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Best Portable Electronic Piano Keyboard
We review the top portable keyboards for travel, practice and playing wherever the mood hits you. Our list includes 54-Key, 61-Key, 76-Key and 88-Key (all full-sized keys) from Casio, Yamaha, Roland and a few other manufacturers. For the consumer market, Yamaha and Casio are the leaders in high quality, good sounding, inexpensive keyboards that are appropriate for beginners to very advanced players.
Choosing the best Piano Keyboard depends on your individual desires, skill level and budget. Our selection includes full featured 88-Key units under $400, 76-Key under $200 and a price range from $50 to $700 for the entire range of keyboards.
Related: Best 61 Key Electronic Digital Keyboard Kit For Beginners
For someone just starting out, the Casio CTK-2550 61-Key Portable Keyboard
A more advanced player may consider the Yamaha P71 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
Here is the list of Keyboards we’ll be reviewing, along with links to Amazon and the current pricing (as of publication). We’ll take them in order of number of keys, starting with 54 and on up to 88. If you are looking for an ultra-portable 44-Mini-Key, check out this article on Best 44-Key Electronic Piano. We’ll also be publishing a review of roll-up, silicone keyboards if you are interested in those.
Huntington KB54 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard
Excite 54-Key Electronic Music Piano Digital Keyboard
Casio CTK-2550 61-Key Portable Keyboard
Casio CTK-3500 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard
Casio CTK-4400 61-Key Touch Sensitive Personal Keyboard
Casio CTK-6200 61-Key Personal Keyboard
Yamaha PSR-E363 61-Key Portable Keyboard
Yamaha PSR-EW300-AD 76-Key Portable Keyboard
Yamaha NP-32 76-Key Portable Digital Piano
Casio WK-245 76-Key Touch Sensitive Keyboard
Casio Privia PX160BK 88-Key Full Size Digital Piano
Yamaha P71 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
Yamaha P115 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
Roland FP-30 88-Key Digital Piano
54-Keys
Huntington KB54 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard
The Huntington KB54 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard
Features include 100 voices, 100 rhythms, 32 tempo settings, 8 panel drum presets, Single Chord function, Finger Chord function, Transposition function, Start/Stop with Sync, Fill In function, Sustain and Vibrato. You also get 8 stereo demo songs to play along with.
It’s powered with batteries or a wall-wart adapter. At 13 pounds it’s a little on the heavy side, and measuring 36 x 16 x 7 inches, it’s still easily portable.
This is a good beginner keyboard, and at around $50 a good price.
Buy it on Amazon – Huntington KB54 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard
Excite 54-Key Electronic Music Piano Digital Keyboard
The Excite 54-Key Electronic Music Piano Digital Keyboard
Features include 100 tones, 100 rhythms, 32 tempo settings, 5 percussion sounds, Single Chord, Finger Chord, and Sync Programs.
Powered by batteries or the wall adapter, it’s very portable at 8 pounds and measuring 33.5 x 13.8 x 3.9 inches.
Available through Amazon – Excite 54-Key Electronic Music Piano Digital Keyboard
61-Keys
Casio CTK-2550 61 Key Portable Keyboard with App Integration/Dance Music Mode
The Casio CTK-2550 61-Key Portable Keyboard
The Casio keyboard also has a USB MIDI port for exporting music to your PC or iPad, along with the ability to import songs. You can connect to a CD or MP3 player to play along with your favorite music.
As part of their learning system, Casio has a free app (iOS and Android): Chordana Play is a free music app developed with the vision of enabling people who have no experience playing an electronic keyboard to have fun, while also helping experienced keyboard players expand their repertoires. The app can automatically play a variety of 50 songs, from pop to classical. As the song plays, the app displays the correct keyboard position for both hands in real-time in the piano roll window. The CTK-2550 also includes the built-in 3-level Lesson Functions from Casio: Lesson Lite, Scoring System, Voice Fingering Guide. You’ll have many options to get started playing, and improve over time.
Features include 400 tones, 150 rhythms, 110 built-in songs, 32 tempo settings, and everything mentioned in the previous 54-key units.
