As a professional with 20 years of experience in keyboards, I found the small Casio models to be completely disappointing for both beginners and professionals. Below, I will explain the reasons.
First of all, let's talk about the case of a beginner. A beginner who starts learning the piano needs the following characteristics:
1. A relatively good keyboard that is controllable and allows them to perceive their mistakes. The return/response of the keys should be standard so that the student can learn quarter and eighth notes correctly. Generally, if you don't have a sense of the character of the keys as you press them, you won't be able to play beautifully enough to be motivated to continue.
2. Good construction that doesn't creak when pressing the keys. Unfortunately, the entire range of Casio portable keyboards does not have proper construction to avoid creaking in the chassis. Pay attention! It is reasonable for their construction to be plastic, but I am referring to the constant creaking from the instrument during use. Their keys are brushed plastic with a complete lack of touch and minimal resistance. The creaking constantly distracted me.
3. At least a quality piano sound. The instrument lacks quality and depth in its basic piano voice, only offering an extended range that is missing in small models of other brands such as the Roland Go Keys, etc. Personally, I find it unacceptable for a company that sells sound to not provide you with even one professionally layered sound to play it portable. If you consider only the amazing sample sounds that are available for free or for purchase, and the fact that this instrument does not have expansion capabilities, then you realize that a closed-type software without even a distinguishable basic voice is a finished story.
4. Poor quality buttons, controls, and I/O panel. You will see in reviews on YouTube what I experienced with the instrument, such as the sustain pedal suddenly disconnecting or having difficulty connecting the first time. Also, the buttons on the panel need to be pressed harder sometimes, while other times they respond when pressed gently. Overall, it behaves like a plastic toy.
5. What is Casio trying to do? In my opinion, the company wants to sell the well-known recipe it has from the past and characterize it, namely to manage to put a small Casio in every home through low prices and good advertising so that someone somewhere will always remember that Casio used to produce keyboards and watches. This carries the notion of romance, but do not forget that more essential and practical concepts are missing, such as evolution, content creation, etc.
Now let's move on to the professional perspective, and here I will be harsh. I have listened to the entire range of Casio in various exhibitions, mainly in Stuttgart, Germany. The sound of Casio pianos is very specific, and in the Casio models of stage electric pianos priced at €1000, the performance improves only slightly, mainly in terms of the dynamic approach of the sound. If someone disagrees, they should go and listen to a cheap Yamaha ES piano (even an old cheap Clavinova) priced at €600 and let us know which Casio model under €1000 could sound better. The company is currently trying to sell its name, but it has not built the material infrastructure to do so. When you release something for wide consumption and promote it so much, but the product is not ready, then you become something like a public fan of a failed purchase. What does a professional want from a hypothetical portable battery-powered keyboard?
1. Proper slots for straps/belts.
2. Construction that can withstand playing on the go or on unstable surfaces, with quality buttons and inputs/outputs, as you will need at least one headphone output and possibly a USB/MIDI and audio out. Unfortunately, this instrument does not even combine these outputs correctly.
3. Basic good piano voice. In an era where you can listen to a grand piano with a laptop and a €40 MIDI controller, it is not acceptable to spend €250 to listen to a portable piano that sounds like a metal triangle for carols. And you won't understand this with the manufactured YouTube videos that are played on cheap commercial speakers with digital class D amplifiers like Logitech 2.1, Razer gaming speakers, etc., for everyday simple use or for children. We understand bad sound when it is played on studio monitors.
4. The official bag for the instrument should not cost as much as the instrument itself.
Personal conclusion in general. Casio, after decades, continues to lag behind the cheap models of other companies. I will remain loyal to the well-known recipes of Yamaha/Korg and, by extension, Roland. The latest Korg and Akai series did not convince me for a timely investment in them, or maybe they do not fit my line of work. In terms of portability, I will probably end up with the well-known recipe of Yamaha NP 12-15-3x. With the above text, I present my personal opinion and I have no intention of offending anyone. Each of us has our own measure of evaluation and our own needs and requirements. The reason my text is lengthy is because I would like Casio to offer something basic that covers the competition gap in this category. Finally, opinions like mine are censored and as time goes by, they are no longer written on the internet, they only pass through the mouths and ears of specific circles of experienced professionals, because their formulation in public spaces raises disputes and aggressive behavior from unrelated individuals who demand proof of who you are. I am not an expert or a scientist, but I am not a journalist either, so I do not write paid approaches. Even if they gave it to me for free or showed me 2-3 to give away in giveaways on my channel, I would still say the same things. In the end, I hope I helped some people, and I hope you also accept negative opinions.