The world of music holds so many secrets that many of us don't know about. And this does not always come down to the music theory or any other advanced stuff, but also down to the types of instruments that are out there. And in the crowd of so many different options out there, people get somewhat surprised when they find out that roll-up pianos are a thing. Yes, it is an actual electronic keyboard that can be rolled up and carried around with you. Isn't that convenient?
But, of course, these instruments are often regarded as just fun little gadgets or toys, mostly intended for kids. Nonetheless, there are some standards that you should look into if you want to buy one. This is exactly why we decided to make a list of the best roll-up pianos that you can find on the market today.
Top 6 Best Roll-up Pianos
PicassoTiles PT49
Of course, the whole roll-up piano thing is mostly focused on the youngest ones – those who show interest in music early on. This proves that roll-up pianos are something between a toy and an instrument. And this is exactly what PicassoTiles have specialized in, making great toy instruments for the youngest ones. Here we have their PT49 model of roll-up piano that (as you might have guessed from its name) comes with 49 keys.
The roll-up keyboard is made out of pretty durable silicone and it provides very comfortable performance for anyone. Additionally, it's really easy to store and it grips really tightly to any solid flat surface. This makes it especially useful if you're looking for a small travel toy instrument. It comes with a small speaker that does a pretty decent job and we have 6 different demo songs, as well as 8 different unique tones.
Of course, this is not much, but it's exactly what you'll want to be looking for with a simple toy instrument. It's an amazing and yet very simple educational tool. What's more, it's a pretty cheap one considering its qualities.
- Affordable
- Quality durable silicone keyboard
- Really simple and compact
- It could use more sound presets and other features
Sunny & Fun 61 Keys
Of course, in many cases, buyers will want to see more keys on there. Although playful little instruments are intended as toys, they can also do more stuff than you'd expect and bring a more extended range. This is the case with Sunny & Fun and their 61-key roll-up piano. As you may notice from just one glance, it's still a toy instrument, but it's capable of doing a few interesting things, making it popular among the adult population as well.
Compared to the other two examples that we mentioned, Sunny & Fun 61-key roll-up piano has 128 sound presets for you to play around with. What's more, we can even find 128 rhythm tracks on it, which is really useful for anyone to practice and jam along with.
You can see that its base has some detailed controls on it for dialing in your preferred sound presets. You can even do loops of backing tracks and set their tempo. We even have record and playback functions, which is another thing that makes it useful for practicing. And, as if this wasn't enough, we even have two 3.5 mm connection jacks for speaker and headphone outputs, as well as a MIDI output for some advanced features. It's more than just a simple toy and it's not even that expensive considering what you get.
- Comes with 128 presets and 128 rhythm patterns
- Headphone, speaker, and MIDI outputs for more connectivity options
- Really compact when you roll it up
- Advanced features include vibrato and sustain controls, as well as tempo control for backing tracks
- Silicone rubber is good, but it could be a bit better
ANDSF Portable Flexible Electronic 88-Key Piano
ANDSF has a lot of interesting stuff in their arsenal, although they're not a very famous brand. For this list, we're looking into their very practical portable flexible 88-key roll-up piano. Now, as you may know, 88 is the number of keys of a regular piano or any full-sized professional keyboard. Although it is a simple toy instrument, this one will still provide more than you can expect from it.
This one also comes with 128 different sound presets for you to mess around with. Additionally, we even have 100 rhythm patterns for practices and jam sessions and there are even 80 demos for you to hear what this little instrument can actually do. Aside from these features, there's one thing that makes it different compared to most of the other roll-up keyboards is the double-speaker configuration.
It also comes with a rechargeable battery and a USB charging feature, with around 15 hours of playing on average volume levels. If you prefer to use regular batteries instead, you can power it with three standard AAA 1.5-volt batteries. We even have a separate jack for a sustain pedal and you can even use its USB connection for MIDI purposes, turning this instrument into a real MIDI controller for playing and recording music through a module or your computer. As we explained, it's more than just a simple toy instrument.
- 128 sound presets and plenty of rhythm patterns and demos
- USB connectivity brings an option for MIDI connectivity
- Long battery life
- Sustain pedal connectivity
- Can be connected to headphones or speakers and even has an input for an external sound source
- Great deal for the cost
- Nothing for this price level
Kiker Tech 88 Keys BT
Maybe a bit more expensive than some other examples that we've shown here, Kiker Tech's 88-key roll-up piano does come with some amazing features and additions. Of course, we have 140 tone presets, an input for an external sound source, rhythm patterns, great speakers, as well as a very comfortable silicone rubber material. However, the surprise comes with Bluetooth connectivity. This means that you can also connect it to any sound system that supports it, making it really practical for different occasions. After all, who wants to bother with all the cables?