As with the other keyboards, this is powered by a wall adapter or batteries. The lightest so far at just 7.28 pounds, it measures a compact 12.1 x 37.2 x 3.6 inches.
Order through Amazon – Casio CTK-2550 61-Key Portable Keyboard
Here is short video we found to highlight the CTK-2550:
Casio CTK-3500 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard
The Casio CTK-3500 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard
What the CTK-3500 adds above the CTK-2550 for about $30 is the touch sensitive keys, a full sampler and Casio’s “Dance Music Mode”. This allows you to compose your own music and remix it with music styles such as house, dance, hip-hop, EDM and more. You can add finishing touches to your music with four pattern phrases, four different sound effects and the Build-up Play function.
As with the CTK-2550, you can connect to your iOS or Android device to use the free Chordana Play app, which uses the CTK-3500’s display to show you how to play your favorite songs. And you still get the 3-level lesson learning system.
The weight and dimensions are the same as the CTK-2550: 7.28 pounds, at 12.1 x 37.2 x 3.6 inches. You can use the wall adapter or batteries, for up to 12 hour of continuous playing.
Get it on Amazon – Casio CTK-3500 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard
Here is a short video from Casio to showcase the CTK-3500:
Casio CTK-4400 61-Key Touch Sensitive Personal Keyboard
Continuing with the Casio line-up for 61-Keys, is the Casio CTK-4400 61-Key Touch Sensitive Personal Keyboard
This is a great keyboard for everyone from students just getting started through to intermediate and advanced players.
Other features, in addition to the 600 AHL keyboard voices is a “Hall Effect Button”. With just one touch, a concert hall reverb can be applied to the sound of the keyboard.
The weight and dimensions are unchanged from 3500 and 2550: 7.28 pounds, at 12.1 x 37.2 x 3.6 inches. As with the other Casio’s, you can power with batteries or the wall adapter.
Buy on Amazon – Casio CTK-4400 61-Key Touch Sensitive Personal Keyboard
We’ve found two videos to let you experience the CTK-4400:
Casio CTK-6200 61 Note Piano Style Keyboard
The final Casio we have in this category is the Casio CTK-6200 61-Key Personal Keyboard
The Song Sequencer and the Rhythm Editor are just a few of the many features you get for the additional $50 from the earlier Casio.These both need more elaboration:
The Song Sequencer provides 16 tracks plus one system track that supports recording of up to five songs and a total of approximately 12,000 notes. Each individual musical instrument part can be recorded to a different track for real multi-track recording capabilities. A full selection of editing tools include event insert, event delete, event copy, quantizer. There is a locator feature for selecting the range of notes to be edited, and modified. And a step recording function lets you input notes by specifying the length and pitch
The Rhythm Editor lets you combine instrument parts from multiple built-in rhythms, turn individual instrument parts on or off, and adjust volume, pan, reverb, and other parameters to create your own original rhythms. You can even create original rhythms for NORMAL, FILL IN, INTRO, and ENDING accompaniment patterns. You can store up to 10 original rhythms in memory for instant recall whenever you need them.
The CTK-4400 also boosts the DSP power in this digital piano, to provide even more Digital Effects. Built-in effects include reverb (10 types), chorus (5 types), and DSP (100 types using 46 effect types including delay, phaser, flanger, wah, rotary, and more). You can apply different effects to a tone to create exactly the sound you want. By adjusting the parameters of the DSP effect types, you can create original DSP effects and store up to 100 original types in memory for later recall.
The other hardware upgrade is for the audio. you get a 4-way speaker system using 7W+7W high-output 2-waw speakers. This is a great boost over the 2W + 2W stereo speakers in the earlier Casio models.
The additional hardware and enhanced case ups the weight to 19.5 pounds and the dimensions are a little larger at 17 x 42 x 6 inches. Power is with batteries and the included wall adapter.
