The best Yamaha Keyboards and Pianos in 2021. Buying Guide and Opinions

Before going on to talk about the models we have selected, let’s analyze the Yamaha brand a bit so that you have all the information you need. Then we will describe the best Yamaha keyboards according to their price.

Also don’t forget to read our post with the selection of the best electronic pianos of the moment in relation to quality and price and our analysis with the cheapest musical keyboards of the moment and that also give you the best option by a low cost 🙂

Yamaha is today one of the largest manufacturers of musical instruments worldwide and is famous for the quality and tuning accuracy of its electronic keyboards. In the market of piano keyboards it competes mainly with Casio and Roland. Being this a very close battle.

About who is the historical pioneer of electronic keyboards the prize is not really for Yamaha. But for Roland who was the first to bring out interesting models in the 70’s. By interesting we mean pianos that are sensitive to touch and simulate the weighted keyboard system of an acoustic piano. That means, that you can regulate the force with which the note sounds based on the force with which you press the key. The first model that Roland brought out in this sense was the EP-30 Electronic Piano in 1974.

Jaime Echagüe

Author

Advice:

From this post you can control the prices of the most interesting pianos quickly because you have direct links to several stores. If you save this post in bookmarks or favorites of your browser you will have it available easily and accessible.

What about the current status of Yamaha keyboards?

Although Roland took the lead in Yamaha’s counterbalanced keyboards, he has been building high-quality acoustic pianos for almost 100 years, so he knew what kind of terrain he was moving in. So he started investing in his weighted keyboard system. And today we can say that he has the best systems and that is why many of his piano keyboards are market leaders over Roland and Casio.

I’m sure you’ll be interested in…

• See this section for possible discounts and offers
• Ranking with the best digital pianos in quality-price ratio
• The cheapest musical keyboards for beginners
• Learn piano by yourself and for free

Which Yamaha keyboard to buy?

It depends on what you want it for. Yamaha offers good sound and quality in all formats but it would be a lie to tell you that a 150 Euro keyboard is the same as a 500 Euro one.

For a keyboard to be more or less useful to you we recommend that it has at least a sensitive keyboard (this does not imply that it is weighted), 61 keys minimum, sustain pedal input to hold the note even if the key is not pressed and it is recommended that it has a MIDI output to connect to the computer.

Based on the above, we will make a review of several models and with several prices below. But they must have at least 61 keys and a good reputation.

Yamaha Hammer Action System Types

Some of the ones we will show you have a counterbalancing system in which it imitates the real one of hammers, which is the most suitable. Although we will put you in the selection of keyboards without this system that will be more affordable. The Hammer Action is the feeling that the piano keys is heavy and the sensitivity that depends on how you press it sounds stronger its sound.

GHS System: The most common of the Hammer Action systems. It does not make the piano keyboard very expensive and gives you a very good and acceptable Hammer Action feeling.

GH System: It also has an improved system between the weights that imitates the touch of a Grand Piano. The bass has a heavier touch and the treble is lighter.

Then there are the GH3, NW-GH systems that have different touches for different preferences. But it’s already for more expensive digital pianos. Here’s the official reference for the Yamaha Graded Hammer Action Types

The best selection of Yamaha keyboards in 2020

We’re going to give you a selection of Yamaha music keyboards that will be very useful if you’re thinking of buying a keyboard of this brand. There are several options and we will try to be very objective and fair. If you would like to look at a selection of piano keyboards from various brands then go to our selection of digital pianos with the best value for money.

Yamaha P45 Keyboard (Old Yamaha P35)

Now we are going to talk about the most purchased digital piano keyboard in Europe. In this case it is the keyboard if you want to imitate the behavior of an acoustic piano. It has less sounds but of extreme quality.

The Yamaha P45 has 88 keys as an acoustic piano, it has a sustain pedal and a weighted keyboard with Yamaha’s GHS technology. It costs around €425/$450/£389  and you won’t find a better digital piano for less money. This makes it suitable for the piano studio as well as the conservatory for many years.

