Best Intermediate Digital Pianos with Weighted Keys

There are plenty of good keyboards in the sub-700$ price range that, if chosen correctly, can meet the needs of intermediate piano players, and provide enough room to grow.

In the past few years, several major manufacturers (Yamaha, Casio, Roland) introduced updated versions of their mid-range digital pianos with 88 fully weighted keys.

The bad news is that as the market grows and becomes more saturated, it becomes more difficult to decide what instrument is right for YOU.

All those fancy marketing terms that manufacturers use when promoting their instruments make things even more confusing.

On top of that, the term “intermediate keyboard” can mean different things to different manufacturers.

Some brands equip their instruments with one of those cheap plasticity keybeds and proudly call it “a digital piano suited for beginners and advanced piano players alike” NONSENSE!

In this article, we are going to get to the bottom of it and find out what are the best digital pianos with fully weighted keys that are suited for intermediate players as well as progressing beginners.

How Did We Choose?

When making this list, we were using the following criteria:

• 1) Relatively portable, gig-friendly, no integrated stand
• 1) 88 fully weighted keys (hammer action)
• 2) Realistic multi-sampled piano sound (at least 3 different piano tones)
• 3) A wide range of dynamics: ability to play very soft (pianissimo) up to very loud (fortissimo)
• 4) Polyphony: at least 128 notes
• 6) Built-in MIDI recorder
• 7) USB MIDI or Bluetooth MIDI connectivity (or both).
• 8) Standard functions like metronome, transpose, layer mode, etc.
• 9) Price < $700
• 10) Only well-established reputable manufacturers (Kawai, Yamaha, Casio, Roland, etc.)

Note that even though most of these keyboards are relatively compact and gig-friendly, there are also perfectly suitable for home use. Most of them can be easily mounted on a table or a desk.

Moreover, there are home bundles available on Amazon that include a matching furniture-style stand and a 3-pedal board designed specifically for each particular model.

Best Digital Pianos With Fully Weighted Keys (sub-$700 range)

• Model
• Keys

  Modern acoustic pianos have 88 keys. Most digital pianos and keyboards have 88, 76, 73, or 61 keys.
  In reality, 73 keys are enough to play most modern pieces. Some advanced pieces require a full set of 88 keys.
• Fully-Weighted Keys

  There are 3 most common types of key actions:
  1) Non-weighted - most organs, synths and entry-level keyboards are not weighted.
  2) Semi-weighted - often used portable keyboards and workstations. Spring-loaded mechanizm adds more resistance to the keys compared to the non-weighted action.
  3) Fully weighted (hammer action) is designed to replicate the action of a real piano. It uses small hammers (rather than springs) attached to each key to recreate the mechanical movements and resistaince similar to the acoustic piano action.
• Simulated Ivory/Ebony

  Some digital pianos come with a simulated Ivory (white keys) and Ebony (black keys) key surfaces, which gives them a nice textured feel, helps absorb excessive moisture and prevents your fingers from slipping off the keys.
• Touch Sensitivity

  The volume produced by the instrument changes depending on how hard or soft you play the keys.
  Touch Response, Velocity Sensitivity, Touch Sensitivity are the same thing .
  Many digital pianos allow you to adjust touch sensitivity (make the keyboard more or less sensitive to the force of your keystrokes) to better suit your playing style.
• Tone Generator
• Polyphony

  The number of notes a piano can play at once.
  The more polyphony the better, especially when layering several sounds or using backing tracks, etc. When you reach the polyphony cap, the piano starts to drop the earliest played notes to free up memory for the new ones, which affects the sound and its fullness.
  It’s desirable to have at least 64 notes of polyphony.
• Built-in Tones
• Modes

  1) Split - divides the keyboard into two parts, allowing you to play a different instrument sound in each of them.
  2) Dual (a.k.a. Layer Mode) - allows you to layer two different sounds so that they sound simultaneously whenever you press a key.
  3) Duo (a.k.a. Duet Play, Partner Mode, Twin Piano) - devides the keyboard into two halves with identical pitch ranges (two middle Cs) allowing two people to play the same notes at the same time.
• Lesson Function

  The ability to use built-in/user songs for practice by turning off the left- or right-hand part of a song and practicing it along with the playback of the other part.
• MIDI Recorder

