Top 15 Best Yamaha Keyboard & Digital Piano Reviews 2022

Yamaha is one of the top instrument brands, enjoying a high reputation for making high-quality keyboards and digital pianos. Needless to say, you can always see the Yamaha brand during your research. It’s a much-have name when talking about the best piano manufacturers. With so many keyboards and digital pianos in the market, it could be difficult to find your dream keyboard. So, we’ve collected the 15 best Yamaha keyboard with different functions and features for you to choose from.

At the same time, Yamaha is known for providing a very wide kind of piano keyboards, ranging from acoustic pianos, synths, workstations to digital pianos. Whether you’re new to the piano world or already experienced, you can always find one that meets your needs.

Let’s dive into it!

 

Top 15 Best Yamaha Keyboards & Digital Pianos List

 

The Reviews of Top 15 Best Yamaha Keyboards & Digital Pianos

With your special needs in mind, let’s taking a close look at different Yamaha keyboards and digital pianos.

 

‘Keyboard’ is a type of piano that is mainly designed for beginners. Most of them are built to be portable and compact so you can carry around without troubles.

1. Yamaha YPG-235 76-key Touch-sensitive Keyboard

 

Yamaha YPG-235 is a portable keyboard with 76 full-size keys. It’s one of the most popular keyboards from the YGP series. Touch-sensitive keys and recording function makes it shine in its class. It’s a Yamaha keyboard that is suitable for beginners and gigging musicians due to its portable design and educational features.

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Yamaha YPG-235 is a touch-sensitive keyboard, equipped with Yamaha’s Graded Soft Touch Technology. The touch-sensitive keyboard means the sound of the keys is not volume-controlled. The harder you press the key, the louder sound you’ll hear. It’s a great feature for players from all levels to play pieces with incredible expressiveness.

Are you a fan of music creating? The model comes with 500 voices, 160 styles, and 30 onboard songs, giving you endless options to get inspired while creating.

If you’re looking for a keyboard to gig and travel with, Yamaha YPG-235 is a great portable piano keyboard that weighs only 18 pounds. It’s great for you to take it anywhere.

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2. Yamaha PSR EW-300 76-key Portable Keyboard

Yamaha PSR EW-300 is a newer model of Yamaha YPG-235. Though the YGP-235 is still a solid option on the market, the EW-300 gets improved in many areas you’ll consider. Let’s check it out!

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Like the Yamaha YGP-235, this model is also a keyboard with touch-sensitive keys. Undoubtedly, it’s enjoyable to feel the melodies going up and down by hitting the keys harder or lighter. However, the Yamaha PSR EW-300 has something different. It’s also equipped with Touch Tutor Lesson Mode to teach you dynamics by tracking the strength and the velocity of the keys. Though the keyboard is not weighted, you can still get a weighted feel by responsive keys.

Additionally, its powerful educational features make it shines among piano beginners. First of all, it has an onboard lesson function, including 154 songs for you to learn. Secondly, it comes with Yamaha’s Education System that offers step-by-step lessons for you to learn music basics and help you to develop your piano skills.

Different Modes can be used in different ways. Dual-mode is for you to layer two voices and explore different instrument combinations. Duo Mode is a very important one when you’re taking lessons. Not many keyboards in this price range come with Duo Mode, it allows you to split the keyboard into two same halves and you’ll have two middle ‘C’. You can follow your teacher’s playing in the same octaves while learning.

When it comes to the weight, Yamaha PSR EW-300 stands out for its portable design. It weighs only 13.7 lbs. A teenager wouldn’t even have any trouble carrying this Yamaha portable keyboard.

Overall, Yamaha EW-300 is a 76-key portable keyboard that is suitable for beginners to learn on and practice. Players can benefit from its touch-sensitive keys and high-quality sound. Together with loads of versatile functions, you can’t go wrong with it!

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3. Yamaha PSR E-263 Best Yamaha 61-key Portable Keyboard

 

Yamaha PSR E-263 is another portable keyboard from the PSR series, which is a popular series that produces portable keyboard and portable arrangers. It comes with a very affordable price of around $100, making it a great cheap Yamaha keyboard on the market.

Well, cheap doesn’t mean the keyboard cannot serve you for the long term. It comes with many useful features without compromising quality troubles. If you’re a beginner looking for a keyboard to start, it’s a solid option for you to mull over.