Features:

• 10 professional piano sounds, sound to Grand Piano, high quality reverb, and chorus effect
• 64 voice-polyphony
• 88-key Hammer Action GHS keyboard with 4 sensitivities
• Sustain pedal included
• Music holder included
• Weight of 11,5 kg
• Headphones output USB Midi
• Metronome
• Perfect for first Conservatory years

The Yamaha P45 is the evolution of the Yamaha P35 which is already out of production. Don’t hesitate to buy the Yamaha P45 because it’s better and cheaper. Yamaha has given it absolute priority.

If you want to buy it in America or Asia the first and better option is Amazon. But If you live at Europe check the Thomann links of this post.

 

Yamaha PSR E363 Keyboard (Old Yamaha PSR E353)

The Yamaha PSR line keyboards are electronic keyboards designed to provide the user with a lot of sound. They are not intended to imitate an acoustic piano.

We like them a lot because They costs around the minimums we said before and also has a very cheap price, less than 200 euros. Now they have released the new version, which is the Yamaha PSR E363, which improves the polyphony of their previous model from 32 notes to 48 notes. An interesting change to compete with the new Casio CT S300 (Old Casio CTK 3500).

The Yamaha PSR E363 and the Yamaha PSR E353 have a sensitive 61-key keyboard. So you can do volume dynamics. It also has sustain pedal input that although not included and is a basic expressive resource for playing the piano.

Something very remarkable is that for its price it comes with a Midi USB, which allows you to connect it to your computer and do things like write scores while playing with programs like Sibelius.

Apart from all this the Yamaha PSR E353 has:

• A wide range of sounds and instruments. More than 500 with accompaniments and sequencer functions.
• It is very portable as it only weighs 4 kg and can be operated with batteries.
• Stand and power supply included.
• Metronome and reverb and chorus effector.
• 2.5W speakers and headset output.

It’s the perfect keyboard for the first year of learning and trying it out. And then you can use it as a composition keyboard or take it to rehearsals because it’s lightweight. For live performances in small restaurants, it’s a bit short, although you could connect it to a small amplifier through the headphone output.

There is a slightly cheaper model, the Yamaha PSR E253, but it is not really profitable, the difference is 20 euros and it has neither MIDI nor a sensitive keyboard. So we don’t include it in the list or recommend it.

It’s not good for learning the piano in the first year because you’ll need a weighted keyboard after a few years. We leave you a video and the option to buy it and then the rest of the models in the selection.

Here you have it at the best price monitored to date:

Digital Piano Yamaha P125 (old Yamaha P115)

We continue with the portable digital pianos. The Yamaha P115 is a bit better than the Yamaha P45 and if you’re a bit more budget conscious, it’s a keyboard that will last a lifetime.

Now its new version is on the market. You can see it in our review about the Yamaha P125. It basically has the double of the functions as some piano sounds. This is a good improvement but it doesn’t make much difference between the two models either.

For around €566/$650/ the Yamaha P125 and Yamaha P115 is probably the most balanced piano keyboard available. It has absolutely everything for a very low price.

It has the same GHS hammer action as the Yamaha P45 but its sound has been sampled with CF3S technology, which is superior to the AWN of the Yamaha P45. So the quality of the piano sound is even better.

Also very powerful as a stage piano. On one side it has a line output to connect to any mixer or PA. The Yamaha P45 can be connected through the headphone output but in many cases you will need to extend the signal power with a power box.

The Yamaha P125 and Yamaha P115 come with 7W speakers that will be good for playing in rehearsals or small restaurants without extra amplification.

Another great advantage of these two models is that although they have a sustain pedal included, they can be used with a triple pedalboard, which will allow you to study the whole conservatory. We list other features that bring both

• Super-powerful 192-voice polyphony.
• Dual mode to split the keyboard in 2 and be able to play teacher and student at the same time.
• 10 professional piano sounds, also has rhythms and accompaniments of exceptional quality. Double on the P125.
• Superboost button that gives more power to the sound. A kind of turbo for live performance.
• USB Midi.
• 2 stereo outputs and 2 headphone outputs.
• Recording of up to 2 songs.
• Intelligent acoustic control, tempo, metronome and adjustable tuning.
• Free app with a lot of useful features.
• Resonance Dumper.
• It has a power supply and is very portable with a weight of 11.8 kg.

