Keys
Best beginner digital pianos: 88 keys, honestly compared
If real piano lessons are the plan, this is the category. The whole decision comes down to key action, and there is a genuine trade at this price.
By Sawyer V. · Published · Last updated
A digital piano is not a fancier keyboard. It is a different instrument built for a different job: imitating an acoustic piano closely enough that the technique transfers. If real piano lessons are the plan, this is the category, and the whole decision is about key action.
Both picks state their Starter Path band and what they give up. We have not played either — the method is on how we pick.
Hammer action, and why it costs what it costs
On an acoustic piano, pressing a key throws a felt hammer at a string. The weight you feel is that hammer’s inertia. It is heavier in the bass, where the hammers are larger, and lighter in the treble — that difference is called graded weighting and a pianist’s hands learn it without ever thinking about it.
A hammer-action digital piano puts a real weighted lever under each key to reproduce that. The Yamaha P-145 uses Graded Hammer Compact, which is graded across all 88 keys in a shorter chassis. Eighty-eight small mechanical assemblies is most of why the instrument costs what it does and weighs 24 pounds.
A semi-weighted action, like the Alesis Recital’s, uses springs instead. The keys have resistance but not inertia, and the resistance is the same from bottom to top. It feels reasonable and it is not the same thing.
The trade at this price, stated plainly
The two picks here are not better and worse. They are a genuine trade and you should choose knowing what you are giving up.
| Yamaha P-145 | Alesis Recital | |
|---|---|---|
| Keys | 88, graded hammer | 88, semi-weighted |
| Polyphony | 64 notes | 128 notes |
| Weight | 24 lb 8 oz | 15.7 lb |
| Speakers | 7 W | 2 x 20 W |
| Builds piano technique | Yes | Partly |
The Alesis wins on paper on three of the five rows and loses the one that a piano student is actually buying. If the goal is piano technique, take the Yamaha. If the goal is 88 keys for songwriting, home recording or a player who is exploring rather than studying, the Alesis is a lot of instrument for the money and we would not talk anyone out of it.
What to skip
An 88-key instrument with no weighting at all. These exist and they are the worst of both worlds: the size and price of a digital piano with the action of a cheap keyboard. If the action is unweighted, there is no reason to pay for 88 keys over 61.
A furniture-cabinet digital piano bought before anyone has committed. Console models look wonderful and cost several times a portable. They are also immovable and impossible to resell easily. Buy the portable, find out whether the player sticks with it, then buy the cabinet in two years if they do.
Then buy a bench
A proper adjustable bench, not a dining chair. Piano technique starts with the forearm level with the keys, and a dining chair puts most adults too low and every child much too low. It is the cheapest thing on the list and one of the few that affects how the player’s hands develop. The rest of the list is in what you actually need to start piano.
Quick picks
If piano lessons on a real piano are the plan
Graded hammer action, which means the low keys are heavier than the high ones exactly as on an acoustic. This is the specification you are buying.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No image Yamaha P-14588 graded hammer keys, a concert grand sample and 24 pounds. | Buy once, 88 weighted keysEnough | 9.0 | Check price on Amazon → #ad How we’re funded |
If 88 keys matters more than the action
Semi-weighted rather than hammer, with double the polyphony and eight fewer pounds. A real trade rather than a lesser version.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No image Alesis Recital88 full-size semi-weighted keys and 128-note polyphony for meaningfully less than a hammer-action piano. | 88 keys on a tight budgetThe honest floor | 7.7 | Check price on Amazon → #ad How we’re funded |
The picks in full
Yamaha P-145
YamahaBest for: Buy once, 88 weighted keys
88 graded hammer keys, a concert grand sample and 24 pounds. If the plan is piano lessons rather than keyboard playing, this is where the shopping actually starts.