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Yamaha PSR E-263 generates high-quality stereo sound, providing great sounding experiences. It’s equipped with AWM stereo technology, which you can also find in a more advanced model such as Yamaha P45 digital piano.

If you’re a fan of exploring and creating music, this keyboard comes with loads of sound effects, including 9 types of Reverb and 5 types of Chorus, etc. You can customize your tunes by using them.

Impressively, Yamaha PSR E-263 is probably the most portable keyboard on the list, which weighs only 11 pounds. We know that for beginners, practice makes perfect. So, if you want to practice it whenever and wherever you want, even during your traveling, its super portable design makes it possible.

There are many extra features, including Duo Mode, Onboard Lesson, and Yamaha’s Education Suite. They are all very useful for beginners to start on and get interested.

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4. Yamaha YPT-260 61-key Portable Electric Keyboard

Here you’ve reached the most affordable keyboard on the list. Yamaha YPT-260 is a 61-key portable electric keyboard designed for entry-level players and kids.

With the useful features such as educational functions, portable design, Aux line input, the YPT-260 can be a really wise purchase as a keyboard around $100.

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As a Yamaha portable electric keyboard, the YPT-260 weighs only 12.4lbs, which is considered to be fairly easy to carry around. Additionally, it’s super compact with the dimension of 42.1 x 16.9 x 6.6 inches. If you’re looking for a keyboard without taking up too much space, Yamaha YPT-260 can be a positive option.

Yamaha YPT-260 is equipped with an easy-to-operate recording function. This is a very useful function while practicing. You can record your performance and then play it back to check where you got wrong or not satisfying.

Speaking of educational functions, Yamaha YPT-260 also comes with Yamaha Education Suite, which includes a nine-step lesson function. It allows you to learn note recognition, tempo, and two-handed technique, etc. Plus, Yamaha offers a beginner songbook that you can download for free.

To conclude, Yamaha YPT-260 is not a keyboard for professional players. But it’s a solid option for kids and beginners due to the fact that it’s designed to be a simple keyboard for you to practice and learn on. Plus, as a keyboard under $100, it’s a good value for money, considering all the useful features it offers.

If you’re looking for beginner keyboards, you can check the list of Top 10 Best Keyboards for Beginners.

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Well, you’ve arrived at the session of digital piano keyboards. Digital pianos are designed to meet the needs of more advanced players as they are closer to an acoustic piano. Also, if you’re a beginner, digital pianos are able to give you more room for growth and improvement.

The features of Yamaha digital pianos can vary from model to model. It could be difficult to choose from so many models. But no need to worry, we’re here to help. We’ve listed several models with their special features for you to mull over.

1. Yamaha P45 Digital Piano

Yamaha P45 is a super popular weighted keyboard model from Yamaha ‘P’ series which stands for portable. This model shines among aspiring beginners for its simplicity and attractive price.

The main attribute of Yamaha P45 is that it’s loaded with all the high-quality pianist essentials for you to practice and build skills yet no bells and whistles to distract you.

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Sound quality and key action are the two most important factors while considering buying a digital piano because digital pianos are designed to be an alternative instrument of an acoustic piano. Well, Yamaha P45 benefits from these two areas, which make it shines in this price range.

Yamaha P45 is equipped with the AWM sound engine, which recreates the rich and spacious sound of an acoustic piano. You can have enjoyable playing experiences while playing it.

The model is a Yamaha fully weighted keyboard. It’s equipped with GHS (Graded Hammer Standard) weighted action, allowing you to feel heavier touch in the high registers and lighter touch in the low registers. It’s to simulate the realistic key action of a real piano. And it perfectly fits for those who want to practice figure techniques for when the time comes to transition to a real piano.

GHS weighted action also comes with 3 levels of touch sensitivity. So, you can use it for performing various styles.

Apart from these two main areas, Yamaha P45 has lots of other useful features, including 10 instrument voices, portable and compact design, built-in Metronome, etc.

Overall, Yamaha P45 comes to the market as a powerful weighted digital piano keyboard for novice and kids players. Together with its high-quality pianist essentials and reasonable price, it’s truly worth investigating!

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2. Yamaha P71 88 Weighted Digital Piano Keyboard

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Yamaha P71 is a completely identical version of Yamaha P45. It’s a portable fully-weighted keyboard as well.

