Top 7 Best Digital Pianos Under $300
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Finding a decent budget digital piano used to be very difficult. Fortunately for us, things have changed in recent years. New technologies have allowed different manufacturers to cut down on prices rather significantly.
In this guide we will show you our picks for the top 7 best digital pianos under $300. Despite their affordable price, some of these are among the best digital pianos on the market. After we show you our picks, we'll discuss what features you can expect to run into in this particular segment of the market. As you're about to find out, there will be surprises.Top 7 Best Digital Pianos Under $300
| Image | Digital Pianos / Rating | Summary | Check Price |
|---|---|---|---|
+ -  | vidaXL 88-Key Beginner Electronic Piano Total of 4.75/5 | An awesome setup for those who seek a more traditional digital piano. | |
+ -  | LAGRIMA Digital Piano Total of 4.72/5 | A complete setup that's much more agile than it appears to be. | |
+ -  | Alesis Recital Total of 4.70/5 | A portable yet extremely well balanced package that is packed with features. | |
+ -  | Williams Legato Total of 4.30/5 | One of the most affordable traditional digital pianos you can currently get. | |
+ -  | Yamaha YPG-235 Total of 4.30/5 | A decent choice of absolute beginners who are after a budget setup. | |
+ -  | Yamaha PSR-EW300 Total of 4.15/5 | A slightly less traditional choice that still offers plenty to budget users. | |
+ -  | Artesia FUN-1 Total of 3.85/5 | A compact, traditional looking digital piano suitable for the youngest of beginners. |
vidaXL 88-Key Beginner Electronic Piano
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Upright pianos are a rarity in the affordable segment, but you can definitely find them if you look hard enough. One of the more interesting models out there comes from vidaXL and features all the right features in all the right places. We are looking at a full sized keyboard with semi weighted, velocity sensitive keys. Not to mention that you are getting a proper cabinet to support your piano. In terms of performance, this model offers a decent sound engine and equally as decent piano samples. Truth be told there aren't really too many presets to choose from, but vidaXL focused their efforts into core performance. That is about as much as we can ask at this price range.
LAGRIMA Digital Piano
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Speaking of upright pianos, this list wouldn't be complete without the Lagrima Digital Piano. What Lagrima offers is a bit different than the model we've just talked about. You're getting a much simpler cabinet that doesn't feature a keyboard lid. However, you are also getting a few features that the vidaXL doesn't. Most importantly, the sustain pedal. The keys are full sized and of decent quality. The feedback is good, especially for this price. Where Lagrima really did a great job is the performance. This piano brings a rather decent sound which works great for both beginners and intermediate players. On top of that you also get 80 demo songs, 480 different tones and more. Overall, it's a great package.
Alesis Recital
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Despite Alesis being more oriented towards the MIDI controller segment of the market, they still offer a great selection of digital pianos. The one that caught our eye is the Alesis Recital. This is a compact model that was designed for those who needed something portable yet complete. Despite its small form factor, this piano packs a really good sound engine, great samples, but most importantly one of the best actions you can find in this price range. It is a semi weighted design that really feels incredible. If you are looking for a starter model that can be transported easily from place to place, Alesis Recital is definitely the way to go. Additionally, you get online lessons with Skoove.
Williams Legato
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As far as traditional digital pianos go, Williams Legato is about as cheap as you can go. Williams went for a full on semi weighted action with 88 full sized keys. The sound engine is quite good considering the price, and comes packed with a number of awesome samples. Are they absolutely authentic sounding? Not really, but they work just fine. Aside from the piano, you are-getting a few other voices which include an organ, a synth, bass and more. This particular setup comes with its own sustain pedal, but that is something you will have to get separately. This also applies to the stand and the AC power adapter. Overall, Williams did a great job with this digital piano.
Yamaha YPG-235
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As you move down the price range, you'll start running into more and more self contained portable pianos. Yamaha's YPG series YPG-235 digital piano looks nothing like most people imagine a digital piano looking. It has a very distinct keyboard vibe to it. However, Yamaha is known for not really caring about aesthetics in the budget segment. That is quite alright considering that they have focused more on actually packing this bad boy with the right features. The keyboard itself is great. It's not a weighted action but it offers decent feedback and comes with full sized keys. Where Yamaha YPG-235 gains an edge is Yamaha Education Suite it comes with. Y.E.S makes it much easier to learn.
