Yamaha is the prolific manufacturer with over 200 different digital piano models. 
Casio clocks in a distant second with fewer than fifty models. Roland, Kawai, and Korg are much more modest in their options. There are several other minor manufacturers, but these five manufacturers control more than 95% of the digital piano market in the US. Yamaha bags the undisputed brand premium, the fruit of extensive investment in research and development over a long period of time.
A note on pricing:
Most digital pianos are available either online or through national retailers.
This convenience allows consumers to do comparison-shopping and realize lower margins compared to acoustic pianos purchased through a dealer. Of course, for acoustic pianos, dealers provide valuable service – the weight of the piece (upwards of 500 pounds), the professional tuning they require and setup make online and national retailing take a rear seat. 
On the other hand, the weight of digital pianos rarely exceed 150 pounds (even the cabinet models that look like an acoustic piano), and requires no special tuning or setup thereby diminishing the services of the dealer. That said, for the high-end cabinet digital piano models, some consumers prefer the services of a dealer for a hands-off transaction.
While the Internet and national retailing has allowed for freewheeling for the consumer, the piano dealers have been hammered by revenue loss. With the market penetration achieved by the digital piano manufacturers, acoustic piano sales volume has declined.
To stem the bleeding, piano dealers applied pressure on piano manufacturers for dealer-exclusivity. As a result, in the USA, only Yamaha’s portable piano models and the ARIUS/YDP cabinet piano models are available both online and through retailers. The remainder of Yamaha’s pianos (Clavinovas and MODUS) is available only through dealers. Similar agreements apply for higher end models of Roland and Kawai. In Europe and other parts of the world, this dealer-only policy is not applicable. In the comparison spreadsheets below, we include both the list price and the best price online – for higher end models, these prices are based on what
these go for outside the US.
Variety and choices are aplenty in the digital piano models. Yamaha has 200-odd and counting digital piano models. Casio, Roland, Kawai, and Korg also have several models. In general, the manufacturers use a few brands/series to classify the offerings. The series/brand choices from each manufacturer are:
Casio (Privia PX, Celviano AP, and CDP) :
Roland (RD, FP, RP, LX, RM, HP, DP, F, HPi, KR, and RG) :
Kawai (CL, CN, EP, ES, CA, MP, and CP) CE, and CE - Digital Piano, CA - Concert Artist Digital Piano, CP - Digital Ensemble Piano) :
Summary & Recommendation:
Roland home pianos (non-portable) have the best warranty - 5 year parts and 1 year labor. The Yamaha's & Kawai's have a 3-year warranty and that compares very well with the Casio's, Korg's, and the Roland portable digital piano models which have just a one-year warranty. The Roland's and Korg's enjoy good reputation among piano enthusiasts. Yamaha's & Kawai's are the popular choice among institutions. The Casio's have excellent market share because of their value pricing.
Below is a summary of our best value recommendations from each category:
Related Posts:
1. Best Values in Digital Pianos (Portable) - A Comparative Review.
2. Best Values in Digital Pianos (Home - Non Portable) - A Comparative Review.
3. Digital Pianos (Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, Korg) - An introduction for Digital Piano Shoppers.
4. Best Values in Yamaha Digital Pianos (Portable) - A Comparative Review.
5. Best Values in Yamaha Digital Pianos (Home - Non Portable) - A Comparative Review.
6. Yamaha Digital Pianos - An Introduction to Different Models.
7. Acoustic Piano (Yamaha M-460, Cable Nelson Yamaha CN-116, Kawai K-15, etc.) - Review, Best Values, Pricing, & Shopping Experience.
8. Yamaha P65 & P70 Digital Piano Review.
9. Teach your kids Piano with learn piano online for free – well, almost!!
Casio clocks in a distant second with fewer than fifty models. Roland, Kawai, and Korg are much more modest in their options. There are several other minor manufacturers, but these five manufacturers control more than 95% of the digital piano market in the US. Yamaha bags the undisputed brand premium, the fruit of extensive investment in research and development over a long period of time.A note on pricing:
Most digital pianos are available either online or through national retailers.