However, there is one thing different between these two models, which is Yamaha 71 is $50 cheaper than Yamaha P45 because the P71 is an Amazon-exclusive digital piano. Apart from it, they have no difference in any aspects of functions and features.

Click here to see the more detailed review of Yamaha P71 (Yamaha P45).

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3. Yamaha P125 Weighted Digital Piano

Yamaha P125 is another piano keyboard with weighted keys from Yamaha ‘P’ series. It’s the successor of Yamaha P115, which is one of the most popular weighted digital pianos on the market.

Its combination of incredible resonate quality, portable & compact design and reasonable price make it a solid option for beginners, intermediate players, and gigging musicians.

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Sound quality is the main area that Yamaha P125 shines.

Yamaha P125 is equipped with a high-end Pure CF sound engine, which recreates the sound of Yamaha’s famous CFIIIS concert grand piano. Every note was recorded several times at different velocity levels between soft and loud. It gives you the ultimate listening experiences.

Additionally, Yamaha P125’s polyphony notes and speakers also contribute to the quality of the sound.

The average number of polyphony notes is 128 in this price range. Well impressively, Yamaha comes with 192-note polyphony.

128-note polyphony can already let you play some complex classical pieces while 192-note polyphony is definitely not something you should worry about. You can play any tunes and songs by using it. Plus, more polyphony notes allow you to be a more sensitive pianist.

Four speakers generate incredible remarkable boosted sound for you to enjoy.

Well, sound quality is just one of the shining features of Yamaha P125. There are many useful features waiting for you to explore, such as a 2-track recording function and free Smart Pianist App. Yamaha P125 is a great weighted keyboard model for players from entry to intermediate levels. You’ll be enjoying it for sure!

Click here to see the more detailed review of Yamaha P125.

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4. Yamaha DGX660 88-key Versatile Digital Piano

Yamaha DGX-660 is a digital piano with 88 weighted keys. It wins over its competitors in versatility. It’s considered to be a hybrid piano as a result of the combination of both features of digital pianos and arranger keyboards.

If you want a keyboard that is loaded with lots of voices & rhythm and LCD lesson function while not trades off the realistic sound and key action, Yamaha DGX-660 is an ideal choice.

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Yamaha DGX-660 uses the same sound engine as Yamaha P125, which means you can enjoy the authentic sound quality that is close to an acoustic piano. GHS weighted action gives you realistic key action for practicing finger techniques properly.

Few digital pianos are equipped with an LCD display. But Yamaha DGX-660 features with lesson functions with LCD display. It offers interactive lessons for beginners to learn note-reading and playing skills. Plus, you can also use the button of ‘Minus one’ to adjust the tempo of the songs you’re playing. It’s super useful for different levels of learning.

In addition, Yamaha DGX-660 comes with 554 voices and loads of accompaniment styles. It can be used to create the chords and band parts by Yamaha’s Smart Chord function. Even you’re just at the start of learning, you can play the tunes with auto-created chords.

Overall, Yamaha DGX does not only come with piano essentials, but it also delivers lots of interesting functions for you to unlock talents and get inspired.

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5. Yamaha Arius YDP163B Best Weighted Piano Keyboard

Yamaha YDP-163B is a decent upright digital piano with an excellent weighted key action. It’s one of the advanced digital pianos that is designed for professional pianists.

It could be a long-term investment, offering the same experiences as on an acoustic piano without tuning trouble.

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Yamaha YDP-163B piano keyboard has the incredible weighted keys that make it stand out on the list. It’s equipped with GH3 (Graded Hammer 3), which is Yamaha’s premium weighted action.

What are weighted keys?

Weighted keys are that when you press the keys, there is some resistance responding to your finger and you can feel some natural weight.

Like an acoustic piano, the higher up the registers you go, the heavier it feels to press the keys and vise Versa. Additionally, GH3 weighted action is designed to simulate the key action of a real piano accurately. It allows you to have a weighted feel when you’re playing very fast tunes and frequently hitting the same key.

Yamaha YDP-163B delivers a delicate appearance. The model comes with a furniture stand, bench and a three-pedal unit attached to the stand. It saves much trouble as you don’t have to spend time on finding bench and stand that are compatible with the piano keyboard. It comes with everything you need. All you need to do is just assemble and then enjoy.