Yamaha PSR-EW300
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Our next model also comes from Yamaha and represents the next generation compared to the YPG series. Overall, it comes with a few different features which are definitely worth mentioning. For starters, this is a keyboard style unit with full sized keys. It is a very light, portable rig that will get you great sound quality on the go. Yamaha has packed their Y.E.S educational suite of features in this model as well in addition to 574 voices, 154 presets and much more. Hardware wise it is not a traditional digital piano, that much is obvious. However, if you're on a tight budget, the lack of a weighted action is one of those compromises you have to make.
Artesia FUN-1
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The last model we want to show you is designed for the younger players who are having a hard time wrangling a full sized digital piano. Artesia FUN-1 is compact compared to just about anything out there, which combined with its traditional aesthetic makes it look quite odd. However, don't be mistaken. This is not a toy. Far from it. What you are getting with this piano are 61 full sized, velocity sensitive keys, 2 built in speakers and 8 voices including a piano. With a 32 note polyphony it isn't the perfect setup for more complex pieces, but then again by the time your kid advances to such pieces, they will be ready for a full sized digital piano.
What to Expect From a $300 Digital Piano?
The list above represents a decent cross section of what this segment offers. As you have probably noticed, there's a lot of diversity here. Truth be told, going under $300 with digital pianos is kinda stretching it. Generally speaking, $500 digital pianos are where you would ideally want to start your search. However, that doesn't mean that the pianos listed above are bad. On the contrary, there is a number of awesome models you can get for this kind of money. The important thing to understand is that dealing with this segment of the market requires you to make some compromises. The nature of those compromises will depend on what you are looking for specifically. Lets talk about specific features and what you can expect to find.
Type of Pianos In This Segment
Despite $300 not being a lot of money relative to the overall digital piano market, it still gets you a decent diversity of design. You can find both upright and portable models if you look hard enough. Upright models which are available in this segment are going to be somewhat limited. For instance you will deal with different cabinet designs which may or may not include a keyboard lid and so on. Another important factor regarding upright models are the pedals. Most of the upright models in this segment don't feature pedals as default. Instead, you will have to get them additionally.
The other type of pianos you will run into are compact, portable models. These are often times cheaper purely because you don't have to deal with a whole lot of extra material. As it so happens, compact and portable digital pianos in this segment are going to get you the best bang for the buck.
The Matter of Keyboards
It is no secret that keyboards are not a suitable replacement for a digital piano in almost every case and scenario we can think of. We say almost any, because there is one scenario where a keyboard could be acceptable and that is if you are limited by your budget. Keyboards are always going to be cheaper on average than digital pianos. That is simply fact of the matter. If you are looking to get a $1000 digital piano, chances are that you won't consider keyboards of any kind. However if you have one fifth of those funds available, you might. We have included a few hybrid models which are somewhere between what a digital piano should be like and a keyboard. These are decent and offer good value for the money, but they should be considered as a temporary solution. Not much more.
Actions
One of the most important aspects of digital pianos no matter the market segment is going to be the action. Weighted and semi weighted actions are at the core of what digital pianos are all about. Without this feature, you are basically working with a glorified keyboard. Fortunately for us, weighted actions are no longer as expensive as they used to be. We live in a time when even the budget pianos feature quite decent weighted actions. With that said, it is one thing to pay attention to when you are shopping for a budget digital piano.
Sound Engine and Samples
The last aspect that determines the quality of a digital piano is the sound engine with its piano samples. This also happens to be one of the parameters which are directly proportional to the price of the piano in most cases. There are exceptions but those are rare. When it comes to budget pianos, you are generally going to be working with fairly generic samples. That means that piano sounds available will be decent but not very authentic. On top of that, the way the sound engine handles such samples is going to be pretty mediocre. Is that going to limit you in any way as a learner? Not really, at least not in the beginning. However, once you reach the more advanced levels of skill and performance, a more complex sound engine will become a necessity.
Conclusion
If there is one thing you should take away from this guide, it is that budget digital pianos exist and they are quite diverse. The models we have shown you today are by far some of the best out there. We did our best to give you a cross section of the market with the intention of showing you this diversity of models. As far as budget value for the money options go, the ones listed above are going to get you the best mileage. With that said, it's definitely recommended that you get the best your money can buy.
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