If you are a new aspirant or a beginner and have an urge to learn piano, you would be surprised to see the variety of options that are available in the market today.
Although with the advent of Digital/Electronic pianos, learning piano has become easier and affordable for a lot of people. Learning piano doesn’t come off very easy and so is the process of buying one for yourself.
The market is now flooded with the best quality digital pianos, so finding the most suitable one for you, is a tedious task especially if you have only a $500 budget. Because digital pianos come invariant shape, size, and forms, along with a wider range of prices. In this article, we will be focusing on the best digital pianos under $500.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Our recommended top 5 digital pianos under $500:
| Name | Author Rating | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Yamaha P-45 | ★★★★★ | |
 | Editor's Choice Yamaha P71 | ★★★★★ | |
 | LAGRIMA 88 Key | ★★★★✰ | |
 | Alesis Recital Pro | ★★★✰✰ | |
 | Yamaha P45B | ★★★★✰ |
Best 5 Digital Pianos under $500
1. Yamaha P71 – Recommended by Our Experts
This one is an exclusive piano, from a renowned piano brand like Yamaha. After getting it thoroughly examined by our professionals and most advanced pianist, we have come to the conclusion that Yamaha P-71, offers the closest experience and feel of using a traditional acoustic piano with its amazing features within this affordable budget of under 500$. It is, therefore, the highest-rated product on many e-commerce sites and highly recommended by us.
2. Yamaha P-45 Digital Piano
This is an exclusive bundle set-up by Austin Bazaar including Yamaha P-45 Digital Piano, adjustable stand, piano bench, headphones, Austin Bazaars instructional DVD’s, instructional books, and polish cloth, making it a compact but ready to use piano. Yamaha’s P-45 Digital piano is the most affordable piano and is best used by students and teachers.
3. LAGRIMA 88 Key – A Good Digital Piano for Beginners
Features
This LAGRIMA grand console piano has adopted a dream source by using digitalization sampling, giving you a realistic acoustic feel and experience. It comes with a standard 88 full-size key along with inbuilt MIDI/USB terminals to enhance your connectivity to other mobile or computer devices.
The recording and playback function of this piano allows you to practice one hand at a time or record your next song. You can use the keyboard split function to split two different tones (main tone and split tone) into both ends of the keyboard.
The fashionable slide cover design of this piano makes it easier to operate. This LAGRIMA grand console piano comes with all the basic necessities required.
Overall, this LAGRIMA grand console piano is specially designed for the new aspirants and works great for them. It is an affordable, console or cabinet style Digital piano for under 500$. If portability is not what you are looking for, then this Digital console-style piano is a perfect choice for you.
- Beginners friendly digital piano
- Technologically well versed and advanced Digital piano with all the necessary features.
- It’s sturdy and has ample storage space to keep your musical notes or books.
- Comes with headphone jacks and stereo adapters
- The white color of this grand console piano along with the beautiful bench adds an overall aesthetic look to your house
- Assembly instructions, not very clear only schematic/graphical
- Auxiliary cable connecting pedals to the piano is very short, need an extender to connect
- Although slim in design, it’s still not a portable Digital Piano
4. Alesis Recital Pro – A 88 key Digital Piano under $500
Features
This Alesis Recital Pro Keyboard featuring the standard 88 full-size keys is very rare, for a keyboard of this price range. Although the material used to make these keys is some cheap plastic, which takes away the feel of a piano.
One of the best deals available, comprising all the requisites in one single package. The bundle comprises the cheapest possible Keyboard, a heavy-duty double X metal stand, padded X-style bench, and a universal sustain pedal, making it the best keyboard under $500.
- Light-weighted, easily portable
- The bundle overall is of the affordable price tag
- Consists of all necessary features of entry-level Digital Pianos
- There seems to be a major concern regarding the volume control system of the keyboard.
- The keys are made up of plastic and don’t really give a feel of the acoustic piano.
- Poor in-built speaker system
- Usability of the keyboard is also very difficult, as the keys are not marked. For every small function user’s manual would be required.
5. Yamaha P45B Digital Piano
Features
This P-45B Digital piano from Yamaha features GHS weighted action keyboards which are heavier in the low end and lighter in the high end, giving the complete feel of the purely acoustic piano. The Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) recreates natural instrument sound in the stereo.
This P-45B Digital piano from Yamaha is the most affordable piano of its kind and are made for best usage by students and teachers.