Available on Amazon – Casio CTK-6200 61-Key Personal Keyboard
John Coupland provide a short demonstration:
Yamaha PSRE-363 Electronic Keyboard
The other leading brand for this category is Yamaha, and the first of two we feature is the Yamaha PSR-E363 61-Key Portable Keyboard
You’ll get 61 full-sized piano style touch sensitive keys, 574 voices and 165 accompaniment styles. For students and beginners, this includes the Yamaha Education Suite (Y.E.S.). This training tool allows you to practice using the preset songs (or MIDI files on compatible instruments) at your own pace, one hand at a time, or both together, with the 9 step lesson function.
Sound from the 2W stereo speakers is similar to the other 61-key electronic keyboards, and there is a headphone jack for private listening / practicing. You can connect to a computer or tablet with the USB / MIDI port.
One of the best features of the PSR-E363 is the small dimensions (14.5 x 37.2 x 4.8 inches) of the keyboard, and it’s not too heavy at 13 pounds. Power with the wall adapter or AA batteries.
On Amazon – Yamaha PSR-E363 61-Key Portable Keyboard
Yamaha EZ-220 61-Lighted Key Portable Keyboard Package
Our second Yamaha, and final keyboard, for this category is the Yamaha EZ-220 61-Lighted Key Portable Keyboard
Some people really like the red circle lights at the base of the keys, and others find them to be a distraction. As part of the Yamaha Education Suite (Y.E.S.), you can select from the 100 songs built-in to the keyboard and hit ‘Start’. The keyboard will light up the correct keys and wait for you to play them before continuing. You also get a built-in wireless connection for an iPad / Android device. You can use this to synch up to the free Page Turner iPad app.
There is a USB / MIDI port which lets you connect the keyboard to your computer for use with a wide range of music programs for both education and entertainment.
The Yamaha EZ-220 has 100 preset Styles, 392 high-quality instrument voices and built-in speakers along with the headphone jack.
This is the heaviest (24.9 pounds) and largest ( 20 x 51 x 8 inches) of the 61-key digital pianos.
Add it to your Amazon cart – Yamaha EZ-220 61-Lighted Key Portable Keyboard
Yamaha has provided a short overview video on the features and sounds
76-Keys
Yamaha PSREW300AD 76-Key Portable Keyboard
We start the 76-key category with the Yamaha PSR-EW300-AD 76-Key Portable Keyboard
The Yamaha Education Suite (Y.E.S.) is included, and has the “Touch Tutor”. It has a lesson mode which tracks the velocity or strength the keys are played at in order to teach dynamics. It also has the USB / MIDI interface as described on the earlier Yamaha keyboards, and connects with their other teaching aids.
Features include 574 voices, 165 auto accompaniment styles and 154 preset songs.
It’s a lightweight 13.7 pounds, and fairly compact at 14.5 x 45.4 x 4.7 inches. Power is from 6 AA batteries or the wall adapter.
See it played, and hear how it sounds in this Yamaha clip:
Yamaha Piaggero NP32 76 Note Keyboard
Our second Yamaha for the 76-key category is the Yamaha NP-32 76-Key Portable Digital Piano
Features include 10 each of Voices, Piano Demos, Voice Demo Songs, and Piano Preset Songs. For recording your own voices, sounds and tone generation there is an AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) stereo sampling input.
There is USB port for connectivity, and a transpose function. Connect to your iOS device for even more fun. Yamaha offers a range of apps such as Digital Piano Controller, Metronome, and NoteStar for use with the Piaggero series.
A main selling feature of the NP32 is it’s “go anywhere, play anywhere” capability as a 76-key piano. With Piaggero, you can practice and play more because it’s light enough to be easily carried around and runs on batteries; Or you can power it with the wall adapter, so you never have to quit.
It weights in at 19.6 pounds, with dimension of 10.1 x 49.0 x 4.1 inches.
Order on Amazon – Yamaha NP-32 76-Key Portable Digital Piano
Hear it played by a Yamaha professional, with more information on the digital piano:
Casio WK-245 76-Key Keyboard
Our final keyboard in this category is the Casio WK-245 76-Key Touch Sensitive Keyboard
For learning, or just practicing, the WK-245 has Casio’s integrated Step Up lessons, Auto Harmonize, and Music Challenge programs. You’ll also get the Casio Step-Up Lesson System, and connections to iPad apps via the USB / MIDI Interface
Features include 600 tones (48 -note polyphonic), 180 Auto-Accompaniment Rhythms, 152 Songs, 32 Setting Registration Memory, a 5 Song / 6 Track Recorder.