We could spend a lot of time giving praise to this instrument. There are additional controls on it, as well as a sustain pedal connection feature. It comes with a rechargeable battery that can last for quite some time. The only downside is that it's marketed as a more serious roll-up piano, rather than a more advanced toy. It doesn't make it bad, especially knowing its price, but it might be a little disappointing to some users.
- A full-sized keyboard with 88 keys
- Plenty of sound, rhythm, and demo presets
- It might be a little disappointing to some advanced users
iLearnMusic A49
Going deeper into the topic, we'd like to mention another great example for the youngest music enthusiasts. The keyboard in question is iLearnMusic A49, which is intended as a cheap educational roll-up piano.
Designed for kids from ages of 3 and up, it's powered either with AAA batteries or a USB cord. The most notable feature comes with colored keys, which are designed to work in combination with a special "play-by-color" songbook that's included with it. So instead of white keys, you have seven colors for each note in the C major scale.
Other than that, it's a pretty simple one without too many additional features. We have only 8 demos, 8 tone presets, and 6 music scores to help kids play by color. Batteries can last for about 12 hours, making it a great choice to take with you on a vacation.
- Colored keys make it very useful for younger students
- Very compact and easy to carry around
- Although good, kids will grow out of it quickly and you'll need to look for a new one
Lujex Standard 88 Keys
Lastly, we'd mention another roll-up piano with 88 keys, the Lujex Standard. This one also comes with some more advanced features, including plenty of tone presets and rhythms, just like we've had with some other more advanced roll-up pianos here. It even comes with its 1100 mA battery that can keep things powered for quite a while. It may not be the best one for the youngest music enthusiasts, but it's a great choice for beginners or even advanced players of any age.
Of course, this bad boy comes with all the necessary connectivity features, including the regular auxiliary output and even a MIDI output. What's more, it comes with a Bluetooth connection, so you can pair it up with your compact Bluetooth speakers and take it up anywhere with you. It's also really easy to fold up and pack, despite having 88 keys. And as if all this wasn't enough, the keyboard is designed to be water-resistant, which makes it very practical for different environments. There's hardly anything similar that you'll find for this price.
- Full-size keyboard with 88 keys
- Water-resistant
- Plenty of connectivity options, including Bluetooth and MIDI connection
- Abundance of presets and rhythm patterns
- It might not be the best option for young beginners
Best Roll-Up Pianos Buying Guide
Number of Keys and Overall Size
One of the first things that you'll need to think of is its size. The most important factor here can be the age that you're aiming for. Those intended for the youngest players have only up to 49 keys and even sometimes come with colored keys to make things simpler. Those who are looking for a wider range can always go with 61 or 88 keys.
The size of the interface is also important, as well as how compact it is when you roll it up. After all, you might want to take it on a trip and don't feel like bothering with a bulky load.
Sound Presets, Controls, and Rhythm Patterns
The interface, or the main unit of any keyboard, comes with an internal computer with a number of sound presets. Having a lot of presets is a trait that comes with those larger and more advanced keyboards, and the same goes for backing rhythm tracks and different demos. Meanwhile, roll-up pianos designed for kids may have only a handful of presets, rhythms, and demos. This doesn't make them "worse" but rather more suitable for younger ages.
Another thing is the overall sound quality of these presets and rhythms. While roll-up pianos are usually just playful toys or just a simple novelty for your leisure time, some players might prefer to have more options. It's important to know what kind of interface you're getting when buying a keyboard.
Connectivity
All roll-up keyboards come with integrated speakers. However, these speakers are usually pretty limited and can only handle some basic stuff and not the full audible spectrum. While simpler and smaller keyboards usually come without any connectivity features, some of those more advanced examples come with regular auxiliary audio jacks, the kind that you can plug into any active speaker system.
As you may have noticed above, there are also roll-up pianos with MIDI connectivity. This means that you can connect them to your computer and use any kind of plugin that gives you plenty of different sonic options.
On the other hand, some may even have Bluetooth connections, meaning that they can pair with any regular Bluetooth speaker. This can be quite a good feature for anyone who doesn't feel like bothering with those annoying cables all the time.
Material Quality
While most of the roll-up keyboards are made of silicone rubber, it's important to know how durable it is. But in order to know this to a full extent, you'll either need to try one out or do some lurking online to see other people's experiences. The ones that we mentioned here are a safe choice and won't really wear out even after extensive use.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, you need to know that roll-up pianos are not professional-level instruments. Even if we have a higher-level one, it's still a more advanced toy for playing around with. So you should never expect much of it, other than to have a simple practice platform or something for fun and leisure activities. With this said, you can't go wrong with any of these examples, you just need to know what your requirements are.