Yamaha P-225 Review

This is my review on the Yamaha P-225 digital piano; the long awaited successor to one of the most popular portable digital pianos ever, the Yamaha P-125. The P-225 is a worthy successor; Yamaha retained the awesome basic design and features from the P-125, and then added some key upgrades in important areas: CFX Grand piano samples with virtual resonance modeling, a new action that reduces the size & weight without compromising playability, Bluetooth audio in, and a slight speaker redesign.

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Intro: 0:00
GHC Key Action: 1:11
Sounds: 7:03
Sound Demo: 9:52
User Interface: 19:10
Effects: 24:14
Rhythms & Accompaniment: 26:55
Connectivity: 31:50
Speakers: 37:24
Speaker Demo: 39:10
Other Features: 40:05
Yamaha Smart Pianist App: 40:56
Yamaha Rec'N'Share App: 46:02
What's Missing?: 46:39
Competition: 47:38
The VERDICT: 51:07

Online Piano Training I Recommend:

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[nolannatashaTV]

I have been watching piano reviews for days and I'm frustrated I only found you now. These are the best piano reviews on you tube. Thanks. I think I'm going to go with the p-225, but I'm going to watch a bunch of your other reviews first.

[applemanuk]

Well, after watching this wonderful video I realize it's finally time to upgrade to a P-225 from my P-60!

[clouphon]

Top tier review! Still deciding between this and the Kawai es120 but leaning more towards the Yamaha now.

[darenarthur]

In the competition section you really need to mention the Kawai ES120. If you haven’t tested it you should.

[evandrovysk]

Simplesmente a melhor apresentação que vi do P225. Nem mesmo as do canal oficial da Yamaha foram tão esclarecedoras, principalmente no que se refere a interface de áudio interna. Muito obrigado 🫂

[pluhformybruh]

I've had the P-225 for about half a year now. I haven't been playing too much on it due to college but for a self-taught low-level player I've still noticed some things coming from a complete toy of a piano, some 61-key Casio. The first significant and ground-breaking difference is key-action. Having no key action sometimes feels monotone, and the addition of action makes the sound feel so much more genuine. Despite this rapid change, I've come to realize that the P-225's dual sensor is a bit weak and although it still works amazing and I'm very happy with my purchase, I believe it could have been a better keyboard with a more sensitive key action.

[mfurman]

I have given P-225 another chance 🙂 I tested GHS (DGX-670) and GHC actions at a L&M store again yesterday. They were indeed very close as far as the feel is concerned. I decided to rent P-225 and they gave me a new one as a rental. I may actually keep it. I have to get used to the action but it is definitely light and responsive (perhaps too responsive 🙂). I recorded a Bach's piece on P-225 using its Digital Audio Interface (directly to my iPhone). You can find it searching for J.S Bach - Prelude No.1 BWV 846 (Yamaha P-225). I made a few fingering mistakes - I am still getting used to the action.

Michael

[mfurman]

Thank you for your review. I had P-225 for almost four weeks and I decided to return it. The heaviness of the action close to the fulcrum matters to me a lot. It is not personal preference (as you always say) but it very much depends on the repertoire you play (I only learn and play classical pieces). What also impacted my decision is my experience playing Yamaha C7 grand piano on regular basis - there was too much difference of the feel of the action. PHA-4 is much closer to the acoustic piano action.
Yamaha weighted action does not have wide gradation: C2 is 53 g and C7 ~ 50 g (C4 is ~ 52g).
I should also point out that headphone amplifier of P-225 is a downgrade from P-125 as far as loudness and quality of sound is concerned. CFX tone is worse than for P-515 and definitely inferior to Garritan CFX VST.

What I liked the most about GHC was how quiet this action is. I do not think that you have mentioned it.