  Allows you to record and playback your own performances.
  A multi-track recorder (2 and more tracks) allows you to record several musical parts on separate tracks and play them back as a single song.
• Audio Recorder

  Allows you to record the audio output of the instrument and save it to a flash drive usually in WAV format (Linear PCM, 16bit, 44.1 kHz, Stereo).
  You can then share your recording on social media, upload it to SoundCloud, burn to CD, etc.
• Transpose,Tuning

  1) Transpose function allows you to shift the overall pitch of the keyboard in semitone steps.
  2) Tuning function (aka Fine Tuning, Master Tuning) allows you to shift the pitch from the standard A440 tuning in 0.1Hz or 0.2Hz steps.
• Preset Temperaments

  Ability to change the standard “Equal Temperament” tuning to other tuning systems (used in the 16th to 19th centuries), which are better suited for playing certain styles of music (Indian, Arabian, classical, etc.).
• Piano Elements

  Simulated (often using physical modeling algorithms) characteristics of the piano sound, which are usually quite sublte but important if you want to get the fullest and the most realistic piano sound.
• Metronome

  A useful tool for practice that will help develop your rhythmic and timekeeping skills by providing a steady beat to play along with.
  Some pianos allow you change the conventional click sound of the metronome to various drum rhythms.
• USB Type B

  This port enables you to connect the keyboard to a computer/smart device and use it as a MIDI controller with VST plugins and music apps like GarageBand, Flowkey, Synthesia, FL Studio, etc.
• Line Out Jacks

  Dedicated 1/4" line out jacks (R, L/Mono) allow you to connect the keyboard to an external amplifier, PA system, mixer and other audio equipment.
  If you're planning on performing on stage or working in a studio, it's preferable to have these ports, even though a headphone out jack can also be used in most situations.
• Bluetooth Connectivity

  Allows you to connect your piano to a smart device wirelessly and exchange MIDI data with various music apps (e.g. GarageBand, Flowkey, Simply Piano, etc.). This can be used as an alternative to a USB type B port. Note that some pianos can only transfer Audio data via Bluetooth, others can only transfer MIDI.
  Some pianos support both MIDI and Audio data via Bluetooth.
• Speakers
• Weight

• Roland FP-30
• Check Price
  (Our Best Choice)

• 88
• PHA-4 Standard with Escapement and Ivory Feel
• (Ivory only)
• 5 types, Off
• SuperNATURAL Piano Sound Engine
• 128 notes
• 35 (4 pianos)
• Dual, Split, Duo
• 1-track, 1 song
• Damper/String/Key Off Resonance
• (+8 rhythms)
• (MIDI)
• 11W + 11W
• 31 lbs (14 kg)

Jump to Review

• Casio PX-S1000
• Check Price
  (Runner-up)

• 88
• Smart Scaled Hammer Action
• 5 types, Off
• Multi-dimensional Morphing AiR (2019)
• 192 notes
• 18 (5 pianos)
• Dual, Split (Bass only), Duo
• 60 songs (+ 10 user songs)
• 2-track, 1 song
• 17 types
• Damper/String/Key Off Resonance, Hammer Response, Damper Noise, Key On/Off Action Noise (adjustable)
• (Audio)
• 7W + 7W
• 24.7 lbs (11.2 kg)

Jump to Review

• Yamaha P-125
• Check Price
  (Most Popular)

• 88
• Graded Hammer Standard (GHS)
• 3 types, Off
• Pure CF Sound Engine
• 192 notes
• 24 (4 pianos)
• Dual, Split, Duo
• 50 songs
• 2-track, 1 song
• (USB Audio Interface)
• Damper/String/Key Off Resonance
• (+20 rhythms)
• 7W + 7W
• 26 lbs (11.8 kg)

Jump to Review

• Kawai ES110
• Check Price
  (Best Sound)

• 88
• Responsive Hammer Compact (RHC)
• 3 types, Off
• Harmonic Imaging™ (HI)
• 192 notes
• 19 (8 pianos)
• Dual, Split
• 3 song books (106 songs)
• 1-track, 3 songs
• 7 types
• Damper Resonance, Fall-back/Damper Noise, Voicing (adjustable)
• (+100 rhythms)
• Midi In/Out
• (MIDI)
• 8W + 8W
• 26.5 lbs (12 kg)

Jump to Review

1) Roland FP-30 – Arguably the best key action, impressive dynamic range

Roland have been releasing a number of really cool instruments in the past few years, and the FP-30 is definitely one of them.