We leave you a video review for the Yamaha P125 and then another one we made with Yamaha of its predecessor the Yamaha P115.

 

Yamaha Digital Piano YDP 144

Now we’re going with a digital piano designed for home study. The Yamaha YDP 144 is the best-selling model in the 700 – 800 euro range. It costs around €777/£715 It is a very well-balanced piano and a great study tool for beginners and intermediate levels. It is also suitable for higher levels if you do not have a large budget. Of course, if you study more than 4 hours a day it will last you much less.

It has 10 piano sounds and a GHS weighted keyboard. On the other hand it has the following effects to make it seem like we are playing a real acoustic piano;

• Intelligent Acoustic Control.
• Acoustic Optimizer.
• Stereophonic Optimizer
• Damping Resonance.
• Key-Off samples.

It also comes with a triple pedalboard and allows recording. You can play up to two people with the duo mode and two different headphones. Its speakers are powerful but if you are looking for power to rehearse with others I recommend the Yamaha P125 because the Yamaha YDP 144 is designed not to be moved. It has a weight of 38 kg and dimensions of 1357 x 815 x 422 mm. It also has MIDI to connect it to the computer

If you are interested in this type of piano that is more like an upright visit the Yamaha YDP 144 review.

To buy it you have the following options:

Yamaha PSR E463 keyboard (Old Yamaha 453)

An improved version of the Yamaha PSR E453 and which is the most powerful version of the PSR E entry-level keyboards (the PSR S is the most professional line)

As for the latest model, what’s new is:

• Possibility of sampling with its Quick Sampling engine to create user-specific sounds.
• 15 more beats than the PSR E453 including more Latin beats.
• Ability to record audio in .WAV format (80 minutes of audio)
• The PSR E463 features its Groove Creator function to create custom rhythms from patterns.

Now let’s list its general features and of course don’t miss the Yamaha PSR E463 review with very interesting comparisons.

• 10 acoustic pianos.
• 8 electric pianos.
• 15 organs.
• 6 accordions.
• 13 guitars.
• 17 basses.
• 19 string sounds.
• 5 chorus sounds.
• 15 saxophones.
• 10 trumpets.
• 15 brass sounds.
• 9 flutes.
• 28 solo synthesizers.
• 18 pad synthesizers.
• 12 percussions.
• 37 ethnic sounds.

Of course it has a quality proportional to the price that differentiates it from the Yamaha PSR 363. One good thing is that it has more Latin sounds than its predecessor.

If you’re not going to buy a weighted keyboard piano, I’d go for the cheapest one on the list with USB MIDI and a pedal, which is the 363. The 463 comes in handy if you’re aware that you want a lot of sounds and don’t need to learn piano with it.

Check our Yamaha PSR E463 review if you want to know more.

Yamaha PSR F51 Keyboard (Old PSR F50)

We include this keyboard but with warnings. It is one of the best for less than 100 euros and we put it to give an option but we do not recommend it because for a little more you have the first of the list, the Yamaha PSR E353 that has all the basics.

The Yamaha PSR F51 has 61 keys and quite a few sounds but it has neither a sustain pedal input nor a sensitive keyboard. So it’s very limited because it doesn’t even have a Midi USB output. It also has no sensitivity on the keys.

If you buy a keyboard like this one, it’s only if you want it to make chords and compose but not having USB MIDI you are limiting yourself a lot even for that.

Of course if you don’t have a budget you’d better buy the Yamaha PSR F51 but keep in mind that it is very limited and we will always recommend the Yamaha PSR E363 seen before. Then you can sell it second-hand if you don’t like it and save money at the end.

With all this information we finished our selection with the best Yamaha keyboards, we hope you have found it very useful. As we have said before, if you want to see other brands we recommend our selection with the best digital pianos. Below you will find all our reviews on Yamaha keyboards and pianos as well as other interesting post. Thank you for reading!