Choosing the ultimate best digital piano under $1000 is hard, but not impossible. It is impossible to find your next digital piano if you don’t know your budget.
But, since you are looking at a specific list for pianos under $1000 you’ve defined your budget. And, you’re one step closer to getting that digital piano you dreamed of having.
This article reveals the 10 most popular digital pianos under the $1000 budget. If you’ll find what you’re looking for here, good for you. If not, don’t worry, we include a buying guide that you can use to get the ‘one’ digital piano you always wanted.
Contents
Top 10 Best Digital Pianos Under $1000
- Yamaha YDP143R Arius Series
- Kawai ES110
- Casio CGP-700
- Yamaha DGX-660
- Korg B1SP
- Yamaha P125
- Casio Privia PX-870
- Roland RP102
- Alesis Coda PRO
- Casio PX-S3000
Runner Up | Editor's Choice | Also Great |
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Yamaha YDP143R Arius Series
Yamaha, as the maker of the world’s finest acoustic pianos, is also amongst our favorite when it comes to digital pianos. Its Yamaha YDP143R Arius Series provides the convenience of an electric piano without losing the organic feel of an acoustic piano. This is great for seasoned players who need new equipment or those who are still starting.
It’s an 88-key keyboard featuring Yamaha’s GHS weighted action — heavier low keys and lighter high keys. Equipped with the Pure CF engine to accurately reproduce sampled sounds for a more dynamic playing experience. Plus, the 50 classic piano songs onboard, help you play like the legends in no time.
- Easy to assemble with comprehensive instructions
- Dark redwood seems classy and gorgeous
- 50 presets, plus lesson function
- Limited selection of sounds and effects
- Doesn’t have built-in rhythm
Kawai ES110
The only Kawai digital piano in this list, the Kawai ES110 has exciting features to be considered as one of the best digital pianos under $1000. This ultra-portable keyboard has the brand new Responsive Hammer Compact (RHC) keyboard action it feels like a real acoustic piano. Thanks to the Harmonic Imaging technology, the sample onboard retains its authenticity.
It’s gig-friendly since it’s Bluetooth-enabled, allowing you to connect to any devices you want. You can use Kawai’s free app for iOS devices to control different parameters of the piano for customized playing experience. With 19 sounds onboard, a 192-note polyphony, and half-dampening capacity, Kawai just gives you one of its best.
- Fully-weighted action, which makes it great to play
- Has 192 notes of polyphony to play notes without falter
- Includes Bluetooth and MIDI connectivity
- Doesn’t have a screen display, given its price
- Irregular spacing between the key
- No USB ports, unlike most digital pianos out there
Casio CGP-700
If you’re looking for a feature-packed digital piano under $1000, you are looking for the Casio CGP-700. It has premium and professional features — from the display, built-in speakers to the tones onboard — without breaking the bank. This standard-size piano gives you a beautiful 5.3-inch touchscreen display that allows you to navigate through the settings, tones, and rhythms.
This digital piano features Casio’s famous Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action II keyboard to imitate the playability of a real piano. It has a 6-speaker system — four on the top panel and two at the piano stand — to give you rich and detailed tonality. You can enjoy more functionalities like audio and MIDI recording, USB connectivity, hundreds of instrument tones and ensemble rhythm onboard.
- The color touchscreen makes navigation a breeze
- You can hear yourself through the multiple speakers
- Has a total of 550 built-in sounds
- The MXi sound engine is inferior to the AiR engine
- Keys feel plasticky and cheap
- Some users found potential issues with the speakers
Yamaha DGX-660
Like the Casio CGP-700, the Yamaha DGC-660 also comes with crystal-clear LCD which displays easy-to-read music scores and lyrics. Aside from being able to play the piano, you’ll also learn how to read the music sheet. This 88-note weighted GHS keyboard is heavier on the low-end and lighter towards the high-end to prepare you to play a real piano.
With the Pure CF engine onboard, you can hear voices and sound samples very close to the sound of a 9-feet concert grand piano. You can sing-along with the built-in track by connecting a mic and save it to your USB device. Other features include the Piano Room, 6-track recorder, and more.