The WK-245 is 21 pounds with dimensions of 18 x 50 x 7 inches. Similar to the other keyboards, it operates on batteries or the included AC adapter.
Scott Ramsey gives a short video:
88-Keys
We have 4 keyboards for the category – one each from Casio and Roland, and one from Yamaha . When you get to the full piano range, you get a lot more features and superb sound for the cost (the Casio and Yamaha are both relatively inexpensive at under $400). With all that these have to offer, we’ll provide the highlights below and expand on the 88-Key category in a separate article focused on the Best 88-Key Portable Keyboards.
Casio Privia PX-160BK 88-Key Full Size Digital Piano
First up is the Casio Privia PX160BK 88-Key Full Size Digital Piano
Casio has also upped the speaker system to 2 at 8 Watts each (measuring 4.7″ x 2″, give you a greater volume as well as fuller acoustic range. If you prefer to keep your playing more private (or share with a fellow musician), there are dual headphone outputs on the front of the keyboard.There are also “line-out” 1/4-inch Left and Right jacks on the rear to connect to external speakers – great for playing at home, in a practice room or even on-stage performances.
Features include a suite of Digital Effects including: Hall Simulator/Reverb, 4 Chorus (Reverb), 4 Brilliance and +3DPS; A Scale Function with 17 Preset Temperaments; A built-in Metronome – 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 beats; tempo range: 20 to 255; And a 60 Song Music Library with 10 custom song expansion (max).
To reproduce the sounds of a piano, Casio developed a proprietary sound source recording technology, AiR (Acoustic and intelligent Resonator). With AiR, Casio meticulously recorded the sound of a 9-foot concert grand at 4 dynamic levels. For a full range, you can shift / transpose +/- 2 octaves (-12 semitones ~ 0 ~ +12 semitones).
With AiR technology, the PX-160 gives you 18 Grand Piano tones to select from. You’ll also get other tones including various Harpsichord, Organ, Vibraphone and others.
AiR also provides the realistic piano acoustic response for when a damper pedal is used. A basic pedal is included with the keyboard, and you can purchase others with more options like the ($74.95) SP-33 3 Pedal Unit (“damper”, “soft” and “sostenuto”) with half-damper pedal operation.
As with many of the digital keyboards on this list, the Casio has a USB / MIDI port. You can record 2 Tracks / 1 song (Approximately 5,000 notes total on board memory storage), or it can be used as a controller with the Apple iPad simply with the use of Apple’s Camera Connection Kit.
One final added touch – the PX160 is available in black (PX1-60BK) or champagne gold (PX-160GD) colored finish. And it comes with a 3 year manufacturer extended warranty (2 years more than you get with most others).
At 24.5 pounds and 11.5 x 52 x 5.5 inches it’s a very compact for a full keyboard piano.
Order through Amazon, Casio Privia PX160BK 88-Key Full Size Digital Piano
Yamaha P71 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
The Yamaha P71 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
To make our list, this has a quality, realistic piano feel to the action with fully weighted piano-style keys to simulate the workings of an acoustic piano. Yamaha’s “GHS” (Graded Hammer Standard) weighted action has heavier touch in the low-end and lighter touch in the high-end.
Features include 10 different voices, 64 polyphonics; Reverbs (4) Metronome, and more.
Similar to the Casio PX-160 AiR technology, Yamaha used “AWM” (Advanced Wave Memory) to digitally sample their full- and mid-sized acoustic grand pianos to achieve a variety of authentic piano sounds. By capturing a Left and Right simultaneous sample with 2 microphones, Yamaha creates a more spacious sound with deep, rich tones.
When playing, the P71 uses AWM to play one sample per key at varying levels of volume and timbre. You also have the ability to shift / transpose +/- 1 octave (-6 to 0 semitones, 0 to +6 semitones ). On board speakers are 2 at 6 Watts (4.5 inch square); You also have the jacks to connect to external amplifier or to headphones.