- Light in weight, easy to transport
- Best for new aspirants, students, and teachers
- Uses AWM Sampling to give a closer feel to the grand pianos
- USB connectivity to interact with other sound devices, computers, and mobile devices
- The bundle comprises Yamaha P45B Digital Piano along with Knox Double X Keyboard Stand, a Full-Size Studio Headphones, and Sustain Pedal
- Not meant for advanced level pianists
- No MIDI connectivity
- Speakers are not very loud, can be used only for personal usage
How to know if the Digital Piano is worth $500?
Another very important question arises here is how to identify if the Digital Piano is worth $500? How do we know as to what we are buying is even worth that much or not?
We take various features into consideration while looking for a piano, and some of those features do influence the price too. But do we need all those advanced level features at the very initial stage? the answer is NO. Similarly, there are various other aspects that need to be kept in mind before finalizing the one for yourself:
Feel of your instrument:
For a pianist, the touch and feel of their instrument is the most important aspect. Every instrument has its unique feel be it traditional acoustic pianos, digital pianos, the keyboards. The idea is to get as close as possible to the original traditional acoustic pianos which use hammer action to produce sound.
The Digital pianos these days come with a weighted hammer feature to create the same effect and develop the same resistance for the pianist.
The number of keys:
Most of the modern pianos come with 88 keys in total- 52 white keys and 36 black keys. They add up to make 7 full octaves, plus a few extra notes.
Any instrument with fewer keys will be more compact and will be able to fit into smaller rooms. However, some more advanced pieces of music will need the full range of keys, so you just won’t be able to play them on a smaller instrument.
Anything over 61 keys (five octaves) should be enough for the first few years, although if you plan to do a lot of duets then you’ll probably need the extra space a full 88 keys would give two players.
Responsiveness:
Responsiveness is related to the weight of the keys. In an acoustic piano with hammers, you press the keys harder for a louder sound, and more lightly for a quieter sound. Depending on how you press the keys, you can create different tones and moods, because the instrument responds differently to different kinds of touch.
However, digital pianos don’t work like that. In these cases, the keys just give off the recorded sound. The only way a digital piano will have the responsiveness of an acoustic is if it was built that way. For example Instruments like the Alesis Cadenza are built to be responsive to the player.
If you are a beginner and looking for a decent instrument, looking for a piano that advertises responsiveness might be enough to get you a suitable instrument. However, if you are a more experienced pianist, or aims to be one, then you must look for a place to try out pianos by yourself.
Polyphony:
Polyphone refers to the number of individual notes or tones the piano can produce at once. At a bare minimum, you should have 32-note polyphony while 64-note polyphony is more adequate for creating complex sounds. The highest quality electronic pianos deliver 128-note or 264-note polyphony.
Sustain Pedals:
A sustain pedal is essential for a great playing experience. When pressed, it allows the notes being played to ring out for longer. This is used to create a smooth flowing sound in some sections of music, and to allow chords to be heard after you need to move your left hand.
Sound Quality:
It might not always be possible, but it is advisable to try a digital piano before you buy it. If you do get the opportunity, you must check the sound quality using headphones as it is easier to hear the sound quality if you plug in headphones than if you just hear the piano through its speakers (mandatory to check through them as well).
Weight and Portability:
It is an extremely important aspect that is often neglected. It is important to know the purpose for which you will be using your piano. If you intend to do a lot of traveling with your piano or looking for a piano to do a lot of performances and concerts, then you need to look for a lightweight and portable Digital piano.
Whereas there are many Digital pianos which once set up cannot be easily moved and are meant to be kept intact.
These are some very basic features to check before you finalize the one for yourself. Obviously, in addition to these, the preference of each pianist will also change as per his/her needs. But a pianist must check these minimal aspects before coming to a conclusion. A product that fits the above-mentioned criteria would be a substantial keyboard that costs 400-500$.
Conclusion
We hope that our in-depth study for budget-friendly (under 500$) Digital Pianos, will give you some insight as to what exactly look for when you are planning to buy one for yourself.
It is always advisable to do your research beforehand, depending upon the factors important for you. you must know that as a beginner, you don’t need a high-end product with numerous features, rather a simple instrument with enough playability and features to get a hang of the overall learning process.
When it comes to buying the best quality pianos under a restricted budget of as low as $500, the traditional acoustic pianos don’t really have anything to offer. The Digital Pianos, on the contrary, being the cheaper and more advanced version of the traditional pianos have various options available.
Choosing the right digital piano under the restrictive budget will also vary and depend upon the stage of the learner. For example, the entry-level products might fulfill the requirement of new aspirants with all the basic features in a bargain price whereas the advanced level players want their piano to have features using the most advanced technology, with a wide range to select from without compromising on the aspect of looks and design.
Despite this fact, we hope that our in-depth study will at least enable you to get a better picture of the available products and help you find the cheapest possible keyboard with top features, in order to meet your expectations.
