Pianos are excellent musical instruments for those who build a passion for art. A good beginner piano can be an ideal instrument for students who embark on music education. Some of the best brands and manufacturers of pianos release some amazing high-quality pianos at an affordable cost. And we have listed here the top 4 best portable pianos under $150 here.
These pianos are great to be transported and these models instill the basic piano skills in the students so that they can transfer the same to full-size pianos. Let us discuss the inherent features and qualities of these cheap and portable pianos here.
Quick Summary: Best Portable Pianos Under $150
Keep Your Piano’s Wires From Ripping
Despite being one of the biggest instruments you might find in a person’s home, pianos are actually rather sensitive. A beautiful piano that was previously well-maintained may become difficult to play and impossible to sell if the required attention, maintenance, and tuning are not given. However, if maintained properly, pianos can live for many, many generations.
String rust prevention is one technique you can do in your home. Because of dampness, piano strings rust. When there is a lot of humidity in the air, the condensing of the moist air on the strings might lead to rusting. Even worse, the dust that invariably falls on the strings makes the moisture stickier to the strings for extended periods of time.
To prevent your piano strings from becoming dusty, you may also buy a string cover. Although a string cover doesn’t prevent you from playing your piano, it could look a little odd if you have a baby grand and like to show off the strings. But because the string covers are so simple to put on and take off, you have a variety of options for protection as well as the freedom to display your precious possession when you want to.
Make sure to dust your strings frequently. In your own house, there isn’t a tried-and-true method to get rid of rust from your strings, but you may get rid of harmful dust that could potentially cause rust. To clear the dust from the strings and into one corner of the piano, we advise using a vacuum with strong reverse suction. Then, just remove it with the standard suction. However, avoid using the vacuum to attempt to remove the dust off the strings directly as this might easily put the strings under excessive strain or even result in accidental contact and breakage.
Picking A Seat For Playing Piano
In addition to allowing you to change the height so that you are sitting at the ideal height above the keys, a piano bench will also give your piano or keyboard arrangement a somewhat more polished and functional appearance.
The On-Stage KT7800+ Deluxe is the stool for individuals searching for a fairly priced choice that will offer the comfort required to play the piano for hours on end. Although there is no storage room on this X-frame design bench, it is a well-made solution for any pianist given the pricing point.
The Roland PB-500 is at the other extreme of the price range. This elegant seat is the ideal complement to any piano and exudes class. One of the greatest piano benches available thanks to its excellent build quality, luxury padding, and continuous height adjustment of 10 cm.
Finally, we must highlight the Gear4Music Deluxe Duet bench. Each side of this ingenious stool can be adjusted individually, making it the greatest choice for piano teachers. What’s more, it has useful storage to manage musical notation and other teaching supplies.
Are Colored Pianos Difficult To Manage?
Know where the sun ‘travels’ during the day in your house. Avoid placing your piano in direct sunlight if at all feasible. The traditional saying that you shouldn’t put your piano against an exterior wall is also somewhat absurd, especially in today’s well-insulated homes. Placing the piano against an exterior wall may be OK if your home has heating and cooling and is well-insulated. The solution will be to include the humidity control system if there are any inconsistencies.
The piano is comprised of two materials—metal and wood—to a degree of about 90%. They appear to be materials that are robust enough. They are, in fact, but there is an issue because of a characteristic of wood. With variations in humidity, wood expands and contracts, pressing against the metal components. The classic conflict between an irresistible juggernaut and an inanimate object is thus present.
This applies to all colored pianos, including red pianos which are brighter but tend to fade in days when exposed to sunlight.
Keyboard vs Digital Piano
Numerous mechanical components make up an acoustic piano. They become quite heavy and fragile as a result. They are also quite expensive to buy and maintain. A digital piano, however, does away with these drawbacks while retaining many of the qualities that have made acoustic pianos so popular for so long. When you push a key on an original piano, weighted hammers strike steel strings. The use of springs in a digital piano seeks to as closely imitate this special sound and feel. The player is to experience the same dynamics and reaction.
Professional musicians nearly usually prefer recording with an acoustic piano over a digital one because of the latter’s greater audio quality. However, given its size, weight, and fragility, it is simply unreasonable to bring one with you to a concert. Digital pianos may perform the same function in a much smaller space and at a lot more affordable price.
Stage pianos, sometimes known as slabs or portable pianos, and upright pianos are the two main types of digital pianos.