Michael

Ps. There is no doubts that our preferences of digital piano features differ quite significantly 😊

[MusicDive-exmi]

Thank you for detailed review, comparisons to other pianos were especially interesting. As for the front ports I like this design in general -- this way it is less risky to damage the port itself, rather you bend the cable. First time I saw this (not the first hand though) was in Atari 520 ST and I am still impressed with it. As for the price, Roland FP-E50 (which you reviewed previosusly, thank you again 🙂) is more expensive but in similar price range (of course the story "just add $$$ more and you get..." never ends 🙂). One question -- right at the start you say the keys are weighted and graded "like in real piano". Recently I learned that at his price level the keys are not graded "like in real piano", but zoned. I checked already Korg PH3 (4 zones), Roland PHA4 (4 zones AFAIK and also my late discovery, the have shorter/closer pivot point). So considering the price my guess would be this keybed is also zoned, so unlike the real piano. I am not catching you on words, but since manufacturers are not helpful here it would be good to clarify this when possible.

[xhobv]

I was considering P-225 but in the end bought Yamaha GTX-670, which is in the same price range, but includes many more keyboard features, has GHS action and more than 600 voices. It is significantly heavier but the sound is better.

[jerry]

I can't thank you enough for your excellent, comprehensive review of what seems to be one of the finest digital pianos on the market, However, I'm still wondering if this instrument has battery-operated capabilities? One of my main focus points for buying a new keyboard is the availability of full portability. If you see this comment, please repond. Thanks so much!!

[deltacomatso]

Hey, great review ! Your reviews are the best.
I wonder if you line out the P-225 sound to an amplifier, can you still have the keyboard speaker on, the amplifier sound should just boost the keyboard a tiny bit. Is this doable?

[ryan]

Great video! Does the usb port provide power enough power to charge an iPad while connected to the Smart Piano app?

[nicoleallen]

I am trying to decide between P-225 and the DGX-670 I am trying to get back into playing. Just for at home use. I like playing around with the different voices, but also like something that feels similar to an acoustic

[robertoc]

Great review. Thanks. Can I ask you a question? Can you record yourself and they play it back instantly? I can do this now on my Yamaha 373 keyboard and i find it really useful.

[jamietopolski]

Is there any indication that they will offer a 73-key version (similar to the P-121)? I find 73 keys so much more practical than 88. It fits in a normal trunk. It fits on any stage. It covers the entire range I need for rock/pop music. etc.

[Riku]

Thanks a lot for your review!
Im a beginner trying to learn piano and have access to the the Yamaha p145 for 405€ while I have to pay 666€ for the p225.

Is it worth spending the extra 270 for the sake of learning and playing piano for years to come value wise? Also planning to use it for midi purposes.

[theol]

I'll give them the new piano voices as an improvement, but relocating the speakers to the back was an incredibly bad move (in my view) that should be pointed out clearly. This makes wall placement near impossible. Speakers at the rear may be okay for a stage piano, where they typically will point towards the band or the audience, but for a typical home piano that will be placed at the wall more often than not, it's brain-dead IMHO. Speakers pointing to the floor (Roland, others) are bad, but placing them at the back is the worst. Casio also does this in some of their pianos. Rules this thing out for me instantly.
EDIT: Now that I revisited the video I realized that you covered this point more broadly than I first noticed. I kinda skipped back and forth between the written review and the video and must have missed some of it. However, I still stand by my reasoning. Wall-facing speakers are a horrible idea in a home digital piano, "Wall EQ" or not. The concept of EQing out the problem is flawed, since the correct setting, if such a thing even exists, would depend on the material of the wall, the width of the gap between the piano and the wall etc. Downward facing speakers share these problems to some degree.

[neildomingo]

Amazing review! Compared to Casio px s3100 which one do you recommend? Was thinking on buying a white P 225 but the px s3100 went on sale so I’m stuck on what to choose.

[kevinhaynes]

Tony, I've just replaced my old P-80 with the P-225, and am looking for an App that can simply recognise and tell me what chord I'm playing at any given moment. I don't think Smart Pianist can do it, but I'm sure there must be an app that can. Many thanks...