The Best Yamaha Keyboards for the Money

Yamaha keyboards offer exceptional value across a wide range of price points, but the sheer breadth of the catalogue can make finding the right model feel daunting. The good news is that Yamaha's quality control is consistently high — you're unlikely to buy a bad instrument. The question is always whether you've bought the right one. This guide breaks the range down by player type and budget, so you can focus on what actually matters for your situation.

Best for Young Beginners and Casual Exploration: The PSS Range

If you're buying a Yamaha keyboard for a young child or someone who simply wants to tinker — no firm commitment to lessons yet — the PSS range is sensible and low-risk. These compact instruments have lighter, unweighted keys and a more modest selection of sounds, but they're affordable, portable and genuinely fun. The PSS-F30 (around £50–70) is a thoughtful gift that won't cost you dear if enthusiasm fades. It's not an instrument for serious learning, but it serves its purpose honestly.

Best Entry-Level Arranger Keyboard: The PSR-E373

The PSR-E373 is one of Yamaha's most consistently recommended entry-level instruments. With 61 touch-sensitive (though unweighted) keys, 622 instrument voices, 205 accompaniment styles and a built-in lesson function, it covers a great deal of ground for around £170–£200. It runs on batteries or mains power, which makes it genuinely portable. The built-in speakers are adequate for home use. This is the Yamaha keyboard to consider if your priority is all-round musical enjoyment rather than classical piano technique — it rewards exploration and stays useful for years.

Best for Learning Piano: The P-45

For anyone serious about learning piano, the P-45 remains the benchmark entry-level Yamaha keyboard for good reason. It has 88 fully weighted keys with GHS (Graded Hammer Standard) action, which means the keys feel heavier in the bass and lighter in the treble, exactly as an acoustic piano behaves. The sound engine uses ten-layer stereo samples of Yamaha's CFX concert grand, which gives the instrument a warmth and responsiveness well above its price point (typically £350–£450). The P-45 doesn't have built-in speakers — it's designed for headphone practice and connection to external amplification — and it has relatively few extra features. But for the core task of learning piano, those compromises are sensible ones.

Best Mid-Range Digital Piano: The P-125

The step up from the P-45 to the P-125 brings noticeably better built-in speakers, a broader selection of 24 voices, a more polished finish and Bluetooth MIDI for connecting wirelessly to the Smart Pianist app. The key action is the same GHS as the P-45, so you're paying primarily for sound quality and usability improvements rather than a fundamentally different feel. At around £500–£600, the P-125 is the sweet spot for a Yamaha keyboard that you'll be genuinely happy with long-term, without pushing into Clavinova territory.

Best Upper-Mid Range: The P-515 and DGX-670

At the upper end of the mid-range, two Yamaha keyboards stand out. The P-515 offers the GH3X action (three sensors per key for more accurate fast repetition), a choice of CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial samples, Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM — digital simulation of how strings resonate sympathetically), and Bluetooth MIDI/Audio. For a player moving through the higher grades who needs a genuinely expressive instrument, the P-515 at around £900–£1,100 is a significant step forward. The DGX-670 covers similar price ground (£700–£900) with GH3X action and excellent sound quality, adding arranger-style features and a more home-friendly aesthetic. If you want a polished all-rounder for the living room, the DGX-670 is the more sociable choice.

Best for Gigging Pianists: The CP Series

Stage pianists have different priorities: road-worthiness, authentic piano and electric piano sounds, and fast setup. The CP73 (73 keys) and CP88 (88 keys) are Yamaha's answer. They use a dedicated stage piano action and a sound engine focused on acoustic grand, upright, and electric piano tones rather than orchestral voices. The build quality is excellent, the sound is consistently praised by working musicians, and the control layout is designed to be navigable on a dark stage. These are not practise instruments — they're professional tools for performers who already know what they need.

Best Value Across the Range: The Quick Summary

If choosing a single Yamaha keyboard for each scenario:

• Young child, uncertain commitment: PSS-F30
• All-round home music-making: PSR-E373
• Learning piano, tight budget: P-45
• Learning piano, comfortable budget: P-125
• Serious student or advanced player: P-515
• Home piano with extra features: DGX-670
• Performing musician: CP73 or CP88

A Practical Note on Buying

Whichever Yamaha keyboard you choose, buy from an authorised retailer who will honour Yamaha's warranty. The second-hand market for Yamaha digital pianos is healthy, and a used P-45 or P-125 in good condition is an excellent value option — Yamaha keyboards are built to last, and a two- or three-year-old instrument will have lost very little in practical terms.

For a more detailed breakdown of specifications and what to look for when buying, see our Yamaha keyboard buyer's guide. And if you've just bought your first instrument, our beginner's guide to Yamaha keyboards will help you get started on the right foot.

Frequently Asked Questions