The typical home keyboard sacrifices the appearance and feel of an acoustic piano for a greater variety of sounds. Almost all keyboards come equipped with built-in speakers and an arranger, allowing you to play along with a backing track.
Although most keyboards are less expensive than digital pianos, the sound quality suffers as a result. Because they lack spring resistance, their keys feel more squishier as well. They’re great for creating music on the fly, but as dynamic performing instruments, they simply fall short.
Keyboards are typically best for amateurs, newcomers, or multi-instrumentalists who want to experiment with various sounds.
Workstation keyboards and controllers, on the other hand, serve an entirely different purpose. These are designed for both live performance and music production. They are employed to manage hardware or software for digital audio workstations. To serve as a central control centre, directly connect to the PC, samplers, drum machines, and synthesisers.
- A digital piano is made to sound and feel like an acoustic piano.
- A few digital effects and PC connectivity are typically included.
- Keyboards have an arranger feature and can produce a considerably wider spectrum of sounds.
- Many keyboards’ primary purpose is to serve as a MIDI controller for PC software.
- They feature lighter, smaller keys and don’t try to imitate an acoustic piano.
Check out: Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards for Beginners
Table of Contents
- Quick Summary: Best Portable Pianos Under $150
- Keep Your Piano’s Wires From Ripping
- Picking A Seat For Playing Piano
- Are Colored Pianos Difficult To Manage?
- Keyboard vs Digital Piano
- Top 4 Best Portable Keyboard Pianos Under $150
- What to Look For in Your Portable Keyboard?
- Our Recommendation
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- 1. Does piano require storage?
- 2. Does your piano need height adjustment?
- 3. Between keyboard vs digital piano, which is most ideal?
- 4. What are the tips for extra care and maintenance?
- 5. What should you expect from a piano bench?
- 6. How strong could we say that the piano wire?
- 7. Why do piano wires break?
- 8. Why does the piano bench need storage?
Top 4 Best Portable Keyboard Pianos Under $150
#1. Yamaha YPT270 Portable Keyboard – Best Overall
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.6 |
| Connectivity | 8.9 |
| Build Quality | 8.9 |
| For Beginners | 9.7 |
| Value for money | 9.5 |
The Yamaha YPT 270 is an excellent piano that combines the quality styles and voices of a sophisticated piano. This piano inspires beginner piano players to realize their potential and inspires them to learn the instrument and play some quality music. The diverse fun and educational features of this piano ensure the players play the game in a fun-filled way.
This is an excellent piano that is complemented with hundredths of high-quality voices and drum kits. The piano also features special FX kits that help in bringing about a lot of variety and authenticity to the music. The special feature of this piano is that it brings a lot of accompaniment instruments to the playing style. Its smart chord feature helps in playing great chords from simple pop triads to complex jazz sounds within its 61 keys.
It features 61-full sized keys on the board that are great for learning and developing some excellent keyboard playing techniques. This piano helps the players to develop their interest in music by playing different notes and sound effects. The players can learn to play the songs with the help of its three built-in lesson modes and also capture performances with the help of the onboard song recorder.
What’s Best in Yamaha YPT270?
- The smart cord features of this piano making playing chords very easy for beginner piano players.
- Its built-in voices and styles help players to play virtually any type of music.
- A great starter piano for music enthusiasts.
- Renders excellent sound and has many pre-programmed songs.
What’s Lacking in Yamaha YPT270?
- Great piano for beginners but doesn’t appeal to professionals.
Must Check: Best Digital Pianos for Learning
#2. Alesis Melody 61 MKII Keyboard Piano – Runner Up
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.1 |
| Connectivity | 8.9 |
| Build Quality | 8.9 |
| For Beginners | 9.4 |
| Value for money | 9.1 |
This is an excellent piano with built-in speakers, headphones, piano stand, microphone, stool, and music rest. The piano has responsive keys with speakers that are great for playing high-quality music and for practicing with family and friends. The piano features more than 300 built-in tones with both layer and split modes and there is also a one-touch song mode feature in this piano with about 300 built-in rhythms.
It is possible to play along with more than 40 demo songs and record their own song. This piano features an easy to assemble stand and also features a bench with three adjusting height settings. The piano also features a music rest, headphones, power adapter, and also a microphone to sing along as one plays the piano. The melody Alesis piano comes with an easy to assemble keyboard stand that guarantees to keep the keyboard secure at all times.
It is possible to practice the songs in privacy with one’s own headphones. It has more than 300 built-in accompaniment rhythms that are a perfect tool to help players compose their own original songs. The piano helps piano players to record their own performances and they can also use the microphone to sing along.