This convenience allows consumers to do comparison-shopping and realize lower margins compared to acoustic pianos purchased through a dealer. Of course, for acoustic pianos, dealers provide valuable service – the weight of the piece (upwards of 500 pounds), the professional tuning they require and setup make online and national retailing take a rear seat. On the other hand, the weight of digital pianos rarely exceed 150 pounds (even the cabinet models that look like an acoustic piano), and requires no special tuning or setup thereby diminishing the services of the dealer. That said, for the high-end cabinet digital piano models, some consumers prefer the services of a dealer for a hands-off transaction.While the Internet and national retailing has allowed for freewheeling for the consumer, the piano dealers have been hammered by revenue loss. With the market penetration achieved by the digital piano manufacturers, acoustic piano sales volume has declined.
To stem the bleeding, piano dealers applied pressure on piano manufacturers for dealer-exclusivity. As a result, in the USA, only Yamaha’s portable piano models and the ARIUS/YDP cabinet piano models are available both online and through retailers. The remainder of Yamaha’s pianos (Clavinovas and MODUS) is available only through dealers. Similar agreements apply for higher end models of Roland and Kawai. In Europe and other parts of the world, this dealer-only policy is not applicable. In the comparison spreadsheets below, we include both the list price and the best price online – for higher end models, these prices are based on what these go for outside the US.Variety and choices are aplenty in the digital piano models. Yamaha has 200-odd and counting digital piano models. Casio, Roland, Kawai, and Korg also have several models. In general, the manufacturers use a few brands/series to classify the offerings. The series/brand choices from each manufacturer are:
Casio (Privia PX, Celviano AP, and CDP) :
- The Casio Privia PX (current models - 3, 130, 330, and 830) series models are primarily portable digital pianos with the only exceptions being the older PX-800 & the newer PX-830 which come with an integrated stand.
- The Casio Celviano AP (current models - 220, 420, 620) is the Cabinet Digital Piano line which are non-portable home digital pianos.
- Yamaha P-series (current models - P-85/P-85S, P-95B/P-95S, P-155) series models are portable digital pianos.
- Yamaha Portable Grand (current model: YPG-640) series are piano-focused portable keyboards and form the low-end of Yamaha's portable line.
- Yamaha Stage Pianos (current models : CP1, CP5, CP50, CP300, CP33) are professional stage pianos and form Yamaha's high-end of the portable digital piano line.
- Yamaha ARIUS (current models - YDP-161, YDP-V240, YDP-181, YDP-141, YDP-S31) are home (non-portable cabinet) digital pianos and form Yamaha's low-end of the home piano line. These are the only non-portable Yamaha piano models that are available from nationwide retailers & online stores.
- Yamaha Clavinova Traditionals (current models - CLP-480, CLP-470, CLP-440, CLP-430, CLP-S408, CLP-S406B, CLP-465GP, CLP-380, CLP-370, CLP-340, CLP-295GP, CLP-265GP) series are traditional digital pianos (non-portable cabinet) and form Yamaha's low-end of home pianos sold exclusively through dealers.
- Yamaha Clavinova Ensembles (current models - CVP509 CVP505, CVP503, CVP501, CVP-409GP, CGP-1000) series are ensemble digital pianos (non-portable cabinet) and are Yamaha's premium home pianos sold exclusively through dealers.
- Yamaha MODUS Series Designer Pianos (current models - F01, F11, H01, H11, R01) are designer pianos (non-portable designer cabinet) and form Yamaha's high-end of home pianos sold exclusively through dealers.
Roland (RD, FP, RP, LX, RM, HP, DP, F, HPi, KR, and RG) :
- The FP-4F, FP-7F are portable digital pianos and form the low-end of Roland's line.
- The RD (current models - 300NX, VIMA RK-399, V-Piano, and 700NX) are portable stage digital pianos.
- The LX-10F, RP-201, HP (201, 302, 305, 307), DP (990, 990R, 990F 990RF), F-110, and HPi (Digital Interactive - 6F, 6S, 7S) series models are termed Roland's upright cabinet (non-portable) digital pianos.
- The KR (Digital Intelligent - 117-MR, 115-MR, 115R, and 111), HP-109, RG (1F, 3F, 7-R), and V-Piano Grand are termed Roland's digital grand pianos and form the high-end of Roland's line.
Kawai (CL, CN, EP, ES, CA, MP, and CP) CE, and CE - Digital Piano, CA - Concert Artist Digital Piano, CP - Digital Ensemble Piano) :
- The EP3 & ES6 are Kawai's portable digital pianos.