You may have heard about the quality of Roland digital pianos before, and they just proved it once again – the FP-30 is the digital piano to beat.

For its fairly affordable price you get an amazing quality key action and Roland’s famous SuperNATURAL sound engine, which together provide a natural and enjoyable piano playing experience.

Before the introduction of the FP-10, the FP-30 was the least expensive model in Roland’s FP series.

The piano is equipped with the PHA-4 Standard keyboard action with Escapement action and Ivory Feel.

The Casio PX-S1000 and the Roland FP-30 are the only pianos in this price range that offer simulated ivory key tops and utilize triple-sensor detection system, which allows for faster note repetition and more precise control.

The keys on the PHA-4 Standard offers a perfect amount of weight (to my fingers), and reproduces the mechanical movements of the hammers quite accurately.

The keys are individually weighted and the action is very quiet, meaning it produces very little noise.

Overall, this is arguably the best key action you can currently get in a digital piano under $1500.

When it comes to sound, the FP-30 is just as good.

At the heart of the instrument is Roland’s sophisticated SuperNATURAL tone generator, which combines grand piano samples with sophisticated physical modeling algorithms to produce a natural, detailed piano sound with long beautiful decays and resonances.

Take a listen!

Thanks to the powerful 2 x 11W speaker system and multi-layered piano samples the FP-30 can boast a very good dynamic range from the soft pianissimo to the thunderous fortissimo.

Out of all digital pianos on this list the FP-30 offers the most built-in tones (34) and has the most powerful speakers.

While there are a number of useful features available on the FP-30, including a MIDI recorder, a metronome with preset rhythms, a layer mode, you can further expand the capabilities of the instrument thanks to its great connectivity.

The Roland FP-30 and the Kawai ES110, are the only pianos in this price range that have Bluetooth MIDI built in.

This means you can wirelessly connect them to computers and smart devices to exchange MIDI data with apps like GarageBand, FlowKey, Playground Sessions, etc.

Also, let’s not forget about the Piano Partner 2 app specially designed for Roland digital pianos.

The app will allow you to navigate all the sounds, settings, and functions of the FP-30 using an intuitive graphical interface making the navigation a breeze.

The FP-30 is equipped with two USB ports, type B (for exchanging MIDI) and type A.

The USB type A port (not available on the other keyboards) can be used to play back MIDI/WAV files directly from a USB flash drive connected to this port so that you can play along with your favorite tunes or simply enjoy the playback.

Unfortunately, the FP-30 doesn’t have a Lesson function, which means you won’t be able to practice the right- and left-hand parts of the built-in/external songs separately.

The good news is that third-party apps will easily solve that problem, allowing you to use and practice hundreds of songs (each hand part independently).

2) Casio PX-S1000 – The slimmest digital piano in the world, packed with innovations

Casio shaken up the market quite a bit when they introduced their latest PX-S and CDP-S keyboards in the beginning of 2019. You wouldn’t find a more unique and innovative keyboards than the new PX-S1000, and its bigger brother, the PX-S3000.

The good news is that despite the expensive looks and a few of advanced features, the price point remains very attractive, so kudos to Casio for that.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes this keyboard so special.

First of all, its design! While this might be not the most important aspect of a digital piano, you can’t help but notice how different the PX-S1000 looks from everything else on the market.

Black glossy finish (rather than matte), touch-based illuminated controls and minimalist design make the PX-S1000 really stand out.

As of the time of writing, the PX-S1000 is also the slimmest digital piano in the world. It’s 43% smaller than the PX-160 model, and is incredibly compact and portable.

Nevertheless, Casio managed to fit some good quality speakers into its body as well as a fully weighted keyboard action.

Speaking of action, the newly designed Smart Scaled Hammer Action has also decreased in size compared to the previous Privia keyboards, which negatively affected the key pivot length (shorter than Roland’s and Kawai’s, comparable to Yamaha GHS’s action).

This means it’s more difficult to play towards the back of the keys. At the same time, the new key action brings a number of important upgrades.

It has become much quieter, less bouncy, and has individually scaled keys that are covered with textured material that simulates ivory and ebony coating found in some older acoustic pianos.

The sound section of the PX-S1000 was redone from scratch.