- Has a clear LCD that displays music notation or lyrics
- Loaded with premium features you won’t expect for its price
- Has mic input for more versatile music production
- A bit heavy, difficult to move around
- This digital piano isn’t loud enough
- Piano stand isn’t foldable
Korg B1SP
Korg promises realistic sound reproduction on its Korg B1SP digital piano. It has a built-in stereo sound system with Korg’s servo-assisted Motional Feedback (MFB) technology. To give you the ultimate acoustic playing experience, it has 88-note weighted keys that accurately respond to how you play it.
Aside from the classic sound of a grand piano, it’s added with eight digitally sampled sounds with 120-note maximum polyphony. It includes three pedals where you can use a soft pedal, piano damper, and sostenuto. With these features, it’s no doubt one of the best digital pianos under $1000.
- With three-level adjustable touch sensitivity
- Three pedals to simulate the grand piano playing experience
- Transpose, reverb, and chorus effects to customize the sound output
- No USB port available
- The headphone jack is at the back, not very convenient
- No recording and playback option
Yamaha P125
Amongst the most popular lightweight and portable digital piano, the Yamaha P125 brings in more. Even though it’s lightweight, it has graded hammer action keys for a realistic playing experience. With 192-note polyphony, certainly, you’ll get wonderful sounds even with complex notes.
This is all thanks to the Pure CF sound engine along with 24 preset voices, 21 demo songs, and 50 piano songs. The two-way speaker system also contributes to the expansive sound of the piano. Lastly, with the free Smart Pianist App, you can get more voices, rhythm, and settings from your mobile devices.
- Very realistic playing experience coming from this lightweight keyboard
- Electronic piano voices are way better than usual
- Has interactive tutorials through the Yamaha’s Smart Pianist app
- Limited built-in sounds and effects
- Comes with basic sustain footswitch only
Casio Privia PX-870
Getting a flagship product means that it’s one of the best they have. And, Casio Privia PX-870 is Casio’s flagship digital piano under the world-renowned Privia line. Thus, it’s designed to give the ultimate grand piano experience, along with stylish design and powerful sound projection of the speaker system.
This keyboard has an 88-note keyboard featuring the highly-acclaimed Tri-Sensor II Scaled Hammer Action piano keys. It has a useful lesson studio, connect headphone jack on the front panel and take advantage of the Dual-mode function. With around 60 built-in songs, 256-note polyphony and 19 instrument tones, you’ll get more exciting playing experience.
- Compact and sleek design
- Great hammer action with the ivory/ebony keytops
- With 19 tones and maximum polyphony of 256 notes
- Not that portable, weighs about 74.08lbs
- Limited built-in tones and effects
- Keys are a little noisier compared to other models
Roland RP102
Probably, the only digital piano in this list that can provide the ultimate realistic feel, Roland RP102 is sleekly great. It’s sleek and compact with very nice ivory touch keys. These keys are graded hammer action with a maximum polyphony of 128 voices.
Roland’s SuperNATURAL sound engine allows you to compete with other products in the market, sound-wise. It comes with a total of 15 voices and, 200 onboard songs, plus more, through the exclusive Roland Piano Partner 2 app. It’s Bluetooth connectivity, USB to Host and headphone jack, it’s a versatile digital piano and the best under $1000.
- Fully-weighted keys with ivory feel
- The SuperNATURAL sound technology is very reliable
- Comes with Bluetooth MIDI connectivity and has a headphone jack
- Without the mobile app, it’s difficult to navigate since it doesn’t have a screen display
- A number of features are only available in Roland’s partner app
- Speakers aren’t very powerful
Alesis Coda PRO
If there’s a digital piano that gives more value to your money, that would be Alexis Coda Pro. Everything you imagine on your next digital piano is here — more built-in sounds and songs, natural response and flexible connectivity. It’s an 88-key hammer-action keyboard with AUX In/Out to connect to your PA or amp and two headphone jacks.
It has tons of features like Split, Layer and Lesson modes, plus a built-in DSP with adjustable EQ, Reverb and Chorus FX. You’ll enjoy 20 built-in voices, 60 preset songs and record your own through the User Record module. The Duet mode has 50 accompaniment patterns, including slow rock, jazz pub and more.