- The MP6, & MP10 are Kawai's portable stage pianos.
- The CL25, CN (current models - 23, 33, 43, KDP-80, CS-3), and CE200 are cabinet (non-portable) digital pianos and form Kawai's low-end of the cabinet piano line.
- The CA (current models - 63, 93) are Concert Artist series cabinet (non-portable) digital pianos and are Kawai's premium cabinet digital pianos.
- The CP (current models - 119, 139, 179, 209) are Concert Performer series cabinet (non-portable) digital pianos and are Kawai's high-end cabinet digital pianos.
- The SP250, SP170, and SP170S are Korg's flagship portable digital pianos.
- The SV1 is Korg's new Stage (portable) digital piano.
- The LP350 is Korg's flagship upright (non portable) digital piano.
Summary & Recommendation:
Roland home pianos (non-portable) have the best warranty - 5 year parts and 1 year labor. The Yamaha's & Kawai's have a 3-year warranty and that compares very well with the Casio's, Korg's, and the Roland portable digital piano models which have just a one-year warranty. The Roland's and Korg's enjoy good reputation among piano enthusiasts. Yamaha's & Kawai's are the popular choice among institutions. The Casio's have excellent market share because of their value pricing.
Below is a summary of our best value recommendations from each category:
- Best Value Portable Digital Piano: Yamaha P85
.
- Best Value Non-Portable Digital Piano: Yamaha ARIUS YDP-161
.
Related Posts:
1. Best Values in Digital Pianos (Portable) - A Comparative Review.
2. Best Values in Digital Pianos (Home - Non Portable) - A Comparative Review.
3. Digital Pianos (Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, Korg) - An introduction for Digital Piano Shoppers.
4. Best Values in Yamaha Digital Pianos (Portable) - A Comparative Review.
5. Best Values in Yamaha Digital Pianos (Home - Non Portable) - A Comparative Review.
6. Yamaha Digital Pianos - An Introduction to Different Models.
7. Acoustic Piano (Yamaha M-460, Cable Nelson Yamaha CN-116, Kawai K-15, etc.) - Review, Best Values, Pricing, & Shopping Experience.
8. Yamaha P65 & P70 Digital Piano Review.
9. Teach your kids Piano with learn piano online for free – well, almost!!
Last Updated: 10/2011.
9 Comments::
Thanks very much! This information was extremely useful in helping me decide on an acceptable digital piano.
This is an incredibly detailed comparison, thanks very much.
Out of curiosity, for the cabinet piano, what factors made you choose the Kawai over the Yamaha or Roland? In particular, how does the action compare?
Hi:
As we mentioned in the review, our choices were the Yamaha P65 (http://www.onefamilysblog.com/2007/09/yamaha-p65-digital-piano-review.html) portable digital piano and the Kawai K15 acoustic (http://www.onefamilysblog.com/2008/05/shopping-for-acoustic-piano-in-bay-area.html). So, we did not get to choose between the ones you mentioned.
While choosing the acoustic, we had to decide between the Kawai K15 and some Yamaha's and the decision basically came down to the fact that the Kawai's pitch was a little more pleasing to our ears...
Regards,
Sorry, I was referring to this recommendation:
Best Cabinet Digital Piano (non-portable):
Budget: Korg EC150.
Feature Rich: Kawai CE200.
Was the "feature rich" recommendation based on trying them, or essentially on the specs?
Hi:
We have not tried all the pianos mentioned in the review. It is more of an exhaustive list that one can use as reference for feature/price comparison.
Good luck with your research/purchase...
Regards,
Hey there, this is really detailed one-stop info site for someone looking for a digital piano. I like Kawai CE too.
Awesome review. This was better than anything else I have come across on the net.
JY (from Canada)
I was deciding between the Yamaha YDP-V240 and the Casio AP620.
I seem to be reading that this particular casio is better than the yamaha?
What is your opinion?
Thanks.
Casio always have had better feature set and lower pricing for the same class of piano compared to Yamaha. Once you have tried the Yamaha ARIUS YDP-v240 and Casio Celviano AP-620, points to also consider are:
a) Yamaha warranty is 3 years (parts & labor) while Casio's is 1 year parts and 90 days labor, and
b) Yamaha is around $400 pricier.
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