The piano samples are taken from a 9-foot concert grand and further enhanced by resonance modeling algorithms taken from Casio’s premium Celviano Hybrid series, which gives the sounds that liveliness and sparkle that some digital musical instruments miss.

The focus of the PX-S1000 is on piano, so don’t expect too many bells and whistles from this keyboard.

There are 18 built-in tones including some nice electric pianos, organs, and strings. You also get 60 preset songs that you can each learn and practice (each hand independently).

Here’s a nice sound demo as well as an overview of some of the features on the PX-S1000:

The PX-S1000 is the only keyboard on this list that can run on battery power, which makes it extremely versatile and mobile. You can take it out to the park or a backyard, turn it on and play without worrying about extension chords and wall sockets.

Another unique feature of the PX-S1000 is an Audio in port, which allows you to stream your favorite songs and backing tracks from you phone or tablet to the keyboard’s internal speakers.

Alternatively, you can use Bluetooth Audio, which this keyboard also supports.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to transfer MIDI data via Bluetooth, only Audio. To use Casio’s Chordana Play app, which has a similar functionality to Roland’s Piano Partner 2 app, you’ll have to use the USB type B port located on the back of the instrument.

Also, thanks to the variety of connectivity options, the PX-S1000 would make a great gigging keyboard.

If you’re looking for something more advanced, check out the PX-S1000’s older brother, the PX-S3000.

They share the same key action and piano sound, but the PX-3000 offers much more tones (18 vs 700) and features including an audio recorder, built-in accompaniment styles, arpeggiator, pitch bend wheel, assignable knobs, editable DSP effects, and more.

To learn about all the differences between these two keyboards go to the Alternatives section of the PX-S1000 review.

3) Yamaha P-125 – Solid intermediate piano from a reputable brand

The P-125 is the new mid-range model in Yamaha’s Portable (P) series.

Just like its very successful predecessor (P-115), this keyboard is going to be one of the most popular intermediate fully weighted keyboards on the market considering all the new features and improvements it brings over the previous release.

Yamaha has keyboards in pretty much every price range and product category there is, so it would be a shame not to include one of their most prominent portable digital pianos on this list.

Let’s start with the keyboard itself.

The P-125 features the tried and true Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) keyboard action, which Yamaha have been using for years in their entry-level and mid-range digital pianos.

It’s Yamaha’s most basic fully weighted action, which can also be found in the P-45 (next model down). But it’s still a decent action for a keyboard designed with portability in mind.

The GHS utilizes 2-sensor detection system and has smooth plastic keys (no simulated ivory); the black keys have a matte finish which gives them a nice non-slippery feel.

The sound is the area where the P-125 shines the most, in my opinion, and there are three components responsible for that:

The P-125 has a standard set of features, nothing groundbreaking here. Everything from a metronome and transpose function to Split/Dual/Duo modes and a MIDI recorder is available on this piano.

It’s worth mentioning that unlike its main competitors that have a 1-track MIDI recorder, the P-125 allows you to record 2 tracks for each song, which means you can record each part (either hand part or musical instrument part) to a separate track, and play both tracks together as a single song.

Unfortunately, the P-125 doesn’t offer many options for sound customization. It doesn’t offer any temperament options (except for the default Equal), and it doesn’t allow you to adjust the elements of piano sound like damper noise, resonance, etc.

An interesting thing that the P-125 has is the USB Audio Interface function, which quite rare overall and is not found on any other instruments in this price range.

This function allows to use the USB port to not only transfer MIDI data but also audio, which makes it possible to record the sound of the P-125 directly into your DAW without the need of any external audio interfaces and unnecessary digital > analog > digital conversions as a result.

If you’d like to have more tone options, more learning and arranger features and extra connectivity options, you might want to consider the Yamaha DGX-660, which is identical to the P-125 as far as piano-playing is concerned (they share the same key action/sound engine), but gives you more freedom in how you learn, play, and perform music.

4) Kawai ES110 – Natural uncolored piano sound, built-in lesson books

The Kawai ES110 is the most affordable digital piano in the company’s arsenal, but without a doubt, it’s one of the most realistic digital pianos in its class.

Kawai instruments have always been known for their realistic keyboards and authentic piano sounds.

The ES110 is no exception. This model features the Responsive Hammer Compact action with 88 full-size keys with a matte finish for a better grip.

Even though the keyboard uses 2-sensor technology and doesn’t have simulated ivory/ebony keytops, it feels very responsive and nice to the touch.

