, the Step Up Lessons system makes learning how to play the piano as easy as pie. The system will teach you how to play the digital piano through an outline of two hands on the LCD screen on the front panel.
As the music is on, you will see certain fingers light up that show you where to place your hands. Besides, Casio CDP-240 has a recorder to record yourself playing and a CS-44 Stand to put the piano on.
It also has two headphone inputs allowing you to play with another person without disturbing anyone in your home. Nonetheless, this digital piano also has its limitations.
Casio CDP-240 does not have Bluetooth port so you have to plug headphone whenever you want to play without disturbing the others. Also, the weight on keys may make noise. Consider these points before purchasing.
- Full set of standard weighted 88 keys.
- High-quality sound with various built-in song and tones.
- The useful Step Up Lessons system
- Without Bluetooth port
- The weight on the keys.
3. Alesis Coda 88-Key Digital Piano
The third digital piano that I recommend in the article today is Alesis Coda. Similar to above pianos, this digital piano also has a full set of 88 keys, which can bring a real feeling of playing an acoustic one.
One of the obvious benefits of Alesis Coda is its versatility. This piano brand is suitable for students, children, and studio.
Though being produced by the same manufacturer, Yamaha P45 has higher ability to connect and interact with other devices like USB, recorder, computer, and mobile phone.
There are 60 preset songs in Alesis Coda digital piano. Therefore, you will have many options to choose which song is appropriate to practice. It also has songs for beginners to play from the basic to intermediate level.
However, it is difficult to create songs on the stiff keyboard of Alesis Coda. As the keys are made of plastic, you will have to press forcibly to make songs.
Besides, this instrument may be switched off automatically if we do not touch it during 30 minutes. Additionally, this digital piano has low volume; thus, it may be difficult to play public performances.
- Full set of 88 standard keys
- Proper plastic design
- Lightweight body
- Excellent keys action
- Ability to connect with other external musical instruments
- High connectivity and interaction with other devices
- Good speaker
- Low-volume speaker
- Automatic shutting down after unused during half of an hour
4. Casio Privia PX160BK 88-Key Digital Piano
Another digital piano that I introduce in this today article is Casio Privia, which is produced from Japan with many outstanding features.
On the digital piano market at the moment, Casio Privia PX160BK is drawing a lot of attention from pianists, audiences, musicians, and composers.
The reasonable factor for this trend is Casio is leading the way in producing electronic musical instruments.
Besides, the number of polyphony of Yamaha 45 is twice as many as of P35. This helps to produce more different tones of voice.
Nonetheless, P45 also has two main weaknesses. It does not have the recorder. It cannot record any your music. Besides, Yamaha P45 has low polyphony.
Therefore, this digital piano seems to have fewer tones. Remember these downsides of Yamaha P45 before buying it.
- Full 88 standard weighted keys
- Lightweight and portable
- Modern and attractive characteristics
- Ability to combine two different voices together
- Decent connectivity to other musical instruments and personal devices
- Natural sound quality
- Without recorder
- Low polyphony
5. Korg SP 170 88-Key Digital Piano
Korg 88 SP170 has Natural Weighted Hammer Action to deliver realistic piano feel.
The light design with a weight of 26 pounds makes it easy to move around the home and take with you to performance places.
Moreover, the Motional Feedback (MFB) technology allows you to get top-notch sound quality.
By compensating for the mechanical motions of your speaker and speaker chamber, the MFB reduces distortion and yields a natural-sounding performance. Besides, this technology also reduces the influence of room acoustics.
In addition, Korg 88 SP170 has a partner mode to teach you how to play from basic to advanced.
It also has two headphone jacks, allowing sharing with another person without bothering other family members.
Nevertheless, Korg 88 SP170 has a few weakness. It does not have a recorder so you can’t record any performance. Besides, it is hard to use with different software and devices because of limited connectivity.
Additionally, since it does not offer many voices and features, it will limit your ability to develop your music.
Pros
- Full set of standard weighted 88 keys.
- Natural sound quality.
- Lightweight and portable.
- The unique partner mode, along with several options and features.
- Two headphone jacks.
Cons
- Without recorder.
- Limited connectivity to other musical instruments and personal devices.
- Limited voices and features.
What are Advantages of a Digital Piano?
It is undeniable that the core feeling of love and high emotion that has flown through our history comes with the melodic sound of digital pianos. Musicians and composers appreciate digital pianos than acoustic ones because of many reasons.
First and foremost, a digital piano has updated technological characteristics such as FX, metronomes, LED displays. There are also various available voices and sounds. Thus, you can play many different tones in only one digital piano.
Secondly, digital pianos are more convenient and portable than acoustic ones, as they just weigh around 7kg. You, therefore, can bring it along easily. This convenience of digital pianos can help players save up lots of time.
Source: Joshua Schnable
Thirdly, the average price of a digital piano is less expensive than a traditional one. This is a key point in choosing a good starter piano keyboard when they are wondering between acoustic or digital piano.