What’s Best in Alesis Melody 61 MKII?
- This piano is great for first-time piano lessons.
- This is a great piano for beginners
- Features layer and split mode with more than 40 built-in songs
- Possible to record one’s own song with its record mode
What’s Lacking in Alesis Melody 61 MKII?
- The filter on this piano is not very impressive.
- The sounds on this piano are not quite impressive.
Also check: Best Budget Digital Pianos Under $500
#3. Casio Casiotone CT-S200BK Portable Keyboard – Editor’s Choice
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.4 |
| Connectivity | 8.9 |
| Build Quality | 8.8 |
| For Beginners | 9.6 |
| Value for money | 9.4 |
This is an excellent keyboard for beginners available at an impressive cost. The piano features USB connectivity, MIDI support, and also features a built-in carry handle. The best feature of this piano is that it features more than 400 tones, 77 rhythms, and 60 songs to help beginners practice the songs on their own. The diverse functions of this keyboard can be monitored with the help of its LCD display.
The piano also features 61 full-size touch response keys along with a pitch bend wheel and ten types of reverbs for additional music expression. With this piano at hand, it is possible to easily select a style or choose the keys to trigger basslines, drum loops, synth parts, effects, and music transitions. This piano allows the players to truly express their music style and is presented as an ultra-compact music device.
The Casio CT-S200BK is easy and is also fun to play and features an LCD display and intuitive controls, to quickly recall the piano sounds and settings. The built-in speakers of this piano help in rendering an excellent stage show and its plug-in headphones help with quality and quiet music time as well. Music players can connect with the free chordana play app to play their favorite songs and also to download the MIDI files with no drivers.
What’s Best in Casio Casiotone CT-S200BK?
- An ultra-compact device that helps to make music whenever and wherever required.
- It is possible to explore a variety of excellent sounding tones with this instrument
- Possible to create and remix EDM tracks easily on this piano.
- It is possible to play, record, and share high-quality music with this piano at hand.
What’s Lacking in Casio Casiotone CT-S200BK?
- The USB connector shaft is not well-built.
- Its spears make a buzzing sound while playing the piano.
Also check: Best Sounding Digital Pianos: Top 10 Most Realistic Pianos
#4. Yamaha PSR-E273 Portable Keyboard – Popular Choice
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.4 |
| Connectivity | 8.9 |
| Build Quality | 8.9 |
| For Beginners | 9.7 |
| Value for money | 9.3 |
This is also an excellent, high-quality, and portable keyboard from Yamaha that is available for less than $150. This practice piano from the legendary Yamaha brand features hundredths of high-quality voices that are complemented by special FX kits and drum kits. These features will never fail to bring about a lot of authenticity and variety to the music. Irrespective of what music one plays, be it playing country, rock, and roll, or the samba music styles, this instrument will work to bring about a lot of life to the music, by adding natural accompaniment instruments to one’s music style.
The smart chord feature of this piano allows the players to play great-sounding chords from simple pop triads to complex jazz chords with just a single finger. The piano features 61 full-sized keys that are great for learning and developing some true keyboard playing techniques. In short, the PSR-E273 combines the high-quality voices and styles of the traditional piano, to help the piano players develop great enthusiasm for learning and playing music.
Players can have hours of fun in exploring a wide variety of sound effects, that can be played from the keyboard such as weather, animal, vehicles, bell sounds, and a lot more. Its smart chord features help in playing the chords easily for beginners. Its built-in voice and style is been inspired by cultures all over the world, which helps players to play virtually any kind of music.
What’s Best in Yamaha PSR-E273?
- Possible to play a huge variety of instrument voices.
- It’s easy to understand panel layout helps to fund out the styles and voices quickly.
- The headphones can be used to eliminate distractions
- The piano features an ultra-portable design and it can also operate on batteries.
What’s Lacking in Yamaha PSR-E273?
- The power adaptor for this piano has to be bought separately.
Check out: Best Digital Pianos for Learning
What to Look For in Your Portable Keyboard?
There are many pianos available from different brands within the budget of $150 and it is important that we spend little time researching for the best digital piano that suits one’s requirements and budget. The following are some of the important points that should be found in a piano.
Piano Keys
Though you are buying a piano on a tight budget, it is important to make sure that the keys on the piano are highly responsive and play high-quality music when they are pushed down. This phenomenon is also referred to as action in pianos, and they differ in firmness and resistance from one model to another. Unweighted keys will be easier to press and push down, compared with weighted keys, just like the traditional piano. A piano with weighted keys will be great for beginners.