By no means this keyboard is stiff or hard to play, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

The keyboard on the ES-110 is very quick (quite bouncy as well) and has a medium-light weight, which makes it more versatile, especially for those how like to play some organ or synth sounds.

Beginners who haven’t yet developed proper finger strength would also appreciate this action, as it’s not as fatiguing to play compared as some of the heavier key actions out there.

Sound is another area where the ES110 excels at.

The ES-110 uses Harmonic Imaging™ (HI) sound processor, which delivers a very natural, uncolored piano sound sampled from the Kawai 9-foot EX Concert Grand Piano.

There are 8 different piano tones recorded using different methods and equipment in order to recreate various nuances and characters of sound (studio, mellow, modern, etc.).

Moreover, the ES110 allows you to adjust various piano sound characteristics such as damper resonance, fall-back noise, damper noise, temperament, etc.

The P-125 and the ES110 are the only pianos in this price range that have 192-note polyphony.

Apart from realistic playing experience the ES110 offers some nice “bells and whistles”.

The piano comes with 3 built-in music books (Alfred’s Lesson Book Level 1A/1B, Burgmüller 25) with over 100 built-in songs and exercises for beginners, which you can practice separately for right and left hand.

Apart from the standard metronome, you get 100 drum patterns to play along with, which makes it much more enjoyable to practice your timing compared to the basic metronome clicking sound.

Surprisingly the ES110 doesn’t have any USB ports, instead, it uses traditional MIDI In/Out ports (pro users will definitely appreciate these), which are much harder to find on a consumer-grade keyboard these days.

While for basic needs I certainty prefer using a USB type B port to connect to a computer, the ES110 offers an even easier solution.

The piano has Bluetooth MIDI connectivity, which means you can connect to any smart device that supports Bluetooth and exchange MIDI data wirelessly without using any cables.

So for example, you can connect the ES110 to the iPad and create music with GarageBand or learn new songs with FlowKey, etc.

Another advantage of the ES110 is that unlike the other keyboards on the list, it comes with a high-quality piano-style sustain pedal with half-pedal support rather than a flimsy plastic footswitch.

Why Are Fully Weighted Keys So Important?

What’s the big deal about fully-weighted keys (aka hammer action)?

The answer is simple. This is the only type of action that tries to recreate the feel of a real acoustic piano.

If you’re serious about learning the piano, or you play a lot of piano repertoire, fully-weighted keyboards are the only thing you should look for, provided of course that realistic playing experience is important to you.

Kawai’s premium Grand Feel Compact key action

Even if you’ve never played an acoustic piano before, you’ll be able to tell the difference between a weighted and unweighted keyboard right away. Yes, the difference is that big.

There are $500 instruments that have weighted keys and then there are $5,000 instruments that also have weighted keys. As you can guess, the difference between those key actions is very significant, starting from the design of the action mechanism, length of the keys (the part behind the fallboard) and ending with the material of the keyboard.

Less experienced players may not notice it, but if you’ve ever sat at a good grand or even upright piano, you’ll notice how closer to that feel high-end digital pianos get.

Korg’s plastic RH3 key action

Of course, not everyone is willing to invest $5000 in something that’s just a hobby, especially considering that you can buy a good upright for about the same price.

But even if it’s a relatively affordable digital piano (such as the ones we covered in this article), it’s still important to have a fully-weighted key action.

Not only this will allow you to develop the necessary finger strength and proper technique, but it will also make playing piano pieces that much easier and more enjoyable with more precise dynamic control and greater expression.

This, in turn, will make it easier to transition to an actual acoustic piano further down the line if you decide to do so.

Choosing an Intermediate Digital Piano – Buying Guide

There you have, folks! Note that this list is based on what we believe are the best intermediate digital pianos with fully weighted keys you can currently get.

In case you haven’t found the instrument that suits your needs in this article, I’d like to provide some extra information that will hopefully help you find the right instrument.

Here are some of the main terms and aspects of the digital piano world that you’ll inevitably run into when doing your research.

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You might also like:

If after reading this review you still have doubts about what instrument to choose, take a look at our Digital Piano Buying Guide and other popular articles listed below:

Best Digital Pianos for Beginners (Under $500)

Best Digital Pianos Under $1000 for Home Use

Best Home Digital Pianos Under $1500 (In-depth Comparison)

The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Digital Piano