The 2-track recorder can help you while practicing. You can perform and playback to get a new insight into the tunes you play whenever you want, just by clicking the buttons on the board.

Yamaha YDP-163B comes with a Controller App, offering a user-friendly interface for you to operate your piano keyboard.

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Watch the video to see how incredible the sound is and the review.

 

Yamaha PSR-S975 61-Key Keyboard Workstation

Yamaha PSR-S975 is a 61-key arranger workstation keyboard with lots of powerful functions. It’s great to use in the studio and perform in live shows.

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Yamaha PSR S975 is a very expandable arranger workstation, which comes with 1625 voices, 55 Drum/SFX kits and 480 XG voices. Plus, it also offers 2 Yamaha expansion packs built into the keyboard and you can store your own packages to the memory as well.

All the voices deliver realistic sound quality. You can combine several sounds together and use effects to improve your performance to a higher level.

Impressively, Yamaha PSR S975 arranger workstation is loaded with a Synth Vocoder function, allowing you to combine your voices and the sound built-in the keyboard. Then you can use the Vocal Harmony 2 system to make sure your vocals are the one that stands out in the show by controlling various settings of harmonies.

Apart from these features, there are also loads of useful features waiting for you to explore.

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Check the video to see more:

 

Other Yamaha Workstation Keyboard Recommendations

 

 

Buying Guide for the Best Yamaha Keyboards

Before buying a Yamaha keyboard, you need to know more about it.

 

There are several types of Yamaha keyboards. Each one comes with different features and functions. You should make your needs to be clear before purchasing and then choose the one for your requirements.

 

#1. Portable Keyboards

Portable keyboards are mainly designed for beginners and kids to unlock talents and get interested in the world of the piano keyboard.

Most of Yamaha’s keyboards are built to be very portable in order to carry around without much trouble. Although keyboards trade off some features and functions of an acoustic piano such as the number of keys and weighted keys, they still deliver many useful features allowing players to have fun and practice piano skills.

For a beginner, it’s great to buy a portable keyboard before knowing if the piano is going to be something you stick to. If you’re interested in it, you can check Top 10 Best Keyboard for Beginners here.

Plus, if you’re looking for a piano for your kids, a portable keyboard is also a wise choice without cost a lot.

 

#2. Digital Pianos

Yamaha digital pianos also come with many different types, such as stage digital pianos, digital console pianos, and upright digital pianos, etc.

Well Basically, no matter which type of digital pianos, they are made to replicate a real piano. Therefore, the manufacturers always put the highest priority on the sound and the weighted key action. The more advanced the quality of the digital pianos you play, the more you can have the same experience as an acoustic piano.

The difference between portable keyboards and digital pianos can be considered in many areas. But each of them comes with useful features and functions you’ll need. So, do as much research as you can before buying one.

 

#3. Keyboard Workstation

Keyboard Workstations are used to do composition and production of electronic music. They are a mixing of a keyboard, a music sequencer, and a sound module.

Keyboard Workstations come with a built-in auto-accompaniment part that can automatically generate backing tracks to match the style, rhythm of the songs you play.

 

#4. MIDI Controllers Keyboard

MIDI controllers are used while producing the music or editing tunes. Some of the keyboards and digital pianos can be used as a MIDI controller to transmit sound to MIDI-enabled software.

Yamaha MIDI controller Keyboards always come with many parts, such as knobs, pads, and keys. If you’re doing synth work, choose a MIDI controller based on your needs and style.

 

Yamaha ‘P’ series keyboard -It’s one of the most popular series from Yamaha. There are many weighted keyboards from the ‘P’ series, such as Yamaha P71, Yamaha P125. They stand out for portable design and high quality.

Yamaha DGX series -The keyboard from Yamaha DGX series is suitable for beginners and intermediate players. They are designed to be versatile and have resonated sound. The Yamaha DGX-660 is the most popular in this series.

Yamaha PSR series -There are many types of keyboards in the Yamaha PSR series, including stage keyboards, starter keyboards, etc. The attractive part is most of them come with an affordable price, such as Yamaha PSR E-263, Yamaha PSR EW-300.

Yamaha Arius Series –The Yamaha Arius Series are digital upright pianos. They are designed to be able to replace acoustic pianos while having features of digital pianos. Arius Series piano is suitable for players from all levels to have the feeling of playing on a real piano, such as Yamaha Arius YDP163B, Yamaha Arius YDP-103.

