Eighty-eight keys, and what they weigh · review
Not a weighted piano and not sold as one: 88 full-size touch-sensitive keys, 480 sounds, and a bundle that includes the stand, pedal, headphones, bag and adapter. The most complete box in this lot.
The bottom line The best-equipped starting point here, provided you understand you are buying 88 unweighted keys and a complete set of accessories.
The Recital Play is the only instrument in this lot that arrives ready to play with nothing else bought: stand, sustain pedal, headphones, tablet rest, bag and power adapter are all listed as included.
That is the entire argument for it, and it is a strong one. The most common way a first instrument fails is not the instrument — it is discovering that the stand, the pedal and the headphones are three more purchases, and that the keyboard sits on a bed in the meantime.
The keys are full-size and touch-sensitive rather than weighted. Alesis is clear about this and so are we: touch sensitivity changes volume with how hard you play, a hammer action changes the physical resistance under the finger. They are different things, and the difference is what separates this page from the Casio and Roland ones above.
The USB-MIDI socket is what gives it a second life. When a weighted piano eventually arrives, this becomes a controller for software rather than something to sell.
| Keys | 88 full-size, touch-sensitive (not weighted) |
|---|---|
| Sounds | 480, with 160 rhythms and 140 demo songs |
| In the box | Stand, music/tablet rest, sustain pedal, headphones, bag, power adapter |
| Connectivity | USB-MIDI, 6.35 mm sustain input, 3.5 mm aux in, 3.5 mm headphone out |
| Learning | Split, lesson and record modes; Skoove and Melodics included |
| Battery option | 6 × AA, not supplied |
| Amazon reference | B0CLVRL7YW (identical on 6 markets) |
| EAN | 0694318026380 |
It is an 88-key keyboard with touch-sensitive keys. A hammer action is what makes an instrument a digital piano in the sense this site uses, and Alesis does not describe this one as weighted. It is an excellent first keyboard and it is not a substitute for a weighted action.
A 6.35 mm socket, with a pedal supplied. That is the same standard socket used by the pedals in our accessories section, so a later upgrade fits.
88 weighted keys · 10 sounds · pedal and stand included
A slim 88-key board with Casio’s Scaled Hammer Action II and, unusually at this price, the SP-3 pedal, music rest and power adapter already in the box. Ten sounds rather than hundreds — the money went into the keys.
Best for: A first weighted piano where the pedal and adapter should not be a second order.
≈ 300 €
88 keys · SuperNATURAL · headphone output
Roland’s entry into the FP series: 88 keys with an ivory-feel surface, the SuperNATURAL engine, and a keyboard mechanism Roland describes as quiet in itself — the detail that decides whether a flat-dweller can practise at night.
Best for: Someone who will practise mostly in headphones and wants the action to be the strong part.
≈ $500 / £390 / 400 €
88 GHS keys · three pedals · console cabinet
A console piano rather than a portable one: 88 Graded Hammer Standard keys, three pedals and a cabinet that stays where you put it. Yamaha also fits a volume limiter, which sets a ceiling on output.
Best for: A permanent practice piano in a room where it can stay assembled.
≈ 700 €