Published specifications
- Keys:
- 88, GHC (Graded Hammer Compact), fully weighted and graded
- Polyphony:
- 64 notes
- Sound:
- Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand sample, damper resonance DSP
- Speakers:
- 7 W built-in
- Dimensions:
- 1,326 x 268 x 129 mm (52-3/16" x 10-9/16" x 5-1/16")
- Weight:
- 11.1 kg (24 lb 8 oz)
- In the box:
- Music rest, sustain foot switch
What it gets right
- Graded hammer action — the low keys are heavier than the high ones, which is the thing an unweighted keyboard cannot teach
- All 88 keys, so no method book ever runs off the end of the instrument
- Genuinely portable at 24 pounds and 268 mm deep; it fits on a desk
Where it gives ground
- 64-note polyphony is the entry-tier number; heavy sustain-pedal passages will drop notes eventually
- A single sustain footswitch, not a proper piano-style pedal — most players replace it
What it is not good at
Anything other than piano. There are only a handful of voices and no arranger features, so if the player wants to make beats or layer sounds, a PSR-E383 will make them happier for less money.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Yamaha USA — P-145 specifications.
Alesis Recital
AlesisBest for: 88 keys on a tight budget
88 full-size semi-weighted keys and 128-note polyphony for meaningfully less than a hammer-action piano. Semi-weighted is a real compromise and the page should say so, so: it is a real compromise.
Published specifications
- Keys:
- 88, full-size, semi-weighted
- Touch response:
- Adjustable — low / medium / high
- Polyphony:
- 128 notes
- Voices:
- 5, layerable and splittable
- Speakers:
- 2 x 20 W
- Weight:
- 15.7 lb
- Extras:
- Lesson mode, metronome, reverb, chorus
What it gets right
- All 88 keys at a price where most instruments give you 61 — the method book never runs out of instrument
- 128-note polyphony, double the Yamaha P-145's 64
- 15.7 pounds, lighter than the P-145's 24 and a genuine consideration if it moves between rooms
Where it gives ground
- Semi-weighted is not hammer action and not graded — the resistance is springs, not weights
- Five voices total, and the piano sample is clearly the entry tier
What it is not good at
Building acoustic-piano technique. Semi-weighted keys let a beginner play faster than their hands have earned, and the habit shows the first time they sit at a real piano. If lessons on an acoustic are coming, spend up to the hammer action.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Alesis — Recital product page.
Questions people actually ask
What is the difference between a digital piano and a keyboard?
A digital piano has 88 weighted keys and is built to imitate an acoustic piano. A keyboard usually has 61 unweighted keys and is built to be portable and versatile. The full comparison, including who should pick which, is in keyboard vs digital piano.
Is 64-note polyphony enough?
For a beginner, comfortably. Polyphony is the number of notes the instrument can sound at once, including notes still ringing under a sustain pedal. Beginner repertoire does not come close to 64. It becomes a real constraint on dense pedaled passages several years in, at which point most players are upgrading anyway.
Do I need a digital piano or will a keyboard do?
If a teacher is involved and the lessons happen on an acoustic piano, buy the weighted 88. If the player is exploring on their own with no acoustic in the picture, a good 61-key board is a perfectly reasonable and much cheaper start.
Are the built-in speakers good enough?
For practice in a room, yes. The Yamaha P-145 has 7-watt speakers and the Alesis Recital has 2 x 20 watts. Neither will fill a hall, and neither needs to. If the instrument will be used with headphones most of the time — which for evening practice it will — the speaker specification barely matters.
Sources
Still deciding?
Every recommendation on this site is built the same way, and the method is published in full — including what we do not do and what would get a pick dropped.
Read next
- Weighted vs unweighted keys
Hammer, semi-weighted and synth action explained by effect on the hands, with the one question that settles the choice.
- Keyboard vs digital piano
What each instrument is built for, what each costs to complete, and the question that decides between them.
- 61 vs 88 key keyboard
When 61 keys stops being enough, what 88 actually costs in money and floor space, and buy paths for both answers.
- Best beginner keyboards: 61 keys that suit real lessons
Touch response over tone count, segmented for children and adult learners, with the 61-key ceiling stated plainly.
- How much should a beginner keyboard cost?
Four bands from touch response to hammer action, plus the stand, bench and pedal costs that turn a keyboard budget into a bigger one.