Compatibility with MIDI
MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface. MIDI allows the users to send and receive signals, though it is not a necessary feature in the music instrument for beginners. Students and beginners piano players should ensure that the piano has MIDI compatibility so that they can earn electronic music or choose to connect the computer and the keyboard.
Connectivity With Computer
A vast majority of the pianos render computer connectivity. This computer connectivity option is great for beginner students who wish to create their own music with music composition programs. Buying a keyboard with computer connectivity will help to upgrade the keyboard in the future.
Storage Function
Music students can download software patches and new keyboard sounds with the help of micro USB cards, but the piano should have ample storage functions. Choose to buy a piano that offers more than 100 different sounds with additional settings for user presets and new sounds.
Sound
The sound of the piano is an important feature to choose from a good beginner piano. The best pianos produce sounds that are equivalent to that the sounds produced in an acoustic piano. Other considerations in the piano include polyphony and the ability of the piano to play strings, drums, and other music in the background to compliment the music that is been played.
Must Check: Best Home Digital Pianos
Our Recommendation
A piano is a full-sized weighted music instrument that is ideal for people to play piano music. Beginners should choose a piano with an ambient keyboard and electronic music to deliver high-quality sound functions. Also, buy all piano accessories such as bench, piano stand, dampening pedal, etc., for a high-quality music experience. In the end, we hope our guide will help you choose one of the best portable keyboards under $150.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Does piano require storage?
Being able to put your sheet music and books away out of sight while not in use is quite helpful if you perform a lot of sight scanning and song-playing from books and sheet music. Your sheet music can be kept hidden away on a bench with a switch lid and storage space rather than being dispersed in unattractive piles on top of your instrument.
2. Does your piano need height adjustment?
Since the majority of people only own one piano, you might assume that your piano bench’s height adjustment is something you can set and forget about. Height adjustment is essential for good posture if you do have many instruments, each of which is at a different height, or if you have family members who all play at different ages. You don’t want to be bashing your knees on the keyboard’s underbelly if a kid was to play when you sit down to practice at the piano.
3. Between keyboard vs digital piano, which is most ideal?
Digital pianos are made to mimic the feel and sound of an acoustic piano. It’s interesting to note that the tone of digital pianos comes from mixing and recording many acoustic piano sound samples. Because of this, digital pianos provide a sound and feel that are truer to life than keyboards. Do keep in mind that different models will have different sound and feel qualities. The better the digital piano, the more expensive it is. Although keyboards can’t quite match the sound of an acoustic piano, they do offer a wide variety of tones and effects that may be a lot of fun to experiment with.
4. What are the tips for extra care and maintenance?
Anything silicone-containing should be avoided. Silicone can make wood harder to fix or refinish in the future because it absorbs into the finish and causes the wood to become saturated.
Second, using a moist cloth followed by a dry cloth is suitable when maintaining modern high polish and high gloss piano coatings. The majority of piano technicians and piano shops also provide polishes designed specifically for these polyester coatings.
5. What should you expect from a piano bench?
The greatest piano benches and stools come in a range of shapes, sizes, and fashions for something that serves the pretty basic function of providing somewhere to sit, so the best bench for you will rely on how and where you’re going to use it.
6. How strong could we say that the piano wire?
Piano wire has incredible strength. In actuality, a single piano string has greater strain than an entire guitar since a piano’s strings are each tightened to a tension of between 75 and 100 kg. A cast iron structure is required for a piano because of the aggregate total stress of all the strings, which is around 20 tons.
7. Why do piano wires break?
Piano strings occasionally break despite being exceedingly durable and hardy. This typically occurs if the string has been subjected to a great deal of abrupt tension (for instance, not being tuned frequently for years) or has been stored in a damp or fluctuating environment because over time, the metal can become delicate.
8. Why does the piano bench need storage?
Even though piano benches don’t have much storage space, it is sufficient for the essentials like music sheets, music theory books, pencils for taking notes, and even an electronic metronome. Although it might not look like much, there is more than enough space to prevent clutter from building up on the top of your piano.
What to look for in the piano bench top material?
The bench tops are typically constructed of leather or imitation leather. Even though they have a similar appearance, they differ in a few ways.
Real leather is the best option if you’re looking for something that can withstand heavy wear and is built to last. Faux leather, in contrast, can be a better option if you are seeking something portable that you can use outdoors or that you can allow your children to sit on.