The portable piano comes with a sustain pedal, and you can upgrade to a pedal with more features (e.g., $39.00 Yamaha FC3A Piano Style Sustain Foot Pedal with Half-Pedaling
Weighing a little over 25 pounds and measuring 11.5 x 54.25 x 6.0 inches it’s comparable to the Casio P-160. It also comes with the 3-Year Parts/Labor Limited Warranty.
Order the $399.99 Amazon-Exclusive Yamaha P71 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
A great video on the P115 (see next) compared with the P45 (P71). If you are trying to decide between these two excellent keyboards, you should watch this:
Yamaha P115 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
Our second Yamaha is the Yamaha P115 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
The action is very similar, with the “GHS” (Graded Hammer Standard) weighted 88-keys – heavier in the low-end and lighter in the high end, just like an acoustic piano. Stepping up from the “AWM”, the P115 tones were created using the “Pure CF Sound Engine”. This is similar to the AWM, and the sampling is based on Yamaha’s acclaimed 9′ CFIIIS concert grand piano. The materials in the keys is also upgraded for a better finish on the white keys, and a nice matte finish on the black keys.
Like the other Yamaha’s on this list, there is a Controller App for iOS devices. This gives players a rich, graphic user interface allowing for quick and easy navigation and configuration. You also get the UBS /MIDI port for storing your own music tracks, as well as interfacing with external equipment.
The P115 features the “Pianist Styles” which can turn your simple chords into accompaniment tracks. Simply play a chord and the Pianist Style gives you a full piano accompaniment to go along with it.
Other features above and beyond what you get with the P71 include: 192-note polyphony, 4 demo songs and player recordable 50 piano songs (100 KB per song, approx. 11,000 notes).
AUX Out jacks allow audio to be sent to an external amplifier or powered speaker for powerful performances during live events, parties and a wide variety of situations. These professional 1/4″ jacks connect without disabling the built-in speakers (2 at 7 Watts each) when using the headphone output.
This comes with the same sustain pedal as the P71, and you can upgrade to a pedal with more features (e.g., $39.00 Yamaha FC3A Piano Style Sustain Foot Pedal with Half-Pedaling
At 43.5 pounds and 17x 57.8 x 11.8 inches it’s the heaviest and largest portable keyboard on the list; It does come with a 3-Year Parts/Labor Limited Warranty.
Roland FP-30 Digital Piano
Our final keyboard for this category the Roland FP-30 88-Key Digital Piano
- Rich, responsive tone from Roland’s renowned SuperNATURAL Piano sound engine
- 88-note PHA-4 Standard keyboard provides authentic piano touch for maximum expression
- Powerful amplifier and stereo speakers deliver impressive sound
- Headphones output and quiet keyboard action allow you to enjoy playing at any time without disturbing others
- Weighs 43.4 pounds, measuring 17.2 x 55.2 x 12.0
- Built-in Bluetooth wireless connectivity for using the piano with popular apps on your smartphone or tablet such as GarageBand, piaScore, Sheet Music Direct, and many others
- Broaden your musical experience with dual/split modes and a wide selection of non-piano sounds like organ, strings, voices, drums, and more
- Twin Piano mode is ideal for lessons, letting student and teacher play side by side in the same octave ranges
- Connect USB memory to save songs you’ve captured with the onboard SMF recorder and play along with your favorite WAV and SMF songs
- Optional KPD-70 Three-Pedal Unit
($75.95) for enhanced functionality
- Available in white or black finish
- Warranty – 10 years
You can order the Roland FP-30 88-Key Digital Piano
And don’t forget to get batteries for playing on the go. Here are recommendations to save you time searching, and to get the best deal:
The Best Alkaline AA, AAA Batteries
Longest Lasting Lithium Ion AA, AAA Batteries
We hope you have found this review useful. Please read our other in-depth reviews on keyboards from silicone roll-ups to full 88-key digital pianos. If we missed any of your favorites, let us know in the comments so we can check them out and update this list.
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