 

Choosing the right Yamaha keyboard is never an easy thing. There are loads of factors you need to take into consideration.

 

#1. Size and Weight

If room space is one of your considerations, then you probably need a keyboard with a compact size.

To some extent, the size of the keyboards depends on the number of keys. A standard piano comes with 88 keys. But it will take up much space than a 61-key or 76-key piano keyboard.

Well, not like digital pianos, Yamaha’s portable keyboards normally narrow down to 61 keys and 76 keys for keeping portable and compact. Having 88 keys is not that essential for a beginner at the initial stage. 61-key or 76-key piano keyboards are also great for beginners to practice.

Plus, Yamaha does not offer small keyboard specially designed for kids like Casio SA-76. But there are lots of 61-key and 76-key portable keyboard that kids can use to play from Yamaha.

Speaking of the weight, we can see from the name of portable keyboard, most of Yamaha’s keyboard came with very lighted design, ranging from 7 pounds to 15 pounds. It’s super easy if you commute or travel a lot.

Digital pianos are heavier than keyboards due to the weighted keys. But there are several portable digital pianos from Yamaha P series. The weight of them is around 20-25 pounds.

 

#2. Price

The price of Yamaha keyboards can range from 80 to several thousand dollars.

For those who don’t want to spend much before knowing if you’re committed to it, Yamaha’s Portable keyboards could be your solid choice.

Portable keyboards are the most inexpensive instrument. Normally a keyboard costs from 80-300 bucks while some Yamaha cheap keyboards are even around $100. Cheap doesn’t mean poor quality. Backed up by the reputation of Yamaha, the keyboards around $100 also come with useful features without compromising quality.

If you’re looking for an advanced keyboard, it’s better to go for a high-end digital piano. Digital pianos are a cost-effective way if you’re working on a tight budget to buy an acoustic piano. So, they often cost a bit more than portable keyboards.

Here we’ve collected some Yamaha keyboards in different price ranges for you to choose.

 

#3. Weighted and Touch-Sensitive Keys

If you’re an aspiring beginner or you’re already a pro player, these two aspects are something you should seriously think about.

 

• Weighted Keys

Weighted action is designed to imitate the key action of an acoustic piano. It’s mainly for players to strengthen figures and have a more realistic feel than playing on a non-weighted keyboard. Before buying a keyboard, it’s important to know if it has weighted keys.

Different models are equipped with different weighted action technology. For Yamaha, there are three types of weighted action technology the manufacturer offers.

GHS (Graded Hammer Standard): An entry-level weighted action for beginners. It’s a hammer action weighted action, which means you can have heavier touch in the low end and lighter touch in the high end. Typically, all the Yamaha keyboards under $1000 are equipped with GHS weighted action. But the weighted feel may a bit lighter than more advanced weighted action technology.

GH /GHE(Graded Hammer effect): GH weighted action is a mid-range weighted action. It is suitable for intermediate and advanced pianists. GH is available on some high-end keyboard pianos, providing a correct response to your figures.

GH3 (Graded Hammer 3): Yamaha’s premium weighted action technology. Compared with GH weighted action, GH3 has improved sensors in order to allow quick note repetitions. It’s the best-weighted action you can have on Yamaha keyboards.

If you’re not sure whether you’ve committed to the piano or not, getting a non-weighted keyboard without spending too much could be a good idea for you. However, for those who dream to play an acoustic piano in the future, I recommend you to get a Yamaha weighted keyboard from the start in order to get accustomed to the weighted feel and transit to a real piano easier.

 

• Touch Sensitive Keys

The feature of touch-sensitive keys is not something you rarely see. Even some keyboards under $250 are equipped with touch-sensitive keys. Touch-sensitive keys mean the keyboard is not volume-controlled. The harder you press the keys, the louder the sound you can get. It’s for players to play pieces with expressiveness as every song has weak tones and strong tones to express certain emotions.

 

What are the Best Yamaha Keyboards & Digital Pianos On the Market?

 

Conclusion

Yamaha is an instrument manufacturer that gains a high reputation in the world. There is no need to worry about the quality of the keyboards from Yamaha, which is a great thing.

Every Yamaha keyboard comes with special features and functions you’ll need. Make sure to set your goal and always put your needs in mind before buying a keyboard. We hope you’ll select the right keyboard for your needs.