- Standard full-size keys, plastic keys, but not cheap
- Action is very close to a real piano
- Has good built-in voices and sounds
- Speakers are not that loud
- If you need more than 20 voices, this isn’t for you
- Sustain pedal included isn’t the best for the piano
Casio PX-S3000
The world’s slimmest digital piano, Casio PX-S3000 is a perfect fit for anyone who is looking for a portable piano. It’s an 88-note keyboard with advanced hammer action to give a unique touch response on each key. Like most Casio digital pianos, it comes with an advanced AiR piano engine to give you a rich and expressive tone.
There are over 700 voices onboard that can be split or layered, plus 96 registration memories where you can create and save combinations and access them later. It has both USB and Bluetooth connectivity with 200 smart accompaniment styles. Since it’s slim and portable, it’s a good gigging piano, as well.
- Extremely portable, though it’s a full-size keyboard
- Build quality is outstanding along with the slim design
- Has both Bluetooth and USB connectivity
- Tone quality is just about the average
- Glossy finish isn’t very comfortable for extending playing hours
- Touch-based controls aren’t all sensitive to touch
How to Choose the Best Digital Piano Under $1000
As mentioned, the first step to buying a new digital piano is to define your budget. However, it could be hard to do just that one simple decision if you don’t know your preferences. To decide which among the best digital pianos under $1000 is perfect for you, here are a few other things that you need to know.
Why a Digital Piano?
You should know by now that a digital piano doesn’t have the sound mechanism of an acoustic piano — no strings and hammer. That being said, it only depends on the sampled sounds onboard. If the maker has a great sampling technology, you’ll get authentic recordings, otherwise, you’re doomed.
But, why do you think it’s still a recommendation to get a digital piano? First, it’s cost-effective. If you only have a budget of $1000, you can get a digital piano, but not an acoustic piano. It’s easy to maintain — it’s not as delicate as the acoustic guitar and its tuning isn’t affected by temperature and humidity.
Most of them are lightweight and portable, even those full-sized 88-key keyboard. You can bring them anywhere you want, but you just need a power source to use them.
Features to Consider
It’s very easy to be overwhelmed with so many features of digital pianos. But, there are just three things you should focus on:
- Feel and Response — Ensure that it’s the closest you can get to playing a real acoustic piano. You should go for the graded hammer action, which is what the real thing has.
- Authentic Sound samples — If you have poor recordings and instrument voices onboard, chances are, it’s hard to turn things around. But, if you have amazing recordings included, it’s the best bonus you can get from a digital piano.
- Speaker system — Not all digital pianos have a built-in speaker because some are designed to be connected to an amp. If you prefer the one with speakers, a few of them are included in this list.
Check the Connectivity
Aside from the plethora of sounds and voices onboard, we are also very excited about the connectivity options. This makes it very easy to record and share your music if you want to. Among the connections available in most digital pianos are XLR, MIDI, USB, Bluetooth, ¾-inch jack and ¼-inch jack.
- MIDI — This connection allows you to become versatile. A MIDI signal carries music information like pitch, volume and more for music editing and connects your piano to any of your favorite DAWs.
- XLR — If you want to record as you play the piano, some instruments allow you to. Just plug in your microphone and you can sing while you play.
- ¼-inch jack — For silent practice and if you don’t want to burn the house down, you can connect headphones while you play. This is another advantage of a digital piano over the traditional one.
- USB — Of course, if you want to connect your computer or MP3, you can use this port.
- Bluetooth — Some pianos have corresponding mobile apps where you can access more effects and a lot of features. With wireless connectivity, it’s more convenient and fun.
Additional tips will be provided by this YouTube video. It also recommends a Yamaha digital piano, like us. Although the budget recommendation on this video is around $200 to $500, it’s a personal preference — which means you can go up to the price you can afford.
Our Top Pick
Not the cheapest digital piano on the list, but our choice for the best digital piano under $1000 gives the best value for your money. If you can see from this list, it’s a battle between Yamaha and Casio digital pianos. Yet, in the end, our winner is the Yamaha YDP143R Arius Series digital piano.
It’s a full-sized piano featuring Yamaha’s GHS weighted action, pure CF engine, lesson function and more. All these strive to give you the ultimate playing experience of an acoustic piano with the versatility of an electric piano.
It comes 50 classic songs onboard that allow you to play along with the two-track song recorder to help you practice with only one hand. Not only that it’s a playable digital piano, Yamaha sees to it that you can learn from it easily. Indeed, Yamaha is still among the best piano manufacturers to-date.