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9 best digital pianos to help you play like a professional

For most digital piano manufacturers, the aim is to produce a piano that feels and sounds like an acoustic piano.

The texture of the keys, their weight and the hammer action play a part in the feel, and the speakers, soundboard, and sampling are all vital for the sound.

Some digital pianos now incorporate so many moving parts of a real piano that the feel is undecipherable from an acoustic grand.

The sound produced by the Kawai NV 10 and Yamaha N3X is also setting new acoustic standards. The Yamaha N3X’s keys and hammer system is just like an acoustic piano, but the end sound produced is digital.

The N3X is becoming a popular choice for venues and universities.

There is a substantial difference in price between digital and acoustic pianos, as well as weight, and the fact that digital pianos never need tuning; financially and practically they are a good choice.

As with acoustic pianos, it’s important to choose one that you like the sound and feel of. It really comes down to personal taste. Here’s our selection of the best.

Kawai KDP110 digital piano: £797, Bonners

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The keys of this digital Kawai have a textured ivory feel finish that provide an authentic piano feel. It also has a graded hammer action keyboard (like an acoustic piano), offering more authenticity, with the lower keys feeling slightly heavier than the higher keys.

The grand piano tone is impressive, as Kawai have sampled their flagship Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. An outstanding feature of this digital piano for its cost is the Bluetooth connectivity and control you can have over the various aspects of the piano’s sound using an app.

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The Blüthner Homeline: £1,839, Chamberlain Music

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This elegant, German built digital piano has a graded hammer action keyboard and produces a superb realistic high quality sound across the entire range of notes. Blüthner pianos are known for their distinctive warmth in the bass to middle range and brilliance in the higher pitches – so you can play with that wonderful sound at a reasonable cost. There are plenty of additional features, like being able to turn your piano into a Bluetooth speaker system. It comes in three finishes.

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Kawai Novus NV10: £7,701, Bonners

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The NV10 is a digital hybrid that combines a grand piano keyboard and real damper mechanism that makes this piano really feel like a grand. The sound is very responsive with a broad range of dynamics. It also has excellent connectivity and a built-in touchscreen interface.

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Roland FP30: £489, Andertons

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For its price the Roland offers a wide range of connectivity including Bluetooth, enabling connection to Roland’s Piano Partner app. This Roland also has ivory touch, fully weighted keys, giving this piano a more upmarket feel, making this piano great value for money.

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Yamaha CLP665GP Digital Grand Piano: £3,347, Bonners

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At the touch of a button this can produce the sound of one of the best pianos in the world. Yamaha bought the prestigious piano manufacturer Bösendorfer in 2008, enabling them to record and sample sounds produced by the Bösendorfer‘s flagship concert grand, the

Imperial, which costs more than £190,000. The CLP665GP can also produce the sound of Yamaha’s own flagship grand piano the CFX, and it boasts graded hammer action and synthetic ivory keytops.

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Kawai CA-98: £2,898, Bonners

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The CA-98 uses a stereo soundboard made of wood that replicates that of an acoustic piano, giving Kawai a much richer sound in comparison to other brands. The Kawai also has a touchscreen that makes it much easier to navigate the various menus. Its excellent user interface is intuitive to use.

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Native Instruments komplete kontrol S88 MK2: £799, Dawsons

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As a controller keyboard with fully weighted keys, the S88 doesn’t have speakers or recorded sounds built-in, so it needs to be connected to a computer. Its impressive design means it works seamlessly with music production software and virtual instruments; you can download and install onto your computer the recorded sounds of pianos, including the incredible C.Bechstein Digital Grand.

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Casio PX S3000 Digital Piano: £783, Gear4Music

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This new release from Casio is slick in its design: the keys are fully weighted and have an ebony and ivory textured feel. This digital piano would also be great as a midi controller (stands for musical instrument digital interface which lets you create music digitally with a computer) and well suited to professionals that need something that’s light, slim and convenient. The piano is compatible with Casio’s Chordana app, which makes learning piano fun.

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Yamaha AvantGrand N3X hybrid digital piano: £13,999, Chamberlain Music

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This Yamaha digital piano reigns for its innovation in producing an authentic acoustic piano feel and sound. The N3X has an impressive and powerful speaker system unlike other digital pianos that results in a sound that really fills a room. This digital piano is the closest you can get to an acoustic.

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The verdict: Digital pianos

The Kawai KDP110 is an excellent digital piano that will see learners through most of their grade exams while enjoying the benefits of an authentic feeling keyboard. Kawai have been hot on the heels of Yamaha digital pianos and are now, in some regards, ahead of Yamaha, with their advanced soundboards and overall sound production.

Nevertheless, if you're looking to go upmarket, the Yamaha N3X produces an incredible sound with its 200W speaker system. If you're looking for something to use as a controller then the S88 from Native Instruments is well developed and has some impressive features for learner players

Geoff Pearce is head of music at Northbridge House school and a piano teacher and composer