On the musical instrument market now, a digital piano costs in the range of $300-700 while the corresponding figure of an acoustic one hovers around $750. You can get a good digital piano for under $1000 for learning and playing for several years.
Last but not least, according to musicians and pianists digital piano can perform better than traditional one at concert because it has various tones of sound. More than that, the digital piano also can combine two different voices to create a nice song.
How to Evaluate a Good Digital Piano
Choosing a good digital or electronic piano out of various types of piano at present market tends to be a difficult issue. There are distinct views on a good digital piano. Each piano is often evaluated by some features like key sensitivity, key quantity, speaker quality, sound, polyphony, and other factors. Normally, buyers usually focus these following criteria:
Keyboard
One of the fundamental considerations we should take into account first is a keyboard. The standard digital piano has 88 keys, including 52 white keys and 36 black ones. For beginners, nevertheless, the number of the keyboard should be cut down to 76 or 61 keys.
The standard one is mainly for complex music. After getting acquainted with using piano having fewer keys, players should learn to play a standard digital piano as soon as possible.
Remember that keys can affect the sound quality appreciably. Good keys will certainly produce better sound music. This is an essential factor that many people usually ignore.
There are two main kinds of a piano’s keyboard: weighted and semi-weighted keys. In fact, the former is costly than the latter. Nonetheless, weighted pianos can produce better music and sound quality than semi-weighted ones.
A good digital piano to learn on usually has the full set of a standard keyboard. This means it has all 88 keys. However, some kinds of piano for beginners is designed with only 70 or 60 keys.
Weight Resistance
Another outstanding aspect of a good digital piano is the ability to resist the weight. To fulfill this, manufacturers use a hammer to check how a digital piano can bear. In fact, more weight a digital piano can bear higher life span it has.
This feature makes sure that the digital piano is OK if it crushes to any other objects. Therefore, before deciding to purchase a digital piano, you should check its weight resistance. This can be done by using your hand force or plastic hammer.
Maximum Polyphony
Beside keyboard and weight resistance, maximum polyphony is also an important indicator of a good digital piano. Perhaps this is a new musical term to some people.
Maximum polyphony is the ability to make different tones at the same time of a digital or electric piano. This feature distinguishes from the acoustic piano that produces a lower number of tones.
Obviously, a good digital piano will have better polyphony. This can produce more music tones and plays various kinds of music at the same time.
Display
One thing that you need bear in mind to pick a good digital piano is the display quality. This is a criterion that a professional player should put first. Apparently, the display will show you functions of the piano like volume, lyrics, spelling, etc. and help you in checking the sound quality as well as composing music well.
Amplification Process
Undoubtedly, the amplification process also has certain impacts on the sound quality produced by the piano. Moreover, it even relates to the music quality. Therefore, keep in mind to choose a digital piano with a high-tech amplification process.
Connectivity
The ability to connect and interact with different devices is another characteristic of a good digital piano. Thus, before deciding to choose a digital or electronic piano, remember to check its connectivity to USB, computer, mobile phone, or MP3 music player. Surely, no one wants to be in trouble with his performance when the piano fails to connect with other musical instruments or personal devices.
Thus, remember to check the digital piano’s connectivity to other alliances, computers, laptops, or mobile phones before purchasing it.
Cost of piano & reputation of manufacturer
To some extent, the cost of a digital piano also affects our choice and evaluates its quality. Do not try to purchase an expensive piano from dealers when you can find another more affordable online. Additionally, when choosing a digital, reputation of some famous and reliable manufactures is an important feature to consider. These manufacturers can ensure their pianos’ quality as well as insurance for buyers whenever they need repair or repay.
Lifespan
Another criterion we should focus on when assessing a good digital piano is its lifespan. At first glance, it may be difficult to judge how long the digital piano can work only by its appearance. However, you need ask advice from experienced musicians and pianists to further understand this case. Checking its technical system and other functions like volume, display, keyboard, etc. also are essential.
Insurance
A good piano also has longer insurance than other kinds of the piano. Normally, the manufacturer will ensure that the insurance can last about 3 years or even 5 years. Thus, you need to remember this before choosing a digital piano.
Good insurance will make sure that your digital piano can be repaired anytime when it does not work. If your digital piano does not have any problem, it is still necessary to bring it to the insurance center to check up.
Conclusion
It is undeniable that digital piano plays an important role in the modern music world and attracts many people. In fact, digital piano has more advantages than an acoustic one. Nowadays, not only in the public performance but also in the professional studio, a digital piano is more and more popular.
There are different criteria to evaluate a good digital piano; nevertheless, we should focus on the keyboard, an amplification process, display, maximum polyphony, cost, and manufacture. At present, choosing the best digital piano keyboard under 500 tends to be a tricky task. I’ve recommended some kinds of digital piano that is affordable for us. Remember to see pros and cons of each product carefully to buy a proper piano for you.
